Majestic Hyssop - a plant that is always useful in the economy. Hyssop, or blue St. John's wort, from the family of yasnotkovyh, grows in Asia, the Mediterranean, the Caucasus, the Crimea. He loves the steppes and stony slopes. Cultivation of hyssop since ancient times was considered an important and sacred ritual. Every priest and shaman treated this plant with tenderness and care. It was believed that hyssop is the breath of the gods.
Hyssop is a pleasantly smelling herb or dwarf shrub. Flowers - with a blue, white or pink shade. The plant blooms from July to September, until walnut-like fruits appear on its branches.
In nature, there are up to 50 species of hyssop, but the main ones are: hyssop medicinal (ordinary), chalky hyssop, anis hyssop.
Hyssop is used in cooking as a seasoning, in perfumery, medicine, and even liquor is made from hyssop.
Important! If you grow several varieties of hyssop, then you should give each bush space, as they can pollinate each other.
Plant Care
Planting and caring for hyssop uncomplicated. Plant well withstands low temperatures and wind. For hyssop need careful care, subject to all the rules, it can grow in one place up to 5 years.
Landing dates
Terms for planting hyssop depend on the way the gardener wants to plant it:
- If you have hyssop seeds, then it is best to sow them in open ground in May, or seedling method - in March.
- Bush hyssop should be divided in the spring, around the end of March - early April.
- Pruning usually takes place in April, after cutting off the young shoots of hyssop.
Site selection for planting
We will understand where it is better to plant hyssop. The main condition for planting hyssop is that the soil should be light and fertile. It is best to plant it on a sunny plot with a moderate content of limestone in the soil. In the autumn, it is better to deposit manure into the soil, a small dose of potassium salt and superphosphate, while digging up the ground deep.
Make sure that in the place where you will plant hyssop, the acidity of the soil does not exceed the norm.
Watering, feeding and weeding
In order for your hyssop to bloom beautifully and be useful, you should know a few rules to care for it. You need to moisten the soil when needed, also weed regularly and, from time to time, feed it.
Spring is suitable for the first feeding, then fertilizer should be applied after each pruning. The last fertilizing season of the season should be phosphate-potassium fertilizer a month before the first frost.
Important! For the winter, you should always carry out sanitary pruning hyssop. He will grow and blossom more productively next year.
Every three years, the plant must be divided and deepened, in this case, young plants will accelerate in growth and flowering.
Hyssop blooms all summer, and by the end of August the fruits ripen. If you grow a plant for drying, you can remove it even during flowering. During the flowering period in the plant the highest concentration of essential oils. If you have old plants on the plot, they should be mowed to a level of 5 cm from the ground before winter.
Reproduction of hyssop
Hyssop multiplies seeds, cuttings and dividing the bush. Now consider in more detail these types of breeding of blue Hypericum.
Seeds
Hyssop reproduces well by seed. In order to collect them, it is necessary to cut the inflorescences almost before the very moment of their maturation. Then spread out on thick paper so that they would dry out and ripen. Already ripened seeds are easily poured from seed pods. To make it easier to separate the seeds from the bolls, the inflorescences should be turned upside down and shaken over the paper. Growing hyssop using seeds is possible in two ways: rassadnym and seedless.
Interesting fact! If the seeds are brown, they should be collected.
For the seedlings, special boxes are prepared with the necessary soil, and in March, hyssop seeds are sown in warm soil. Planting in open ground should be done in May. Hyssop seeds do not require stratification and sprout in about 2 weeks.
Interesting fact! Seed germination of hyssop is 80%.
Cuttings
The most successful and effective way to preserve a variety is grafting. To do this, choose the most lush and beautiful bush. Until mid-June (before flowering), you need to cut the cuttings up to 15 cm long and cut off the lower leaves. Then each stalk is dipped into growth media and, after planting the cuttings in a container of sand, cover each jar. Cuttings need to be very carefully watered, and it is better to spray. About a month later they should take root. Planted rooted cuttings in the prepared nursery for wintering.
