A shameless woman - a resortkeeper in the Crimea, or a unique strawberry tree in the Crimea - is the only evergreen deciduous tree in the Crimean subtropics. Strawberry tree in the Crimea.

For the first experiments on the design of parks, lands from Foros to Laspi, Prince G.A. Potemkin. It was to them that the dispensation of the Southern Coast began, although he had never been to the “midday coast”, but only admired it from afar, from the heights of Laspi. But he was well aware of all these lands according to descriptions, plans and drawings made specially for him.

One of the earliest known descriptions of Foros is in Sumarokov’s book, The Leisure of the Crimean Judge or the Second Journey to Tavrida of 1805:

« Foros is a two-hour drive from Baydar and Balaklava ... In the gardens there are fig trees, Volozhsky, walnut trees, apples, pears and mountain ash of every kind. Baking ... due to the mountainous, inconvenient places there is an unimportant, cattle breeding is also necessary, except for goats, breeding a great number, the income comes only from flax, onions and garlic. The village consists of 13 poorly built, then from the boards, then from the wattle houses, and the Greek name reminds of the inhabitants of this family who were in it, which are derived from here with the population of Mariupol. Mixing with them the local Tatars is very noticeable for the excellent features of their faces and the introduction to the language of the Greek words.

They still differ from other Tatars in their customs like this: they don’t wear long, but short dress, do not mow bread, but reap. The roofs on their houses are replaced by ceilings, on which the smoothly filled earth represents ... terraces, and in the cool hours the Tatars leave to sit here. We settled in one of these terraces, set a bench for a tea set, then sultan fish brought with us, oysters, the best fruits came at our dinner, and we, under the heads of the Antipodes, our hosts, admired the perfect location on a clear evening.

The nights here are bright rather than inside the Crimea ..., because as a mirror the surface of the waters assumes the playful rays of the moon. She, painting herself in trembling jets, scatters silver sparks into places, conducts various ebbs, and darkness behind the radiance creeps away in the space of the sea. Oh, what a sweet moment! Everywhere beauty, strangeness of nature: everywhere traces of bliss and simplicity. Ahead is a pretty picture, behind the backs of protruding masses of mountains, I will make one eye movement, and my gaze at that moment runs through millions of miles. Ia transferred to another wonderful world. I see different hollows of hanging clouds, countless stars scattered like sparkles on azure emptiness ... ”.

Already after 87 years, judging by the report of Dr. Weber, Foros turns into a magnificent park with a palace and little resembles a Greek-Tatar village.

With the participation of Yu.Yu. Clover, a gardener of the Nikitsky Botanical Garden, Edward Andreevich Albrecht re-planned and re-broke the park, based on natural forests of juniper high, turpentine tree, fluffy oak, ash and maple.

Due to the mild climate and abundance of water, numerous representatives of the subtropical flora have found shelter here: Aleppo pine, Italian, Greek fir, Atlas cedars, Himalayan, Lebanese pine, cypress, loquat, palm trees, oleander, magnolia ... - only about 200 species and forms of trees and shrubs. Planted gardener I.I. Yanin

For 2 centuries, from Sumarokov's journey to Tavrida to the present day, Foros survived everything: ups and downs, luxury and destruction. Today's Foros is what you, dear reader, see with your own eyes. Anyone who has ever been here and saw Foros will agree that its main wealth and decoration is a unique park, which is protected by the state, and decree No. 105 of May 29, 1960 was declared a “monument of landscape architecture”. It is confirmed by a memorial plaque installed on the east side on the way to the central avenue and the palace building.

In the past, Foros Park was different from others in that it harmoniously combined orchards and rare exotic plants. Vineyards and three orchards occupied large areas: fig, apricot and peach. The year of its foundation - 1834 confirms that the first landings were made by KA. Naryshkin in Foros and N.N. Raevsky in Tesseli.

By the beginning of the 20th century, thanks to the efforts of A.G. Kuznetsov and Ushkovs' heirs, the Foros estate turns into a fabulous corner combining a popular resort and an amazingly beautiful park.

