Syrian milkweed (Asklepius, gospel) use and medicinal properties. Application in folk medicine: treatment of diseases with the Syrian milkweed

Syrian milkwort (Asclepias syriaca L.) is a perennial plant of the Lastivne family (Asclepiadaceae). The plant feels good in the sun, does not grow or is very oppressed in the shade, for example, under trees or bushes. The flowers are large, which makes the plant decorative (which is why it is grown in flower beds), and very fragrant. The plant produces a large amount of clear, very sweet nectar. When photographing plants, they are covered with bumblebees, bees and other insects. This feature makes the plant promising for growing in apiaries. It is believed that it is the flower growers and beekeepers who contribute to the uncontrolled spread of the Syrian milkweed. Obviously, the plant can also spread by seeds, "migrates" along with agricultural machinery.

A lot of red seeds ripen in postcard fruits, which have a bunch of long white hairs. One of the uses of the plant, and since ancient times, is the manufacture of cotton wool from these hairs (hence, finally, the name). They also used the milkweed as a hemp culture, since its stems are made up of strong fibers. Instead of ropes and twine, you can use rhizomes. In Ukraine, back in the 30s of the last century, the cotton wool was used as a rubber-bearing plant. it accumulates a lot of latex in the aerial part.

If a plant is broken, even a leaf, a large amount of white juice is released at the break, resembling thick and sticky milk. The juice is poisonous, and if it comes into contact with the skin (especially in sunny weather), it can cause burns. The rhizomes of the plant are long, cable-like, with numerous adventitious buds, which have a high viability. For example, one centimeter of a rhizome with a bud in the ground does not lose its ability to reproduce even in the absence of rain for more than three months. And under favorable conditions, real thickets, the so-called "colonies", are formed in a year or two, with a growth of rhizomes up to 15 m.

Measures to combat the weed

Previously, when all the fields were dug deep, it was possible to pacify the plant, now the situation has changed radically. A lot of corn is sown on the fields, which the milkweed "tolerates". It is believed that there are no proven and effective measures control this weed. The stems break badly and mow. The first thing that may come to mind for specialists, as well as gardeners and summer residents who are forced to know "chemistry" in our time, is treatment with Roundup (which is "from everything"), or other preparations based on glyphosate.

However, even after treatment with these preparations, the plants either do not die, or the aerial part dies and partially root system. And after two weeks, new plants grow from the remains of rhizomes. How to overcome this "green enemy" if he persistently wants to settle in a certain territory? First you need to conduct a survey of the territory, especially carefully this must be done along the edges of fields or other plantations. Such a survey is best done at the beginning of the growing season (in May).

When a Syrian milkweed is found, spraying is carried out with such a mixture of herbicides: "Chistopol" (10 l / ha) + "Hlebodar" (0.5 l / ha) + "Osotin" (0.4 l / ha) + "Syaivo" (200 ml/ha). It is better if the plants are in the phase of 2-9 pairs of leaves during processing. Working mixture drugs should be evenly applied to the surface of plants. Be sure to write down the date of the treatment and within three weeks do not carry out mowing or other mechanical destruction of plants (due to the toxicity of the drugs). You can also carry out edge processing of the field (subject to the rules indicated above).

The mechanical destruction of weeds (mowing or cutting) only leads to a greater spread of plants. A month after the treatment for the destruction of plants that have grown from the roots or at the time of the first treatment did not have time to grow, were overgrown, carry out the second treatment. In case of detection rare plants it is advisable to treat the milkweed on already treated areas with a mixture of herbicides using a manual sprayer (one month after the second treatment). Next year, preventive spraying of the cells of the Syrian milkwort grown from seeds should be carried out.

As we can see, it is not difficult to grow a Syrian milkwort, but getting rid of it is a complicated and exclusively "chemical" matter.

