How to grow a night beauty flower: features, planting, care

With the discovery of the American continent, many amazing plants were brought to Europe, among them was the night beauty flower.

A plant from Mexico and Peru gained popularity first in botanical gardens, and after obtaining species adapted to the climatic conditions of Europe, it began to be widely used for growing in open ground as an ornamental plant.

Even the Spanish discoverers of America paid attention to the flower, described by the local Indians as a plant with spicy fragrant flowers, the powerful leaves of which provide a lot of shade.

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The Latin name for the night beauty is Mirabilis jalapa. It can literally be translated as an amazing flower from the town of Yalapa.

Night beauty is typically a perennial plant with a straight stem. The shoots are quite brittle and branch well. The leaves are elongated, green, with solid edges, smooth, and sit on short petioles.

Tap roots form tubers, thanks to which the plant renews its growth in the spring.

The fragrant flowers deserve special attention; their peculiarity of opening in the evening and closing at dawn is the basis for the name.

Hard seeds appear in place of the flower.On summer evenings, the pleasant smell from a blooming flowerbed indicates that the night beauty has opened her flowers.

This happens only in the dark, because the main pollinators for mirabilis are nocturnal moths - hawk moths. The color of the flowers can be either uniform: white, red, yellow, or variegated.

One plant may have flowers of different colors, and even within the same flower there may be different color combinations. The following flowers can open on one bush at the same time:

New batches of buds open from the beginning of summer, continuing to bloom until the onset of frost. The night beauty flower is so unpretentious that in many regions it has become a common wild plant.

After winter, its plantings are restored by scattered seeds, so grow it in open ground quite easy.

Mirabilis reproduces by both seeds and tubers. Collected seeds can remain viable for three to five years. You can also purchase tubers of this flower in the retail chain.

You can sow seeds directly into the ground after thawing and warming the soil at the end of April, or for seedlings in early spring. Night beauty seedlings can be planted in a permanent place in open ground in the last ten days of May.

In regions with a fairly cool climate, it is preferable propagate a plant tubers or grown through seedlings, since when sowing seeds in a cold summer, the flower may not have time to bloom.

When choosing a site for planting a plant in the garden, you should remember that under favorable conditions, mirabilis is quite aggressive and can disperse and independently occupy large spaces.

In addition, if there are people in the family who do not tolerate strong aromas, then the place for the flower should be chosen away from the living room.

Mirabilis feels great on slightly alkaline soil; preference is best given to a clay or loamy area with good drainage.

It is important to remember that the flower does not tolerate acidic soils well, so additional lime may be required. This can be done simultaneously with digging up the ground for planting.

If earlier growing mirabilis in pots or containers was quite problematic, then after breeding miniature varieties with white and red flowers Tea Time Red and multi-colored Tea Time Formula Mixture, they can be planted in cache-pots, pots, containers, and grown on balconies and terraces. These flowers will not be higher than 30 cm in height.

When planting large varieties in the ground, it is advisable to place them at a distance of up to half a meter from each other, miniature ones - up to 30 - 40 cm. The night beauty is well adapted to drought and easily tolerates dry periods.

However, it is important to know that if there is a lack of moisture, it stops growing and does not set buds, so in dry summers the plant must be watered at least every other day and the soil should not be allowed to dry out.

Flowering miralibis need to be fed with complex fertilizers three times a season; this should be done before flowering, in the middle of the season and before the onset of autumn.

Night beauty is disease resistant and pests and does not require special protective measures, this makes it indispensable when it is necessary to landscape not only the territory of a country house, but also when landscaping populated areas.

With the onset of the first frost, it is better to dig up the night beauty tubers from the soil and store them underground in the same conditions as dahlia tubers. In milder climates, the tubers can be left in the ground with mulch on top.

Miralibis or night beauty is an excellent flower for any garden plot. It will surprise you all summer with its bright colors and exquisite delicate aroma.

Video tips for caring for the night beauty flower: