Atragene

Family Ranunculaceae. The genus comprises 8 species growing in the forest zone of the Northern Hemisphere.

Shrubby climbers with woody stems, clinging to a support by means of twining leaf petioles. Leaves are twice- or thrice-odd-pinnate. Flowers are solitary, axillary, up to 10 cm in diameter, nodding, broadly bell-shaped with petal-like sepals. Numerous, fluffy fruits with a long feathered style are gathered into a head.

Atragene and clematis belong to the buttercup family. They are so similar that some botanists include them in one genus — Clematis. The difference between the plants is only that Atragene flowers have small and practically inconspicuous petals, edged below by large brightly colored sepal-like leaflets. Clematis, on the other hand, has no petals at all, only a colored calyx of 4–8 leaflets in different species, which we perceive as the flower itself.

Tastes are, as is known, not argued about, but Atragene are more graceful than clematis, even the small-flowered ones. Their translucent "floating" flowers have not yet been fully appreciated by our floriculturists. Abroad, for example in Canada, Atragene breeding is carried out. Some of the forms and cultivars have been brought to our country, for example gently lilac 'Maidwell Holl' (A.macropetala 'Maidwell Holl'), pale pink 'Markham's Pink' (А. macropetala 'Markham's Pink'), 'Rosy O'Grady' (A. macropetala 'Rosy O'Grady'), purple-violet 'Tage Lundell' (A ochotensis 'Tage Lundell'), white 'White Columbine' (А аlpina 'White Columbine').

Location: Atragene are light-loving, but in scorching sun the flowers and leaves become smaller. Therefore, when choosing a site for their cultivation and permanent placement, sunny or slightly shaded places during the hot period should be allocated. If it is a slope, it should face east, southeast, south, or southwest and its incline should not exceed 50°. Plantings should be protected from winds, since Atragene stems and their large flowers are very delicate and can also be damaged by wind. Atragene are winter-hardy; even in the north of the European part of Russia they overwinter without shelter.

Soil: this plant is very unpretentious, it can grow on any soils except waterlogged and marshy ones, but it is desirable that the soil be light, loose, permeable, with good drainage. Loamy, slightly alkaline or neutral, fertile soil is best suited for Atragene.

Planting: it is better to plant Atragene in spring. Start with preparing planting holes. Their size should be 60 x 60 x 60 cm. Before planting, add 5-8 kg of humus, well-rotted manure or compost to the hole, 50 g of granulated superphosphate, 2-3 cups of wood ash. If soils are acidic, add 50-100 g of slaked lime. For drainage, place broken brick to a layer of 10-15 cm, crushed stone, or vermiculite at the bottom of the hole. The distance between the hole and the foundation of a building or fence should be at least 30 cm. In the middle zone and further north the best time for planting is May, and in autumn - late August and September. For spring planting, prepare the soil in autumn, and for autumn planting - one month before planting. The distance between very large plants should be at least 150 cm, while smaller and less spreading species are planted at a distance of 70-100 cm. It is better to plant two-year-old rooted cuttings and seedlings, which tolerate transplanting well. Before planting, prune all shoots above the first or second pair of buds. Fragile roots of Atragene frequently break during planting. Broken parts should be trimmed, and the remaining roots treated with a weak solution of potassium permanganate and sprinkled with crushed charcoal or ash. Place a mound of soil at the bottom of the hole and spread the roots over it. Then cover them with moist soil. Compact the soil, water and mulch. The root collar when planting should be buried by 5-10 cm for young seedlings and by 10-12 cm for mature plants. On heavy soils it is buried 5-8 cm, on light soils somewhat deeper. This protects the root collar from freezing in the north and from overheating in summer in the south. To prevent fungal infection, sprinkle the root collar with a bucket of sand mixed with 250 g of wood ash, crushed charcoal and water with a 0.25% solution of potassium permanganate. If buds appear in the first year after planting, they should be removed to promote better establishment.

Care: water every 7-10 days so that the soil is moistened to a depth of 40-50 cm. Two to three days after watering, loosen the soil to retain moisture. During intense heat, water two to three times a week, and do not forget to water well before winter. On household plots, fertilize at least twice a month. The first feedings are carried out at the beginning of shoot growth and during budding; subsequent ones - after flowering and pruning. Among organic fertilizers use in liquid form urea (10 g per 10 l of water), cow manure (1:10), poultry manure (1:15). Among mineral fertilizers apply complete fertilizers (10-20 g per 10 l of water) or nitroammofoska (10 g per 10 l of water). In northern regions at the end of summer, apply 2-3 cups of ash per bush. Water plants before applying fertilizers. Foliar feeding is possible by spraying leaves with a weak solution of urea in spring and a complete mineral fertilizer in summer. To avoid soil drying, mulch with peat, vermiculite, sawdust or wood chips in a layer of 3-5 cm. It is very important for proper growth to attach plants to a support; this helps avoid mechanical damage and disease. In a snowless winter preventive sheltering with spruce branches is desirable.