The Syrian cottonwort has nothing to do with Syria, as the discoverer confused it with kutra, a Middle Eastern plant. This plant is also called milk grass, and it is a perennial. The Syrian milkweed is included in the Kutrovye family and has the following description:

  • The plant grows up to 2 m.
  • Its leaves are wide, shaped like an egg and grow up to 25 cm long and 12 cm wide.
  • The central vein is Syrian scarlet.
  • The flowers of the plant are collected in an inflorescence in the form of an umbrella. Their color is lilac or pink. They grow up to 2 cm in diameter and have a pleasant aroma.
  • The fruits of the milkweed are collected in a green box in the form of a sickle. Its surface is corrugated. Seeds in a box of dark brown color.
The use of a vatochnik is quite wide. It is used in cosmetology and folk medicine. We will talk about this in more detail in this article.

Did you know? The tufted tufts went to the production of film.

The chemical composition of the milkweed

Syrian milkwort contains triterpene saponins, lignans, resins, essential oils, pectins, flavoid glycosides, amino acids, carotenoids and ascorbic acid. The milky juice contains a poisonous cardiac glucoside, and the seeds contain a brown dye, fatty oil and strophanthus.

Medicinal properties of the Syrian milkweed

Due to the beneficial properties of the milkweed, it is used in medicine. How medicinal plant the vatnik was used by the Indians on the North American continent.

Medicines based on the milkweed are used to restore of cardio-vascular system, and the extract from the seeds causes excitation of respiration. The leaves of the Syrian milkweed contain vitamin C, asklepiadin glucoside and rubber.

Important! Glucoside asklepiadine has a strong laxative property and can cause rapid death.

The Syrian milkwort copes well with purulent wounds, ulcers and bites of various insects.

The extracts on the milkweed are used for any skin conditions such as ringworm, psoriasis, or eczema. It can also be used to treat arrhythmia, tachycardia or shortness of breath.

Application in folk medicine: treatment of diseases with the Syrian milkweed


The use of the Syrian milkweed in folk medicine is very wide. Milky juice, roots, seeds and inflorescences of the Syrian milkweed are used. Such raw materials are collected and harvested from June to July, and then decoctions, tinctures and powders are prepared from dry herbs and seeds.

tincture of rhizomes

The tincture of the rhizomes of the Syrian milkweed is used for the following diseases:

  • dropsy;
  • kidney disease;
  • skin diseases;
  • tachycardia;
  • arrhythmia;
  • dyspnea;
  • swelling;
  • pain in the region of the heart;
  • high blood pressure.
The recipe is the following: 5 g of crushed rhizomes pour 50 ml of boiling water. The mixture should be infused for 20 minutes. This infusion is used as compresses for insect bites or skin diseases.

For kidney disease, a different recipe is used. 1 st. a spoonful of rhizomes is poured with 500 ml of water. The mixture must be boiled over low heat for 15 minutes, and then infused for about 30 minutes. After that, the mixture is filtered and drunk 75 ml 2-4 times a day.


The following recipe is used for dropsy. 1 teaspoon of rhizomes should be poured with 150 ml of boiling water. This mixture should be infused for 30 minutes, then it should be filtered. You need to take it 2-3 times a day, 75 ml.

In cardiovascular diseases, tincture is made on alcohol. To do this, pour 50 ml of 70-degree alcohol 5 g of dry rhizome. This mixture is infused for 2 weeks. After that, it should be filtered and applied 5-10 drops 3 times a day before meals. The course of such treatment depends on the condition of the patient and can last up to 4 weeks.

Infusion of dried leaves

Tincture on the dry leaves of the Syrian milkwort is used for warts, wounds and lichen. To do this, milky juice should be squeezed out of fresh leaves and smeared on sore spots 1 time per day.

Also, this infusion is used for rheumatism, arthritis, kidney failure.

To do this, take dried leaves (about 1 teaspoon) and pour 1 cup of boiling water. The leaves are boiled for about 1 hour. You need to drink such an infusion three times a day half an hour before meals, 1/3 cup. The course of treatment is up to 4 weeks.

A decoction of rhizomes


A decoction of the rhizomes of the milkweed is used for diabetes mellitus, tachycardia, high blood pressure, it is also used as a diuretic and laxative.

