When you spend a lot of time in your garden, you start to notice interesting things about nature. For example, you learn to identify beneficial weeds, or you may discover strange conditions such as fasciation.
This unusual condition affects the appearance of flowers, which can distort stems and cause petals to appear larger and crowded. Even more famously, it makes the flowers really weird. So what’s going on? And what should you do about it?
You have come to the right place. This article is about this fascinating condition that appears on flowers and how to deal with it in your garden.
Contents
What is fasciation in flowers?
If you’ve noticed changes in your flowers and aren’t sure what’s going on, you may be dealing with fascination.
In literal terms, fasciation refers to the act of grouping. When a plant has this condition, the growth may come out distorted. This can cause unusual flower, stem, or leaf growth. Fasciation can occur on the root and sometimes on the fruit.
Gardeners will describe flowers with these deformities as fascinated. If you’re new to plants, you’re probably only learning this term, but it’s a common problem that’s been around for as long as plants have been around.
There are a few things to watch out for when it comes to fascination.
Depending on the flower, fasciation will affect several parts of the plant. Sometimes this condition appears only on the tip of the plant, so it does not have serious consequences. However, if fasciation develops on the root, it could ruin the whole plant.
Even though fasciation isn’t the most common condition to find in your garden, it has been studied in over 100 species around the world. The garden flowers most commonly affected by fasciation are delphiniums, forsythias, foxgloves, lilies, primroses, euphorbias and veronicastrum. But many species, from trees to grasses, from ferns to cacti, can be affected.
You can tell if your flower has this condition once it has reached full maturity and you can compare it to other flowers. You might see things like two merged flower heads or elongated centers. Some flowers may be huge or the fruits may be oddly deformed.
Sometimes you will see clusters of stems or growths at the end of a stem, or a stem may be flat instead of round. Consider this a “mistake” in the growth of the plant.
Fascination isn’t always bad. Many prized plants, such as Japanese willow and cockscomb celosia cultivars, are the result of fascination.
Why does it happen
There are several reasons why this can happen to your plants.
As the genetic of each flower is unique, this means that there are often irregularities which can cause deformities such as fasciation. As in humans, there can be random events that mutate certain cells and a plant’s overall gene pool.
It can also be caused by hormonal imbalances.
Fasciation can also develop from damage parasites such as insects or herbivores. Many gardeners use an insecticide to get rid of insects, which can lead to unusual plant growth. You can even cause fascination by injuring a plant as you prune or dig around it.
If the flowers have grown in winter and are exposed to hard Weather report conditions, it can also cause deformities.
Fasciation can be caused by phytoplasma or fungus, virus or bacteria infections. The fasciation itself is not a disease, but the strange growth can be triggered by a disease.
Finally, it can happen for no reason that we understand. It can be just one of those things.
Can you treat fasciation?
Although you can limit the possibility of infections with proper maintenance, you cannot completely avoid the fascination of flowers. We don’t always know what causes it. Nor is there a cure once a plant has it.
Now, that can be daunting if you have a garden full of beautiful, colorful flowers. However, if your flowers are perennials, they may well regrow next year. So you shouldn’t destroy them if they end up being fascinated.
That being said, if you want to improve the appearance of your flowers and don’t want to completely remove them from your garden, you can prune any affected areas. It might make the plants look nicer, but it won’t guarantee that new growth won’t be facied.
Fascia doesn’t spread through the garden, so you don’t have to worry about one plant picking it up from a nearby plant. However, if a particular pathogen caused the fasciation, it could spread to other plants and they could develop this disorder.
Help prevent it
The first thing you can do to limit fascination is to use an organic spray when dealing with pests and diseases. At most garden stores, you can find natural options for eliminating pests and diseases. Neem oil, horticultural oil, and beneficial fungi and bacteria are good options.
You also need to give your plants the nutrients they need to stay healthy and fight off potential pests or diseases.
Protect your plants from damage, whether it’s caused by winter frost, your trimmer or munching rodents.
Learn to appreciate fascination
When you plant flowers, the first thing that comes to mind is the image of a space full of blooming petals. But, sometimes nature has a way of messing up our plans. Fasciation is one of those unexpected surprises that can throw you off when growing your plants.
Depending on your personal preferences, fascination doesn’t have to be the end of the world. After all, it is a natural condition. Instead of working against it, you should learn to accept these unique differences that may appear on your flowers.
It depends on what you want your garden to look like. Do you want the perfect display of flowers arranged in line with each other? Or can you live with something a little more natural and accept small imperfections like fascination.
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