To understand what Foros travelers saw at that time, let's turn to the Russian Pilgrim magazine of the beginning of the 20th century:

Foros. Essay

From Baydarskih gate begins a huge name "Foros", owned by Ushkov, the former deceased Kuznetsova. A very convenient highway (7 versts) leads from the Baidarsky most doors to the sea, but not more than 2½ versts along the path. From the name “Foros” there is a road that goes around the cape of the same name, which, in the vicinity of the Aysa Cape, forms the bay of Laspi. Once upon a time this munity was densely populated; There are still many remains of houses, ruins of churches and a cemetery. Even before the emigration of Tatars, there was a vast settlement, bearing the same name Foros, which in translation ѣ Greek means - a tribute. They think that this mosque was given such a name that the Yeodosia principality began from here. The name “Foros” takes 300 desyatin with a large park!

Palace and friend built, rich; electric lighting; Telegraph in Baydary.

Foros is surprisingly beautiful; a steep, steep bank forms a bay where a boat dock is built. The park called “Paradise” is fabulously good; at each step you are amazed with wonderful fountains, cascades, lakes grottoes, flowing ponds with a mass of golden fish; pens, pads, pavilions with canaries, swans, and Japanese ducks were built. The vegetation is splendid: the huge palm trees, ferns, araucaries and friends of the dry plants are found in abundance. Attention is paid to the huge orchard tree, removing the key of clean water!

In the palace of the owner, there are many expensive paintings of Klever, Makovsky, Orlovsky, Aivazovsky, Sudkovsky, Rizzoni and others.

Park cost Kuznetsova much more expensive mansion. Indeed, in those times when there were no modern means of transportation: airplanes, trains, cars — it took a lot of money to transport at least one tree from Africa or America. Saved by the fact that the main supplier of exotic plants was Nikitsky Botanical Garden. Titanic efforts were required to create ponds at different levels, build stone and light wooden openwork bridges, and equip waterfalls.

A vivid example of professional planning of the park can serve as a photograph of the end of the XIX century, which captures the view from the southern balcony of the palace. It offers a great perspective from the stair descent to the terrace of the lower park, where fountains and flower gardens are located.

Everything is open to the eye. One can even see the mast of the Kuznetsovsk yacht Foros. Later, especially after the war, the park is randomly planted with trees and gradually turns into continuous thickets. The same fate befell the territory to the west of the palace.

The most remarkable place in the park turned out to be “Paradise” with its lakes and ponds, connected in a single cascade system. All of them received additional decorative accents in the form of sculptural fountains, bridges, arbors and banks, decorated with tuff or massive blocks of limestone. The water surface of the pools was decorated with lilies and yellow irises. At the time of Kuznetsov, the estate looked like a real zoo with Japanese ducks, swans, canaries and animals, right up to antelopes.

The place "Paradise" is now called the "paradise", and sometimes the "corner of tranquility and silence," since there is never wind. Around the reservoirs with lilies now grow: Mexican yucca, certicis purple (Judevo tree), Chinese juniper and its species - Chinese juniper, golden - the only one in the whole Crimea, Balearic boxwood, sequoia dendron, cypresses: evergreen, Luzitan, arizone pines: Italian, seaside and even one birch. Carefully preserved and relic: yew berry and small-fruited strawberry (shameless).

If you, dear reader, wish to explore the paradise and discover its exotics on your own at any time convenient for you, then the scheme offered in the book will help you:

1. Chinese juniper golden.
2. Thuja western.
3. Sequoia dendron.
4. Yew berry multi-barreled.
5. Juniper Chinese.
6. Birch.
7. Pine Sabina.
8. Brutskaya pine, Eldar form.
9. Pine Italian.
10. Libocedrus (River cedar).
11. Bamboo.
12. Arizona cypress.
13. Palma trachycarpus forchuna.
14. Bulldonezh.
15. Quince is Japanese.
16. Spirea Japanese.
17. Medlar.
18. Plane.
19. Decorative pomegranate.
20. Fotinia Chinese white edged.
21. Atlas cedar.
22. Cedar Atlas gray weeping.
23. Acacia Lankaran.
24. Juniper large-fruited.
25. Rosemary officinalis.
26. Spanish Fir.
27. Yucca Mexican.
28. Shameless (strawberry)
29. Iudovo tree (Tsertsis-crimson).
30. Oak fluffy.
31. Pyramidal cypress trees.
32. Balearic box.
33. Crimean ivy.
34. Pine Culter.
35. Euonymus.
36. Silver Prickly Loch.
37. Cypress Luzitansky.
38. Cypress McNaba.
39. Pine Aleppo.
40. Himalayan cedar.
41. Atlas cedar silver.
42. Pistachio stupid.
43. Yew berry fasignata.
44. Cypress evergreen.

Unfortunately, the framework of this book does not allow to publish here a complete list of all the exotic plants of the park.

On these adjacent pages are placed for comparison photos - views of the park in different years. On the two lower - different photographers captured the central avenue of the park with a difference of ninety years.

The total number of plants in the park is approximately 330-350. We will only introduce you to some of them.

"Shameless" or small strawberry

This tree is called “shameless” by the people. Its scientific name is “small strawberry” or simply “strawberry tree”. The most amazing thing is that a shameless is a relic tree like a juniper. No one planted these trees with red-brown bark - they grow by themselves hundreds of thousands of years. In the midst of summer, the bark of the tree begins to crack and subsides, after which the branches and the trunk of the tree acquire a light green tint. They say that the shameless woman "undressed and turned red with shame." In fact, in such a strange way, a tree absorbs a maximum of light, which contributes to its growth. The berries of this tree look like strawberries and are quite edible. In addition to culinary qualities, strawberry possesses medicinal properties.

Interestingly, shameless is an evergreen tree. If the bark is shed every summer, the foliage does not fall off even in winter - it is gradually updated throughout the year. This plant is listed in the Red Book, so you need to treat it very carefully. You cannot touch a tree with your hands, because it starts to hurt from the touch of your hands. In our park, shameless can be seen on the shore of the lower pond in the paradise. In the wild, the heat-loving shameless grows in the Crimea only on the southern coast.

Juniper - tree - doctor

Hundreds of millions of years ago, the European continent was covered by a glacier. Then the ice melted, and life began to revive in new forms. But some areas in the southern part of the Crimea did not touch the icing. Juniper is preserved here in its original form. Juniper grows not only on the ground, but also on bare stones. Scientists explain this phenomenon by the fact that juniper roots secrete some special substance - it dissolves the stone. And it’s not possible to figure out what juniper eats on the rocks. This mysterious tree grows very slowly, weaving its branches into fancy knots. It lives up to a thousand years, and very carefully hides from people the secret of its breeding. Juniper can not be cultivated, and botanists have not learned to grow it from seeds. Juniper wood does not rot. And Nicholas II once liked the kebabs fried on his coals, and since then this kebab is called the royal one. And if a few berries of juniper grind and sprinkle them with roasted meat, then it becomes tastier than smoked turkey.

Especially attractive are the healing properties of juniper, which nobly influences the functions of the kidneys, the heart, and especially the respiratory organs. Juniper grove returns people health and prolongs life. Phytoncides secreted by juniper, not only add vitality and strength, but perfectly purify the air from harmful microbes. Surgeons performed operations under the juniper more than once without any disinfectants, as they were sure that air was sterile. The reader probably knows juniper tincture. By the way, Scottish gin is vodka made from juniper.

In Foros Park, especially many juniper trees grow in its western part and along the road up to the Tesselie cottage. Juniper can be distinguished by small green, blue and reddish (depending on the species) cone berries.