The decoction recipe is as follows: 5 g of dry rhizome is poured into 125 ml of water and boiled for 15 minutes from the moment of boiling. The mixture is then left to cool for one hour. You need to take such a decoction for 1 tbsp. spoon each time before meals for 4 weeks.

Important! If you want to take it again, it is better to do it after a break of two weeks.

Dry powder from rhizomes

Dry powder from the rhizomes of the milkwort can be bought at any pharmacy.

It is used for prostatitis, prostate adenoma, and also as a diuretic. More than once, dry powder from the milkweed was used for coughs, pneumonia and colds.

This remedy should be taken 4 times a day with warm water. boiled water. The amount of powder should be small, it will be enough to take it on the tip of a knife.

Did you know? The milkwort is a honey plant in Massachusetts, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Nebraska, California, and Michigan, but it is relatively rare in the steppes.

Aqueous extract of milkwort seeds


IN dosage forms The milkweed includes not only the leaves and rhizomes of the plant, but also the seeds.
They make an aqueous extract for dressings, compresses and washes. They are used for ulcers, purulent wounds, skin diseases and the cessation of inflammatory processes.

It is very easy to make it. To do this, you will need 2 teaspoons of crushed seeds. They should be poured with a glass of boiling water and insisted for an hour. It is necessary to use such an infusion as washings, compresses, lotions and applications.

Aqueous infusion of the leaves of the milkwort and garden rue

Garden rue contains essential oils, flavonoids - rutin, organic acids, coumarin, alkaloids, bitter and tannins. It can also be used for various diseases in a mixture with the Syrian milkweed.

The recipe for this infusion is as follows: 2 teaspoons of the mixture should be poured with 2 cups of boiling water and left for 1 hour. Such an infusion should be taken in half a cup with the addition of natural honey (half a teaspoon). The infusion should be warm. The course of treatment is about a month.

How is a vatochnik used in cosmetology

Vatochnik is used in cosmetology due to the fact that it contains a lot of essential oil. Its aroma can be compared to chocolate, vanilla and floral. Especially often it is used in the manufacture of perfumes. It is also used in phytocosmetics and dermatology. The milkweed is included in anti-aging products solely because it has a large amount of amino acids.

Procurement and storage of medicinal raw materials from the vatochnik


Medicinal raw materials from the milkwort, namely inflorescences, seeds, roots and milky juice, are harvested from June to July, only the seeds are harvested as they ripen. It is better to prepare the roots in April, when shoots appear on them.

Fruits and seeds contain many healing substances in the period of full ripening. large fruits must be collected selectively, and dry fruits and seeds must be cut with a sickle and dried in a dry place.

The roots are dug up and the above-ground part is separated. The earth should be shaken off, and the roots washed in running water. Then they should be dried on a bedding. Before drying the medicinal raw material of the milkweed, it should be carefully sorted out. It is necessary to remove impurities, rotten parts of the plant and the ground. Leaves before drying should also be sorted out and the diseased removed. From the inflorescences it is necessary to remove diseased and foreign impurities, as well as wilted flowers.

- This is a spectacular and prominent plant that can reach human height with its size. Flowers in large inflorescences of the milkweed are either pink-lilac or pink-gray. The leaves of this plant are large and wide. Just so catchy appearance and served as the reason that for many centuries people treated him with interest and attention. A lot of useful properties that people tried to use in life. However, over time, it turned out that some of the qualities of the plant were exaggerated and did not bring any benefit in practice.

Asclepias syriaca (Asclepias syriaca) is a herbaceous perennial of the gossamer family that first appeared in North America. It has long white roots that lie deep into the ground, and rounded, hollow inside, unbranched stems, which, like the leaves, are covered with short white hairs.

The leaves themselves have an elliptical shape, and reach a length of up to 30 centimeters. They clearly show the network of veins that give this plant a special appeal. The leaves are attached to the shoots in opposite pairs, less often in three, their planes are parallel to the ground plane. A characteristic feature of the vegetative organs of the milkweed is that they are capable of secreting milky juice in large quantities.

