Zhivuchka (Ajuga) - annual and perennial herbaceous plants from the family Iasnatkovye. The people call it Ayuga, Gorodka, Dubrovka, heart grass, Dubrovnik and bitter, it blooms in May, as soon as the snow melts. It grows throughout the territory, except the Arctic Circle, prefers moist shaded forests and stony soils under the sun. It spreads rapidly throughout the territory due to the superficial rhizome.
In Russia, the most common species is creeping tenacious (Ajuga reptans).
Description of survivors
A herbaceous plant with two-lipped 8 pcs. flowers from blue to white, collected in small inflorescences (spikelets). The corolla has an upper bilobate and a lower three-lobed lip.
Seeds ripen by the end of summer - the third decade of July. At the beginning of August, they represent four bright brown fleecy nuts. Tenderness under adverse weather conditions becomes a self-pollinating plant, and under favorable conditions it is pollinated by bees.
The stem of this plant is erect up to a height of 0.5 m, has four faces, can fall. At the bottom of it are long oblong leaves, closer to the top short, serrated at the edges. A tenacious creeper possesses creeping shoots characteristic of this species. For all time, about 45 varieties of creeping ayuga were bred (differing in shade of both foliage and flowers).
Gardeners are very fond of it for their unpretentiousness, preferring to plant along the fence and in the shade around trees and shrubs, on alpine slides, as well as to create a creeping carpet.
The tenacious creeping, Geneva, pyramidal and chios: photos and description
The most popular types of survivals are:
| Type and its characteristics | Varieties and their description | Leaves | Inflorescences |
| Creeping. Ground-cover flowering plant. | Metallica Crispa Shoots creep on the ground. | Dark brown with a metallic sheen. | Bright blue, terry. |
| Atropurpurea. Loves the sun. In height up to 20 cm, creeping. It grows by itself, does not require close care. | Thick brick color with a bronze sheen. | Dark blue, grow crowded on the stem. | |
| Burgundy Glow. | Light green, blue, reddish, with pink spots and thin veins. Color depends on the soil, top dressing and lighting. The more light, the brighter and redder it is. The lack of trace elements will give the effect of pallor. | Burgundy, blue-bluish. | |
| Multicolor (Multicolor). | Color changes depending on the lighting - in the sun it turns bright purple with thin red or orange stripes, in the shade of a dense green color with pink or yellow veins. | Blue. | |
| Chocolate Chip. Quickly spreads on loamy soils in partial shade and in the sun, forming a carpet 5 cm high. | Oval, green, small, may be purple (5-6 cm). | Cobalt shade. | |
| Pink Elf Little bush. It blooms for a long time. | Very small. | Pink. | |
| Rainbow Creeping, very dense look without dips. | Spotted from yellow to white on a dark green background. Similar to the Multicolor variety, but more saturated. | Lilac. | |
| Arctic Fox (Arcticfox). He loves sunny places and water. | Ordinary green, covered with white stains (multi-colored lines), under which the color of the sheet itself is not even visible. | Pale blue. | |
| Polar snow (Arcticsnow). | Corrugated green with a large milk stain and whitish edges. (8-10 cm) | White. | |
| Chios. Short under 20 cm, at the base the stem branches into three, creating creeping processes. It coexists perfectly on stony soils, fenced spaces and alpine slides. | No varieties. | Thin green, dark shade with down. | Small, yellow with scarlet dots. |
| Geneva or furry. Dark green shaggy stalk, grows up to 50 cm. There are no creeping shoots. Successfully used by traditional healers. | Helena. | Narrow, elongated oval. | Lilac. |
| Blue ocean. | Up to 20 cm, thick green, elongated, lowered. | Light blue with distinctly visible adjacent leaves. | |
| Pyramidal. It does not have creeping roots on the ground, is resistant to drought, grows slowly, resembles a pyramid. The stems are fleshy, but fragile. It is listed in the Red Book. | Metallica Crispa. | Deep dark green in color, oval, serrated at the edges, with white thin lines. | Thick purple, may be white and pink. |
Growing tenacity from seeds
Ayuga seeds are planted in the spring in the ground, despite the frost, or in the fall before winter. It is advised to plant in non-sunny areas, usually under trees. Before sowing, dig up the soil and make mineral and organic fertilizers (can be replaced with double superphosphate).
