Scewola fan-shaped(Scaevola aemula) is a plant growing to a height of 30-50 cm with overhanging shoots, which is a perfect decoration for flower pots on balconies and terraces. Its fan-like flowers decorate the plant from June until the first frost. Find out more about thecultivation requirements of scewolaand the rules of its care. We also advise whether it is possible towintering scewolaand what are the proven ways to reproduce it.
Scewola fan-shaped - Scaevola aemula
Fig. pixabay.com
What does a scewola look like?
The fan-shaped rock , sometimes also referred to as the deceptive rock, is a perennial that occurs naturally in dunes in Australia and the Polynesian region. Due to the lack of frost resistance in our climate, it is grown as an annual plant or possibly stored over the winter indoors or in greenhouses.
Scewola is a plant with a creeping habit , and its strong branching , slightly hanging shoots can grow up to a length of about 60 cm. This habit makes the scewola look great when planted in containers next to balcony balustrades or hanging pots.
In the period from June until the first autumn frosts, scewola shoots are covered with lots of beautiful flowers whose structure resembles a fan consisting of 5 petals.The flowers of the fan-shaped scewolaare most often blue or light purple, but there are also varieties of scewola with white, pink and even two-color flowers.
The leaves of the fan-shaped scewolaare oblong, dark green toothed at the edges.
Scewola - varieties
There areornamental varieties of scewolain cultivation, which differ mainly in the color of flowers, although they may also have finer leaves, more flaccid shoots or a more compact habit than the basic species. Below we present 7 interesting varieties of scewola that we managed to find at Polish sellers:
- Scewola 'Alba'- produces white flowers and its stems are more slender than those of the species
- Scewola 'Blue Wonder'- Scewola variety with purple flowers
- Scewola 'Blue Fan'- two-color variety with violet-blue flowers with white eyes
- Scewola 'Petite'- has finer foliage
- Scewola 'Pink Ribbon'- produces pink flowers with white eye
- Scewola 'Whirlwind Early Compact White'- with pure white flowers and compact habit
- Scewola 'Zig Zag'- about white flowers with a pink stripe in the center of the petals
Scewola fan-shaped - Scaevola aemula
Fig. pixabay.com
Scewola - cultivation, requirements and care
Scewola fan-shaped requiressunny, warm and sheltered positions.
Soil for scewola cultivationshould be well drained , fertile, acidic (pH 4.0-5.5) Soil for azaleas and rhododendrons will work well. You can also get a suitably acidic soil by mixing regular garden soil or compost soil with acid peat in a ratio of 1: 3.
It is extremely important to keep the soil moisture constant. We can achieve this by using appropriately fertile soil, mulching the soil around the plants, which prevents rapid evaporation of water, and frequent, regularwatering the scewola On sunny and hot days, schewols grown in pots need to be watered daily, or even twice a day, because a dry plant can wither very quickly.
Remember, however, thatexcessively wet soil can also be harmful to scewolaThat is why we water the plant frequently, but with a moderate amount of water. Before planting, a layer of drainage made of small pebbles or expanded clay on the bottom of the pot should be provided, which will facilitate the leakage of excess water through the holes in the bottom of the pot.
Maintainingappropriate soil moisture in scewola cultivationwill be easier if you add TerraCottem to the ground when planting scewola. It is a preparation that contains a hydrogel, as well as ingredients improving the structure of the substrate and the starting dose of fertilizers. The most important, however, is the hydrogel, which has the ability to absorb excess water after watering the plant and release the accumulated moisture gradually as the soil dries up.This keeps the ground wet longer and reduces the frequency of watering the plant. Scewoles grown in the ground with the addition of TerraCott or hydrogel alone develop abundantly and bloom profusely.
Scewola - what to connect with
You already know from the description of the appearance of fan-shaped scewola that this plant is best planted in pots and containers on balconies and terraces, where you can display its hanging shoots well. Therefore, it remains to considerwhat to combine sccevolawith and which plants it looks best with.
Due to the preferences regarding insolation,scevola should be combined with other plantsrecommended as flowers for a sunny balcony. Therefore, good companions for scewola will be: bakopa, hellette, pelargonium, petunia, sanvitalia, hanging varieties of verbena, as well as lantana.
When combining scévola with other plants , remember that scévola grows quite quickly and planted in one pot with more delicate species of much slower growth, it can easily drown them out. For this reason, you should not, for example, combine scewola with rock dragonfly.
Scewola fan-shaped - Scaevola aemula
Fig. avier martin, Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons
Scewola - wintering
In our climatescevola is usually grown as an annual plantIts seedlings are not very expensive and it is best to buy fresh plants in spring.They are planted outside after the risk of frost has passed, that is from mid-May.
In the natural environment, however, scewola is a perennial perennialand we can overwinter it in a bright room protected against frost. For this purpose, the plants in the fall, before the first frosts, are moved to a cool greenhouse, orangery or to a glazed porch.The wintering temperature of scewolashould be between 10 and 15 ° C. During the wintering season, we limit watering of the scevola and stop fertilizing altogether.
From March, we gradually increase the temperature at the wintering site, increase the frequency of watering andtrim the scevolaso that it sprouts nicely. After hardening the plants, we can plant them outside from mid-May.
Scewola - reproduction
Scevola is propagated from seedssown on the seedbed in March (at home, you can sow into pots with acidic soil and put on the windowsill of a bright window) or from shoot cuttings collected in the second half years.
In amateur conditionspropagating scsewola from shoot cuttingsis much easier, the more so that in the case of ornamental scewola varieties, plants obtained from sowing seeds may not repeat the characteristics of the mother plant. Shoots taken for cuttings can be rooting in a moist substrate or even in water only. The tops of the obtained seedlings should be pinched out so that they will spread better.
You can also useshoots remaining after the spring pruning of the wintering plant for scewola seedlings. Although then the percentage of rooted cuttings will be lower than at the end of summer, but we will use the waste after trimming the plant, which is definitely worth doing: -)