Vatochnik begins to bloom from mid-June and ends in mid-August. The beginning of autumn is the time for the ripening of the fruits of this plant, but in the conditions of the middle lane they rarely have time to ripen, only in very hot years.

Etheronos

Essential oils are contained in large quantities in all organs of the Syrian milkweed. In industry, only the flowers of the plant are used as raw materials for the production of ether. When the cotton plant blooms, its pleasant aroma can be carried for many meters. Essential oils plants have a memorable and bright aroma, similar to the smell of perfume. And, indeed, the essential oils of the Syrian milkwort are actively used in modern perfumery.

honey plant

In addition to the high content of essential oils, the milkweed has another useful property - honey content. From one hectare of the field where this plant is planted, you can get more than 600 kg of honey. Collected from the honeycomb honey of light yellow or white color, it has a fruity delicate aroma and high palatability. Honey collection from the plant occurs in July-August, lasting at least one and a half months. Bees visit vatochnik throughout the daylight hours.

Use as an ornamental plant

Decorativeness is one of the most important and indisputable qualities of the Syrian quilt. The beauty of this plant is associated, first of all, with unusual leaves, as well as his general view. The most beautiful vatochnik during its flowering period.

How ornamental plant the Syrian quilt is good when used for the background in a composition from different varieties plants. It will also look great if planted in a dense group in a vacant lot, or in other unplanted areas of your site. It is possible to use a quilt as a kind of screen that will block an ugly view on the site or unsuccessful buildings.

The best solution for growing milkwort on the site is an underground restriction device. Plants grown in cramped underground conditions will look like a beautiful, dense exotic bouquet.

The wonders of unpretentiousness

The unpretentiousness of the milkweed is one of the advantages of the plant, which hardly anyone can doubt. It is drought tolerant, sun loving and undemanding to soil fertility. In the hot summer months, the cottonwort is still fresh and vigorous, while other plants dry up and burn, despite constant watering. All that is necessary for the Syrian milkweed for a normal life is dry open space with light soil.

It is best to propagate the plant vegetatively, using root segments. Most the right time for this is the beginning of spring or the last month of summer.

Thus, the Syrian milkwort is an interesting and multifaceted plant with many talents, qualities and uses. You may also need one or more of them.

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Swallow, asklepias, milky grass or Syrian milkwort belongs to the kutrov family from North America. In Russia, the plant was brought in the nineteenth century, both for decoration and for industrial purposes.

According to the botanical description, the Syrian milkwort is represented by a bush that grows up to two meters in height. Inside the biological structure of the plant, there is a white liquid, which is popularly called milky juice. The lanceolate leaves of asclepias are green in color, with pronounced veins of beige and reddish tones. They are located opposite, have an oblong appearance, a wavy edge, as well as a size, up to thirty centimeters in length and twelve centimeters in width. At the top of the shoots are umbrella-shaped inflorescences, on which fragrant flowers of pink, red and purple tones sit. The flowering phase is observed in the summer and autumn season. After the flowering period, a seed box is formed in the form of a green shell (8 -10 centimeters), as it has a beautiful surface and similarity when opened. The ripening of brown seeds, which cover the box in clusters and have white pubescence, can occur in warm climates. Aroma flowering shrub reminiscent of the smell of a candy store, in particular chocolate. Due to the presence of a white fluff on the seeds, the plant received the name - vatochnik.

Asklepias Cornuti is another name for the milkwort, which appeared in honor of the Italian botanist. Kornuti, seeing the vatnik, mistook it for another culture.

The root system of the plant is represented by shoots that take root vertically and horizontally in the soil. It is difficult to call them powerful, therefore it is better not to carry out reproduction by root division, since when digging up a bush, the roots are damaged.

The genus of milkweed has several species that differ in botanical structure, climatic conditions of growth and care. The most adapted to our climate are Syrian milkweed and Asklepias meat - red (incarnate color).

Meat - the red milkweed is a little smaller in size than the Syrian, and grows up to one and a half meters in height. The shape of bushes, leaves, stems and inflorescences is similar to Syrian quilt, only the color of the umbrellas is purple, red or burgundy. The smell during flowering is not too saturated.