Garden Ayuga Care
Until new leaves appear, the plant needs to be watered, the soil should be moist, it is better to shadow the sprouts so that they are not in direct sunlight. As soon as the plant has taken root and started growing, water moderately only when the ground is completely dry.
Due to the surface creeping roots, a little thing very quickly fills the territory, in order to avoid this, you need to slightly press the plant into the ground, you can also protect it with stones or gravel.
Other breeding methods
It is recommended to grow ayuga from seeds only in case of its primary cultivation in a garden plot. A survivor can reproduce by self-sowing, while the grown specimens differ from the mother plant in the color of leaves and flowers, this also applies to seeds planted by hand.
To prevent the appearance of "other" species of this plant, the arrow should be cut off only in deciduous plants, in the taillum, which pleases with different shades of inflorescences when they bloom.
If there is a desire to get a completely identical plant, then it must be propagated by rosettes at the end of May or until September 20th (this term refers to stunted plants in which the leaves are tightly attached to the root), replanting them to a new place. As soon as the plant takes root and begins to grow, they stop watering it.
Tenderness does not like moist soil, it adapts perfectly to drylands.
After flowering
It is impractical to collect the seed, it is possible to prevent self-seeding, but it is troublesome, different plants (not corresponding to the maternal specimen) spread very quickly on the site. For the same reason, it is not worth collecting seeds by hand, which is why many gardeners propagate survivors with rosettes.
This plant can easily survive the snowy winter, but if there is little snow then it is better to cover it with spruce branches, peat, and fallen leaves. Young plants must be covered for at least the first year.
Diseases and Pests
| Title | Signs | Repair methods |
| Fungal rot | With an excess of water, the roots and stems are affected by gray rot. As a result, the survivor ceases to grow, blossom and produce new outlets. | Immediately eliminate the affected stems and leaves, treat the remaining ones with Rovral, Kuproskat, Fundazol, Blue vitriol or Bordeaux mixture. If the root is affected, remove it too and treat the remaining crushed activated carbon or ash. |
| Slugs and Snails | Eat the stem and leaves. | If a large accumulation of slugs is found on the ayug, the first drugs to be used are Meta and Thunderstorm. In addition, you can sprinkle with a homemade mustard solution (250 g of mustard per 10 liters of water) or crushed pepper. In the fight against slugs, there is another method - to deepen plastic cups into the ground next to the plant, filling them with beer or milk, in the morning you can find a catch of slugs in these cups. |
Medicinal properties of survivors
The composition of the survivor is poorly studied, it is known that it contains tannins. The decoction of this plant, as well as the juice, are widely used to treat:
- Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract (gastric ulcer and gastritis), chopped leaves are brewed with boiling water in a glass, insisted for 2 hours, poured into a thermos or wrapped in a warm scarf, then drink in a warm form for 1 tbsp. l three times a day.
- Female organs and the genitourinary system, as a painkiller and expectorant, also with malaria. Use the decoction above, but take 5 times a day, drink also warm.
- With a cold, a creeper survivor is brewed, linden flowers, lemon balm and oregano, all in equal quantities. They are used warm several times a day, the mixture causes increased sweating, which removes harmful substances and lowers the temperature.
- Hair grows poorly - more often rinse with ayuga broth.
- Healing wounds or bites. Make slurry from a freshly torn leaf, attach to the place of the bite of a bee or other insect, as well as to a non-healing wound.
- With anorexia (painful thinness) take a bath at night, adding tincture of grass to the water.