Mexican Yucca

In the old books mentioned yucca vodka. In America, yucca in the past produced alcohol and molasses. The most interesting thing is that the first denim is made from the fibers of the leaves of this tree. Some confuse yucca with small palm trees. Yucca differs from palm trees with razor-sharp needles at the ends of almost inflexible leaves. The injection of these needles is very dangerous, as they contain poison. Yucca blooms unusually lushly, the buds of white flowers rise high above the leaves. In the Crimea, in contrast to America, because of the colder climate, yuccas are small.

TYPE FLORA or the vegetable world.

Sorting pictures from the Abkhaz vacation, my daddy was formed - “The World of Vegetable”. This is about their flora.
   Well sho flora? I grew up with her and outlandish, at that time, did not find anything. He stretched out his hand out of the window and ... ate, for example: persimmon, peach, pomegranate or grapes, it happened and chose the variety - kachich or isabella, a walnut tree also grew in the yard. But here, having already lived enough in the middle lane, i.e. in comparison, the subtropics to me, began to seem ... very "completely". Yes, yes, the most northern subtropics in the world, sometimes showing examples of amazing natural fantasy and diversity.
   Well, as a preamble, it should be said that all the wealth of the plant world is imported here. At the beginning of the twentieth century, by the efforts of Russian scientists, merchants and patrons of art, especially Smetsky, strange samples of tropical and subtropical cultures were brought to Abkhazia. Eucalyptus from Australia, cypress nuts from Greece, aleander from azure, araucaria from South America, and from there came tobacco, cacti, creepers, tomatoes and corn (by the way mamaliga, made from corn flour, at Abkhz became the main food) and beans. Tea, persimmon and feijoa from China, from Vietnam is a candy tree, and a lot of palm trees and everything came from Africa. In short, very good and fun turned out. And, almost everything, surprisingly, stuck. Here, for example, the “work” of the lianas, which at once (in my opinion, estimates for “this” it took her thirty years), “bit” the concrete colonnade, destroyed by a war café, with the ironic-historical name “Friendship”. And judge the rest of the miracles yourself.

Here is the trunk of the Australian eucalyptus. Sometimes it is called shameless tree. He periodically changes the bark, dropping old robes and, as it were, naked all the time. But seriously this tree is a savior. Previously, the entire coast of Abkhazia was swampy, and then the malaria mosquito raged, the rest in Abkhazia was not so pleasant because of them. Eucalyptus acted as a "pump." Adults consume up to 500 liters of water per day. The swamps dried up and started ... paradise.

In childhood, on their high eucalyptus trunks, the punks are satisfied with "nests".

But fig tree or figs. His seed, even falling into the crack of the house, or garbage, begins to germinate. After fifteen years - a new tree.

This is how it looks from the outside. By the way, the leaves of this tree were used by the artists of the Renaissance, "covering" nature in their paintings, as a rule of biblical content.

Herbal luxury.

Or here ... a front view of the philharmonic.

Planes in the park.

Here so climbers "crawl" to the fifth floor. And even higher ...

Or this is how it enters the wild.

On the fortress wall ... Tenth century.

So they live by sucking the juices of the one who cannot "give an arccase."

Anomaly.

Or ... this is at the Stalin dacha at Lake Ritsa.

That's how the roots raise asphalt.

The road goes along the plane avenue.

That's how the plants "intersect" with stones.

So grows Pomegranate.

But I look at the blank for a pipe. She endured the sea.

In general, there are many picturesque snags on the beach.

Alpine grass.

Flowers among the mountains.

And this plant, I do not know the name.

Pitsunda tall pine.

Fern.

Bamboo alley.

There are also in thicker.

Still life.

In abandoned orchards, trees are "wild". This is in Tsebelda. The sight is wild.

Finita la comedy.

Yellow ...

This strawberry is called in the guidebooks a witness of the foundation of the Nikitsky Botanical Garden. You will find it on the border of the Upper and Lower parks.

The main event of mid-summer in Nikitsky garden - "shameless" dumping bark

Strawberry small-fruited - the only evergreen deciduous tree of the natural flora of the South Coast.