Syrian milkweed and red meat belong to perennials that withstand frost well. In more severe winters, both species, like others garden plants, need shelter and soil mulching.

The flowering phase is observed from mid-June, as well as in July, August and September. The duration of this phase can reach more than a month. After the end of this period, the next one begins - fruit ripening, which is especially active in warm autumn weather.

Properties and application

The seed hairs are white and tender to the touch, quite abundantly covering the ripened seeds inside the fruit. When you open the fruit, a decent ball of cotton is placed in your hand, which prompted the biological industry to use the plant as an analogue of cotton. Such material can be used in the manufacture of fabric, adding fibers to silk, cotton and wool. The beauty and naturalness of the material obtained, for some time, created great popularity for the quilt. It has been propagated, nurtured and cared for in many areas of land, both private and public. As time passed, the quilting machine ceased to be in demand in the spinning industry, since the woven hairs were not strong enough, which negatively affected the quality of the fabric obtained.

In modern times, the cotton raw material of the plant is well used in the furniture industry, but emerging synthetic alternative materials are pushing the cotton wool into the past.

For medicinal purposes, some healers use the milky juice secreted by the plant. According to its ability to cleanse and heal the skin, it can remove some growths, warts and papillomas. When large areas of the epidermis are affected, as in psoriasis, milkweed juice can be added to bath water. For the preparation of infusions and decoctions of the plant, flowers, leaves and roots are collected. IN chemical composition milkweed contains amino acids and other organic compounds, which can strengthen the immune system, maintain cardiotonus, that is, stabilize cardiovascular disorders. The composition of some herbal teas for the treatment of arrhythmia, angina pectoris, includes the Syrian milkwort. The cosmetology industry also uses raw materials for the manufacture of regenerating and anti-aging creams. Some traditional medicine recipes recommend adding the leaves of the plant to the salad in the spring.

The milky juice of Asclepias in the old days was used as rubber, since its constituents are elastomers. To obtain vegetable raw materials, plantations for growing milkwort occupied large areas of land, and to provide care, they hired workers. In the process of juice processing, the elastic properties of the pulp did not match high quality in products, so the plant could not be compared with others rubber plants. In the process of producing latex synthetically, the need for a vat disappeared.

The umbellate inflorescences of the milkwort contain a large amount of essential oil. The rest is also accumulated in other parts of the plant. It is the aroma of this oil that spreads over long distances during the flowering period of the milkweed. The smell is compared with chocolate, floral, vanilla, and does not leave indifferent people with different tastes. For this reason, the vatnik is widely used in cosmetology for the manufacture of perfumes. To do this, carry out the cultivation, collection and proper care of inflorescences, in which the largest number of cavities and excretory glands of essential oil.

If you plant a honeycomb and it grows over an area of ​​one hectare, you can collect a considerable amount of honey. Bees and other insects are very fond of collecting nectar during the flowering period of the honeydew. Under conditions of proper care when growing a plant, its flower will be large and honey-bearing. The resulting bee product is considered especially useful for the human body if it contains a milkweed. It acquires a certain color, taste, smell and usefulness.

Cultivation and care

You can plant a cotton plant in the garden near the fence, as well as on an empty piece of land, which is located on household territory. Close to garden and annual ornamental crops, it is not worth planting, as it can survive neighboring plants. Some perennials blend well and create a picture of decorativeness, among them are: bluebells, meadows, barley, reed grass, pike, miscanthus, physostegia, echinocea and aconites.

In order for its root system not to shoot over long distances, the planting of the milkweed is carried out with a spatial restriction. This technique is done to prevent the growth of horizontal roots and the formation of a bush. You can use a large container, a tire or other material that will provide walls in the ground. In this case, the milkweed grows into a large, lush and fragrant bush that does not affect neighboring plants. To grow a milkweed, you need to know that it propagates by seeds and cuttings. You can also split the root, but this is difficult, as it is quite fragile. Like many plants, the milkweed loves light, loose and fertilized soil, but if such qualities are not on highest level, then the survival of the culture does not suffer. The seeds of the milkwort are harvested in September or October and, subject to sufficient maturation, are planted in the substrate. At the same time, you can cut the shoots and propagate the milkweed with cuttings. Planting cuttings is also carried out in the spring. In this breeding practice, it is difficult to remember the case when the milkwort does not grow. Flowering shrub occurs after three years.

