Winter Sweet Plant: Scented flowering during harsh winter
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Winter Sweet Plant: Scented flowering during harsh winter

Winter can be harsh with minus temperature but one can feel charming, pleasant, and hopeful when one listens to beauty and scented flowers of winter sweet

Post by on Tuesday, January 4, 2022

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Winter sweet botanically known as Chimonanthus praecox belongs to family Calycanthaceae having its origin in China is one of the important shrub plant known to play key role in maintaining flowering calendar during harsh winter in gardens when deciduous as well as evergreen plants are in a dull growth stage. This plant was introduced in Japan during 17th century and was commonly known as Japanese allspice. Plant is distributed in almost all temperate areas of Japan, Austaralia, US and Asia. Plant is deciduous in nature and grows above 6´ in height and works as specimen plant in landscaping. Uniqueness of this plant is that it goes through green leaf development during summers followed by yellowing of leaves during autumn and almost month after shedding leaves yellow colour blossoms appear with scented fragrance.

 

The flower colour is deep yellow with a red stain. Flower petals are waxy in nature and maroon inside. Growing winter sweet in gardens is easy. Winter can be harsh with minus temperature but one can feel charming, pleasant, and hopeful when one listens to beauty and scented flowers of winter sweet. During early spring, mid and late spring, early mid and late summer most of the plants are dominating each other through foliage and flowering and winter sweet looks silent knowing that it’s preparing itself to dominate all floral wealth in garden during harsh winter. Winter sweet through green leaves speaks to all landscape plants that your beauty is not meant for garden at a time when I make unique place. It shows its existence with fall of foliage, stark gray stem and appearance of waxy yellow scented flowers erupting across all branches resembling a zig zag picture of a dream. The beauty of flowers on barren branches remains for almost one month. During dry days when day temperature is little bit warm and nights are cool, smell of flower enhances as volatile oils vaporize. The bloom size is around 1-2?, plant is having erect trunk and leaves around 5 to 29 cm in length and around 2 to 12 cm in width.

 

Plants raised through seeds take 14 years to reach flowering stage. In landscaping planting a winter sweet is an art as one has to plan it in such a way that fragrances of flower has to be enjoyed closely. Under sheltered places or along the paths, gateways or along window is considered best option as one can enjoy its aesthetic and recreational beauty closely. Planting a tree is always an art and similar is the case with planting of winter sweet. The hole should be dug shallow and deep and adding of well rotten manure is prerequisite so that in long run the proliferation of root system will go in positive direction which will ultimately help in healthy plant growth and development. At least 5 inches of the hole to be covered with equal ratio of manure, soil and sand mixture but care has to be taken that trunk area is left free. Full sunshine areas are best for its proper growth and development. It is observed that blooming is profuse when sun shine is full. As far as soil is concerned plant loves well drained soil and plant has a nature to grow in slightly acidic or alkaline soil. This indicates that the plant is hardy as far as pH of soil is concerned. Watering to a plant is not a criteria and only during establishment stage watering is required. Irrigation is required only in situation when temperature goes above 35o C or drought conditions prevail.

 

There are important varieties of winter sweet which are commercially grown in gardens globally. The varieties include Grandiflorus which is characterized with scented butterfly yellow flowers, Luteus having fragrant flowers with dark green foliage and Chimonantus nitens evergreen leaves and white flowers. Pruning winter sweet is an art and needs a proper skill. Old stems of this shrub plant is cut down to base which helps in encouraging new, healthy growth during following years. By doing this type of pruning, profuse flowering in orderly manner is achieved which looks aesthetically and recreationally charming. Propagating winter sweet through seeds is easy but it takes around one and a half decade to reach flowering stage. For this reason stem cuttings is an alternative so that plant can be developed within a shortest possible time. Selecting a cutting is very important so that healthy plant can be developed. Cutting size of 5 cm long with is opted on healthy softwood area.

 

Rooting is influenced by different reasons viz. time of opting cuttings, ability of the cutting to regenerate, application of axin as plant growth regulator for aiding rooting  and its concentration and micro climate at propagation site viz. temperature, humidity, light, media for rooting and rooting environment. Cuttings has to be opted from non lignified as known as soft wood cuttings which means newly emerged branches with green colour. The other way is to opt lignified which  is also known as semi hardwood cutting which means partial matured slightly woody brown coloured branches and hardwood cuttings which means mature brownish and woody branches. This means that soft wood cuttings are opted during spring or summer and hardwood cutting during fall. Second consideration is use of auxins for rooting of cuttings as auxins play an important role in induction, development of roots and adventitious root formation. The application method of auxins is simple. Auxins namely IBA, NAA,IAA are used for rooting purposes. Preparing a solution is an important consideration and using an optimum concentration is another factor which helps in success of callusing cum rooting. IBA, NAA or any other auxin is mostly in powder form. Preparing a solution needs a preparation and requires distilled or tape water, ethyle alcohol and auxin. First of all dissolve the required concentration of auxins in ethyle alcohole in 1:2 ratio respectively and then stir it proper till it is dissolved. Then put the solution in water and apply to cuttings. Now the second point is what concentration is required.

 

 

 

 

It is recommended that 4000 to 5000 ppm of auxin helps in effective rooting. For understanding of 4000 ppm or 5000 ppm concentration, it is important to understand that 1 mg in one liter of water means one ppm and 4000 ppm in one liter of water means 4000 ppm. Media for rooting also plays an important role in rootin g of cuttings. In this connection soiless media is required as a media for cuttings. Sand, Coca peat, Vermiculite or perlite etc are best media for successful rooting of cuttings. Thick layer of media is prepared in propagation chamber or propagation place and then basal potion of cuttings is treated with the solution before cuttings are put in media. Keep humidity high and temperature around 20 to 25o C for aiding rooting. It takes 6 to 7 weeks for rooting.

 

(Dr. Nasir Hamid Masoodi, Faculty Division of Floriculture and Landscape Architecture, SKUAST Shalimar Srinagar J&K)

 

 

 

 

                                                                                               

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