Important! The sooner you prepare the cuttings, the sooner you will be able to plant them in the ground, and the plant will better overwinter.
Dividing bush
The division of the bush - the easiest way to breed hyssop. The best time for such breeding is spring. In autumn, fertile soil should be poured near the root zone so that the entire lower part of the shoots is covered with a thick layer of earth. If there is no rain, then the ground under this bush should be watered regularly when it dries. Later sprinkled shoots will give roots. In the spring, this shrub needs to be divided into shoots and planted in the place of permanent residence, leaving a gap between each sprout about 30 cm. When the plants grow, cut the shoots, then they will grow better.
The use of hyssop in different areas
Hyssop is a wonderful and useful plant. It can be called a storehouse of useful properties.
Medicine
Medicinal properties of hyssop are known for a long time. He was always honored not only in classical medicine, but was also popular with shamans and traditional healers.
Essential oil of hyssop, extracted by the distillation method, is used to improve human health. Very good beneficial properties of the essential oil of hyssop manifested in angina, asthma. Excellent remedy for the treatment of rheumatism, possessing both antiseptic and antispasmodic properties.
Hyssop oil has a beneficial effect on the nervous system, it is recommended for depression, stress, and nervous exhaustion. Perfectly helps with various allergic reactions. The healing properties of hyssop help hypotension sufferers, increasing the pressure to normal.
If you have bronchitis or a bad cold, it is recommended to add 20 drops of any vegetable oil to 10 drops of hyssop oil and to rub to improve breathing and reduce symptoms.
If you have found any nervous diseases: nervous exhaustion, stress, then you need to take baths with hyssop (5-10 drops of oil into the bath) and stay in it for up to 7 minutes.
Oil perfectly copes with acne, wounds, eczema, hematomas, warts and even bruises.
Aromatherapy and Perfume
The properties of the essential oil of hyssop are valued for a long time. Even the first Christian believers considered this oil to be sacred.
Hyssop oil is used in cosmetology for the care of different skin types. It reduces and eliminates acne, irritation, inflammation. The main properties of the essential oil of hyssop are that it perfectly moisturizes and eliminates dry skin, making it supple and soft.
Essential oil of yellow-green color, easy, with pleasant aroma. Using it in aromatherapy, you can improve well-being, raise the tone and mood of a person, increase the level of endurance. In perfumery, hyssop oil is used as 4 notes of perfume compositions, reinforcing the weaker oils in the composition.
Cookery
As a spice in hyssop use leaves and not managed to stiffen part of the branches. Its delicate and rich aroma, with a bitter tart flavor, is perfect for preparing many dishes. At the same time, besides improving the taste, it also enriches your food with beneficial substances.
Also in cooking used fresh leaves and tops of branches with flowers. They can be added to minced meat, soups and various pastes. This seasoning is very harmoniously felt in homemade sausages and eggs. Hyssop is indispensable in the preparation of pork and beef. It feels good with cheese dishes, but it's better to add it very carefully to vegetables. For example, a small pinch of flowers in a fresh salad of cucumbers and tomatoes will improve the taste of the salad, but overdoing you will feel nothing but hyssop.
Interesting fact! After cooking a dish with hyssop, it is better not to cover it with a lid, as its taste deteriorates.
Hyssop goes well with parsley, dill, marjoram, celery, fennel and mint.
Harm and contraindications of hyssop
Hyssop is not one of those plants that you can safely do self-healing. The use of hyssop in large doses (both inward and outward) is fraught with frequent reduction of mucous membranes (spasms). therefore Hyssop is strictly prohibited to use for the treatment of patients with epilepsy and pregnant women. Also, people with elevated hypertensive pressure are at risk.
But as a spice, you can safely apply it, because due to the strong aroma it is used in small quantities, so it cannot be harmful to health. Hyssop will stimulate the digestive system and promote easy digestibility of food.
Hyssop is a universal plant, its application methods are various and interesting. The main thing is to remember that hyssop should be applied in moderation, knowing all its features and contraindications. Then the harm and the benefits of hyssop perfectly balanced.