The main thing for a vatochnik is the sun, water and Fresh air. Sunlight is involved in plant photosynthesis and even scorching rays do not cause burns on the leaves and do not dry out the soil. Planting a shrub in open sunny areas will not be a violation of the rules for caring for a plant.

Watering for the cotton plant does not need plentiful and not too frequent. According to observations, heavy rains and The groundwater moisten the bush enough, and it can survive the drought for a long time in a beautiful flowering form. You can drink a milkweed once a week, or even ten days, it depends on the type of crop.

It tolerates cotton wool and pruning well. This procedure is carried out in the fall, while cutting off the internal branches and overgrown shoots to form the crown of the plant, make it decorative and ensure breathability.

The climate of our region is quite satisfied with the vatnik, both hot summers and frosty winters. The plant can withstand all weather conditions for several years. Some gardeners remain unchanged in the schedule of caring for the plants in their garden, so they mulch the soil of all crops, and also shelter them from frost and heat, which does not interfere with the cotton plant.

Of the eighty species of Asclepias, which are noted both in Africa and in South America, can be distinguished:

  • tuberose;
  • Kurasavskiy;
  • fruticose;
  • Tuberous.

These species can sometimes be grown in our latitudes, but the plants may not be as unpretentious as their relatives and not withstand the winter. Such species require some care in planting, providing temperature regime, watering, pruning, fertilizing and other techniques. According to external signs, varieties have a different size of the bush, the shape of branches, leaves, flowers, as well as their color. Orange, yellow and pink inflorescences of the milkweed are noted.

The Syrian milkweed is a noticeable plant, if not prominent. The size of a man, with large ornamental leaves and flowers of a color between rose and cocoa, in hanging lateral racemes. The catchy appearance was the reason for the unchanging attention that people have given to the quilt for centuries. A variety of useful qualities and tried to put them at the service of man. Over time, however, it turned out that some of its useful properties are exaggerated, and do not hold out for practical returns.

Botanist mistake.

In the botanical names of plants, various kinds of incidents are often recorded. Syrian fleece (Asclepiassyriaca), - a herbaceous perennial of the lastovnevy family, is a native of North America, and certainly not Syria. Due to an oversight by a botanist, the vatnik was first described as a Syrian kendyr similar to it. This misunderstanding was noticed by Linnaeus, but he left the specific epithet - Syrian, unchanged, as well-established.

It has deep-seated, long, white, cord-like rhizomes, from which straight rhizomes rise high from below, and slightly cranked at the top, rounded, hollow inside, unbranched stems, pubescent, like leaves, with short white hairs. Leaves, short-petiolate, elliptical, up to 30 cm long, with a well-marked network of veins, giving the plant a special appeal. They are attached to the shoots in pairs-opposite (rarely three), and the planes of the leaf plates are parallel to the ground. It is characteristic that all vegetative organs Plants produce abundant milky sap.

It blooms in mid-June, with small five-membered beige-pinkish flowers on long thin pedicels, collected in multi-flowered racemose umbrellas. Blooms until mid-August. The beginning of September is the time of fruit ripening, but in middle lane they rarely ripen, only in fairly hot years. But when the fruits nevertheless ripen, one of the popular nicknames of the plant becomes clear - the swallow, since with their spindle-shaped form, they really resemble the body of a swallow.

A failed opponent of cotton.