The height of the tree is about six meters, and it looks unusually original and decorative all year round thanks to its thin bark, which does not have a crust - the upper coarse layer. Sometimes it seems that there is no bark at all. But in July, on hot, hot days, you can clearly see how the old coral bark cracks and exfoliates in thin, papyrus-like, flaps, exposing the young, tender, with an ashy shade of olive-green bark. Discharge of old bark is completed by the end of summer. Almost simultaneously with the bark half of last year's leaves fall. And all these metamorphoses occur because strawberry, like many other evergreens, enters in the middle of summer during the period of leaf fall: at the peak of drought, to save moisture, it needs to reduce the evaporating surface, and the renewed green bark begins to replace the missing leaves, performing the function of photosynthesis .

All this looks very impressive, but for this particular feature, the tree has been annually called “shameless”, “resort woman”, “stripper” for this tree.

In Crimea, it grows only on the southern coast, on coastal cliffs and rocky slopes, which have become a kind of refuge for small strawberries. Sometimes there are ancient relics of the Tertiary period. Strawberry small-fruited is included in the list of rare and endangered plants in Europe. According to the calculations of scientists, only a few thousand small-fruited strawberry trees have survived in the Crimea, one of the places of its mass growth is the natural boundary of Cape Martyan, declared a natural monument.

Love tree

“Does a love tree grow in the Nikitsky Garden?” Is perhaps one of the most frequently asked questions. Vera Zykova, Head of the Museum of the NBS-NSC, Senior Researcher of the Department of Dendrology, Floriculture and Landscape Architecture usually tells in response about those trees that were considered symbols or patrons of love from different nations: about peach and orange, loved in China, pear and pomegranate from the Mediterranean, about the Kalina revered by the Slavs ...

But it also happens that people claim that they themselves personally saw the tree of love in the Nikitsky Botanical Garden, and then show it to the guides and even tell stories from their lives, in which this tree played a happy and magical role. So, right before our eyes, a legend is born about the Crimean tree of love - small strawberry strawberry.

Strawberry leaves, unusually rich in tannins and tanzanides, were used by locals, especially the Tatars of sheep farmers, to tan expensive leathers.

Arbutus andrachne

Small strawberry strawberry familiar, probably, to everyone who visited the parks and Nikitsky garden in the south of the Crimean peninsula. Known among the local population, it is more like a tree "shameless" or "spa woman". In scientific literature, the species is called “Greek strawberry tree” - by place of distribution, or red strawberry tree (Arbutus andrachne). “Red” - because most of the year its stems and branches remain coral or red-brown, “strawberry” - because from a distance the fruits resemble strawberries, but this is where the similarity with the berries ends.

In Latin, the genus name sounds like “Arbutus” - arbutus. He belongs to Vereskovaya and counts 11 according to one data, and 14 according to another. Strawberry red one of them.

Area

Strawberry small-fruited - very rare species. Like all arbutus heat-loving. In the wild flora it is common in the Mediterranean, in the Middle East, in certain regions of South-West Asia, on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus. Its northern border passes through the south of the Crimean peninsula. Resistant to drought, often takes stony areas where other representatives of woody plants do not take root. In the mountains it rarely rises above 300-500 meters above sea level. It grows in clearings, in light coniferous and deciduous forests.

On the peninsula of the Crimea small strawberry strawberries can be found on the capes of Ayia, Martian, in the mountains of Koshka, Ai-Nikola (here the largest population in the Crimea). The most accessible for tourists of Crimea copies are in Nikitsky Botanical Garden   and Alupka Park. Among the Crimean strawberries there are two long-livers over a thousand years old each with a trunk girth of 4 meters. In the photo one of them during the measurement of the trunk.

Arbutus is a red relict plant of the Cenozoic era, as evidenced by its remains, found during excavations in the Middle East in the layers of the earth of the Tertiary period. Consequently, the plant lived on earth at least one and a half million years ago. The number of strawberry plants on the ground is reduced, so the species is under the protection of the states in which it grows.