Diseases and pests:

Powdery mildew. More common in the south, it affects all parts of the plant. A white cobweb-like coating appears on the leaves, leaves and shoots brown and wither. Control measures: collect fallen leaves, prune diseased shoots and burn them; treatment is recommended.

Rust. Also affects all above-ground parts of the plant, on which reddish-yellow spots - swellings - form. Control measures: spray with a suspension of polycarbacin or Topsin-M (0.1-0.2%) and the same preparations as for powdery mildew.

Brown spot. Affects only the leaves, where brown or white spots with a purple border form, and black dots appear on the surface of the spots. Infection of shoots begins with young leaves and can lead to the death of the entire above-ground part of the plant. Control measures: to combat brown spot, treat the plant early in spring and late autumn with copper or iron sulfate (0.1%), Bordeaux mixture (0.5-1%), copper-soap emulsion (0.2-2%), Topsin-M (0.1-0.2%); affected plants are completely pruned and burned, and the soil around them is sprayed with a 0.2% solution of Fundazol or a weak solution of potassium permanganate.

Root-knot nematode. Causes swellings on the roots. Control measures: treat the soil with Nematogon or Carbotion 30-40 days before planting.

Slugs and snails. Damage the leaves. Control measures: collect the pests and destroy their eggs; spray the soil with metaldehyde (0.5-1.5%).

Mealybug. Damages leaves and shoots. Effective control is spraying with carbofos (0.3%).

Mice and rats. Gnaw and nibble leaves, stems, shoots and roots. Control measures: to prevent damage by mice, rats and hares, cover plants with spruce branches for the winter.

Propagation: most often by seeds and cuttings. Seeds are mixed with sand in a ratio of 1:3. The mixture is moistened and placed under snow or in a refrigerator at about 5 °C. This method shortens the time to germination. For example, without stratification Atragene alpina takes up to 250 days from sowing to emergence, while with stratification it takes less than 70 days.

Sow seeds in pots or boxes with a mix of soil and sand in a ratio of 2:1. Firm the sowing, cover with sand to a depth of twice the seed diameter, firm again, water and cover with glass. Keep the sowings in a warm room. Fast-germinating seeds can be sown in May in beds. For sowing and pricking out, which is carried out at the stage of 3-4 pairs of leaves, prepare beds from a mixture of 2 parts sod soil, 1 part humus, 1 part leaf soil and 0.5 parts each of sand and peat. The spacing between plants at pricking out should be 3-4 cm, between rows - 25-30 cm. Shade the pricked plants with shields and water as needed. Loosen and mulch the inter-rows with a layer up to 3 cm after 2-3 new pairs of leaves appear. Transplant seedlings to a permanent place either the following autumn or in spring after overwintering. When transplanting, the root collar should be buried 2-3 cm. In winter, prune and hill up plants, cover with snow. Vegetative propagation is considered the most promising method for propagating Atragene.

In the middle zone, division of the bush is best done in spring in April, before the start of vegetation. 5-6-year-old bushes with many shoots are dug up with a root ball and, trying not to damage the root system, divided into several plants so that each has roots and renewal buds. Then the plants are planted in holes with fertile soil, burying the first node of the shoot to a depth of 8-10 cm. The number of new plants depends on the degree of development of the mother bush.

When propagating by layering, in spring dig several trenches radially from the bush to a depth of 5-10 cm, with a length corresponding to the length of the shoots to be rooted. Lay the shoots in the trenches and cover with soil. Leave the tip of the shoot exposed. Water and fertilize the layers. After a year, rooted layers are separated from the parent plant. They are cut between the nodes into individual plants, which after planting can bloom already in the first year.

Propagation of Atragene by cuttings has given the best results when cuttings are taken in late June - early July. Rooting is carried out in hotbeds. The substrate is a layer of expanded clay 10-15 cm. It should be covered with 7-8 cm of washed river sand. Hotbeds are covered with plastic frames. The best conditions for rooting are created if the substrate is heated and watered in measured doses. The temperature of the substrate and air should be 20-25 °C. Use the middle part of the shoot with one or two nodes for cuttings. Make an oblique cut under the node and leave a segment of the shoot 3-6 cm long. Plant cuttings at a distance of 5-10 cm, buds should be buried 2-3 mm. Good results are obtained when cuttings are treated with a rooting stimulant - a solution of indolylacetic acid (IMK) at a concentration of 0.01% with an exposure of 16 hours. Under such conditions rooting of 50 to 100% of cuttings was obtained. Without treatment, the rooting percentage is also high - 50-70%. Rooting of Atragene takes 20-30 days. To bring rooted cuttings to independent development requires another season, so they are transplanted into containers (pots or plastic bags) placed in a hotbed. Mulch the top of the cuttings with a layer of 4-5 cm and water.