The first thing that the Europeans noticed at the milkweed was cotton wool, or rather seed hairs, densely protruding from the seedlings when they ripen. Fully ripened fruits, and their length reaches 10 cm, and their width is up to 7 cm, are literally stuffed with “cotton wool”. This prompted the idea to try the plant as a source of raw materials for spinning. Independent tissue, however, did not work out of the plant. Then his hairs began to mix with fine wool, cotton, silk, thus obtaining fabrics that resembled flannel, cloth, velvet. It was the golden age of the quilt in Europe, but it was short-lived. It turned out that due to their brittleness, the hairs of the milkweed only reduced the quality of the fabrics. Then there was a rather long story with the use of a furniture production, as a stuffing material. By the way, it ended quite recently under the onslaught of foam rubber and other modern materials.

Doctor.

Indigenous peoples in Canada and the United States have long used the cottonwort in folk medicine. However, there is only indirect information about this, and nothing concrete, they say, the plant was used for many diseases. In Russian books about this talent of a quilted man - silence. The use of milkweed for food purposes is also mentioned in passing: the young shoots of the plant were used in salads, the flowers were turned into a confectionery dish by sugaring.

Rubber.

If you break the stem, or tear off the petiole of the leaf, then a thick creamy milky juice will instantly appear from the damage, which dries quickly in the air. This was at one time the reason to introduce the cotton wool into the culture as a source of raw materials for natural rubber. Soon, however, it became clear that the quality of rubber is low, and the technology for its production is not economically viable. And to the plant as a rubber plant, interest was also lost.

Etheronos.

As an ether-carrier, the vadochnik was more fortunate. Essential oils are found in all organs of the plant, but in industry only flowers are used as raw materials. When the thickets of the milkweed are covered with many flowers, their aroma spreads for tens of meters around, leaving no one indifferent. The essential oils of the milkweed have a bright, pleasant, perfumery aroma. Personally, the smell of the flowers of the milkwort seems surprisingly familiar to me, it often seems to me in the aromas emanating from perfumed people. The vatochnik is really used by modern perfumery.

Honey plant.

What you certainly cannot take away from a milkweed is its honey content. When planted on the field, the cotton plant is capable of producing at least 600 kg of honey from a conditionally continuous hectare. The honey collected from the honeycomb has a high taste condition, it is white or light yellow in color, with a pleasant delicate fruity aroma. The honey collection from the milkweed lasts at least one and a half months, covering July and August. Bees visit the plant all daylight hours.

Decorative plant.

Decorativeness, perhaps, is the most indisputable and unreviewable quality of a quilted quilt. The beauty of the milkweed is primarily associated with its leaves and general appearance. Flowering, of course, is the peak of its decorative effect.

The fleece is good for mixed backgrounds flower arrangements. It can be planted in a dense group in a vacant lot or off-site no man's land to ennoble the view from your garden. It can be used as a screen blocking an ugly view or an unsuccessful structure.

On the suburban area vatochnik is best grown with an underground restriction. Experience shows that the restriction should be deep enough, for example, a dug-in KAMAZ tire is not enough. It is better to use an enameled tank with undamaged walls that has served its purpose. By the way, such a decision in the appropriate place can look extremely extraordinary. Imagine that the walls of the tank rising above the soil (by about 5 cm) are masked by a pile of small boulders. The cottonwort, crammed into a small underground space, grows at the same time in a thick sheaf and looks like a colorful exotic bouquet.

Planted and forgotten.

The undoubted advantage of the vatochnik is its unpretentiousness. He is sun-loving, drought-resistant, relatively undemanding to soil fertility. At right choice planting sites and appropriate soil preparation, can grow for a decade without care, except for weeding. In the summer of 2010, hot from the heat, the vatnik, with its numerous large leaves showed enviable vivacity, while many plants, despite watering, burned and hung their leaves. All you need is an open, dry place with fairly light soil. Fertility is not of decisive importance, although the presence of humus in the soil is certainly useful for the plant. It is most realistic to propagate the milkweed vegetatively, using segments of rhizomes. Best time for this the beginning of spring and the end of summer.

It was once said that one true talent is better than seven unreliable ones. As we have noted, the worker has six talents, but if you work hard, you can find all seven, so judge for yourself which one of them would be useful to you personally. Or maybe not one?