Legend

According to one of the legends, the Latin name strawberry mahogany received from the Arabic words “Ktal AV”, which in free translation means “killed the father”. Perhaps it was based on the association of red bare tree trunks with male bloody hands. The essence of the legend is as follows.

A family lived long ago in the world: a husband, a wife, and a father-in-law, that is, the father of a husband. When the father fell ill, the loving son went in search of the drug, but searched for him for so long that the father managed to recover and even conceive a child with his daughter-in-law. The returning son, having learned about the incident, killed his father, on the grave of which a tree with a red trunk grew.

Shameless tree

The main feature of small-fruited strawberry consists in annual renewal of the bark. The bark is dark red, thin as papyrus paper and easily exfoliates, exposing greenish “bare” trunks. Cracking and dropping of the bark occurs in July-August. This is accompanied by a slight rustling, which is why in some countries the plant is called "whisper". In our country, throwing away woody clothes is associated with stripping ladies on the beach, and for this reason small strawberry strawberries are called “health resort”. Even more similarity is added by the fact that, day after day, the young skin seems to tan and, eventually, turn reddish-orange. In this form, the plant is standing until the next summer, when everything begins to repeat again.

Not all of the above behavior of strawberry tree reminds lovers of beach holidays. Some for the annual exposure of the trunk, similar to a naked female body in the tanning stage, call him ironically “shameless” or “stripper”.

You can not touch the bare trunk with your hands. The tree gets burns from touching, after which ulcers form on it, and it starts to hurt. The photo shows the consequences of such curiosity - the trunk of strawberry, disfigured by diseases.

Description

Although small-fruited strawberries are attributed to Vereskov, which are mostly shrubs, dwarf shrubs and grasses, it looks like a shrub only in childhood, when young thin twigs are completely not covered with bark. Mature plants are true multi-trunk giant trees that can reach a height of 12 meters. They live for several hundred years. Trunks upright, often curved. At the same time, the diameter of one trunk is relatively small. Instances in which he is about 80 cm, are not common. Basically, the trunks are only 20-30 cm or slightly larger in diameter. This can be explained by the slow growth of the tree and the small number of specimens remaining on the ground.

Small-fruited strawberry blooms densely and continuously, is an excellent honey plant and serves at this time as a decoration of the landscape. In Crimea, flowering occurs in April, and in warm winters or to the south - even earlier, in February - March.

The flowers of arbutus red are small, up to 1-2 cm in size, with five petals, whitish, bisexual (there are male and female organs). Collected in inflorescences-panicles. The shape slightly resembles lilies of the valley, only without the characteristic delicate smell, and sweet-aromatic.

The leaves are medium in size, from 3 to 11 cm long, up to 4 cm wide, with a dense leathery leaf plate of ovate-oblong shape, alternate, arranged on a short petiole. Some leaves may have a sharp edge. In winter, the leaves do not fall off, but remain on the plant. Strawberry small-fruited single native evergreen deciduous species of the Crimean peninsula. We also have rare strawberries, large-fruited and hybrid, planted by humans.

In the middle-end of summer, when the temperature reaches its annual maximum, the red strawberry tree partially sheds old leaves, which are replaced by new young leaves. In this way, the tree is protected from the sweltering summer heat: the less moisture evaporates from a smaller surface, the less it suffers from drought. At the same time, the old red bark exfoliates, exposing the thin greenish, which contains chlorophyll. Green bark performs at this time the function of fallen leaves - is involved in photosynthesis.

Fruit-berries "shameless" forms in June. Round, covered with small tubercles, the size of a cherry (up to 15 mm), from a distance they resemble a little strawberry. Contain many small seeds. Mature juicy. Their color is red or orange, taste astringent. The flesh is yellow-orange. Fruits ripen in the fall, then become dark red. Although red strawberry berries are edible, they do not stand out for their particular taste, therefore, they are popular only with birds, which after eating contribute to the dispersion of seeds. Despite the large number of seeds, new plants almost do not grow. The reason may be poor seed germination or the death of young seedlings, for example, from drought or low temperatures.

Cultivation

Strawberry small-fruited very spectacular plant, one of the most beautiful types of Arbutus. During life, its trunks fancifully bend and twist. Completely smooth, most of the year of coral color, they, like hands, soar upward, supporting the openwork crown of leathery green leaves. In spring, trees are covered with numerous white and fragrant flowers. In the fall, branches are decorated with red "strawberry" (fruits).

Such a beautiful plant has long attracted attention, and from the beginning of the 18th century it began to be cultivated. In the Crimea, strawberry has been introduced into culture since 1813, almost immediately after its foundation, on the orders of Alexander I of the “Imperial Tauride Botanical Garden” on the southern coast of Crimea (now Nikitsky Botanical Garden).

In arid regions, strawberry plants are planted in gardens and parks to decorate the landscape. It tolerates drought and high temperatures well, therefore it is considered to be promising here for landscaping cities and restoring forests.
In northern latitudes, the red strawberry tree is grown in winter gardens in a tub culture.

Growing up

Strawberry small-fruited slow-growing and light-loving tree. Can grow in partial shade. Suitable for growing from 7 to 10 zone of frost resistance, while the 7 zone is recommended very carefully. Trees can hardly withstand short-term lowering of temperature to -10 -15 degrees. They freeze annual shoots, inflorescences and leaves of mature trees are dying. In the open ground with the threat of frost young saplings for the winter shelter, also protect from strong winds.

Strawberry small-fruited prefers sandy and loamy soils with a neutral or acidic reaction, well drained, rich in nutrients, moderately moist. Tolerates moderate pruning.

Breeding

Small-fruited strawberry reproduces more often by seeds.

Freshly harvested seeds are soaked for 5 days in warm water, sown to a depth of no more than 0.8 cm. The readiness of the seed for sowing can be determined by the cracked shell. Helps to improve seed germination stratification at 0 degrees in the fallen pine needles for 1.5-2 months.

Slightly grown seedlings are seated in separate pots. During the year contain in the same conditions as the crops, but always with good ventilation. Hardened seedlings are planted in the open ground after positive temperatures have been established in the spring. Plants are planted at a distance of at least 3 meters.

Less successful is grafting. It is carried out in the usual way. Green cuttings are harvested in early spring, and semi-woody (cuttings with bark) are cut from annual shoots in late autumn.

Reproduction by layering is also possible. Young shoots bend to the ground, pinned at one point, sprinkled with soil. The open tip of the shoot is directed vertically upwards. Rooting takes about two years.

Despite the unpretentiousness of small strawberry, it multiplies difficult. Therefore, for planting, it is preferable to purchase ready seedlings with a closed root system. You can find them in foreign nurseries. According to reviews, under the name Arbutus andrachne can be sold strawberry hybrid.

The difficulty in breeding red strawberry arises from certain soil fungi that live under the tree and form mycorrhiza with it. The roots of the strawberry have no root hairs, and the vultures of the mushrooms, attached to them, in an accessible form supply the necessary nutrients to the roots. Such a symbiosis is peculiar to all Vereskovs, to which small-fruited strawberry belongs. Therefore, when growing from seeds, it is recommended to take the soil under the trees, next to which grows “shameless” in nature, or under the strawberry itself. It is important that when the seeds germinate, the vultures of the fungus penetrate to the root of the sprout and thereby provide it with food.

A long taproot can also cause poor survival when transplanting young plants. After all, it is very difficult to dig up a seedling from the stony soil of a mountainous area without damaging the root system.

Properties

Strawberry small-fruited nature endowed with a unique wood, a little rotten. Exclusive handicrafts were made from it, for example, caskets, furniture and other household items. In connection with the curvature of the trunks in the construction did not apply.

The leaves and bark of the strawberry tree contain a high percentage of tannins, so they were once used in leather production.

Small strawberry can grow next door to its “brother” strawberry large-fruited   . As a result, there were hybrids endowed with features of each of them.