Gentiana, mountain blue

Gentiana is a superb flower with incomparable blue or yellow hues.

Gentiana key facts

Name – Gentiana
Family – Gentianaceae
Type – perennial or annual

Height – 4 to 20 inches (10 to 50 cm) depending on the variety
Exposure – full sun, part sun or shade
Soil – ordinary

Flowering – May to September.

Often admired in the wild, it is now available for sale for the greatest joy of our gardens and terraces.

• Health: health benefits of gentiana

Planting gentiana

Best plant the nursery pots in spring with a density of 5 to 10 specimens to a square yard (1 m²).

• Mix your earth with flower plant soil mix and eventually a bit of heath soil.

To sow annual gentiana from seed, perform the sowing at the beginning of spring, in March or April, and it will bloom from June to September.

Pruning and caring for gentiana

Gentiana is a flower that requires only reduced attention, and the care it needs is summed up in the few following practices.

Eliminate wilted flowers as soon as they wilt, so that the plant won’t waste energy and instead will dedicate itself to growing new trumpet-shaped flowers.

As regards watering, only a few liters of water are enough in case of prolonged dry spells or sweltering heat waves.

Gentiana loves sun but appreciates light shade if it is in a location where the sun is scorching in summer.

Gentiana in winter

In fall, you may cut the stems and withered leaves back short.

Protecting the foot of the plant with a nice layer of dried leaves will allow your gentiana to overwinter without any issues and it will bloom back in the following spring.

All there is to know about gentiana

Gentiana is a herbaceous perennial or annual native to Asia, with solitary flowers that are a deep, rare and magnificent blue. Several species belong to the Gentianaceae family.

It is mostly distributed in its native mountain regions but it now has come down to flower our beds, edges, rocky terrain and garden boxes.

• Set it up in a hanging pot along a walkway or a wall, where its covering abilities will be at their best.
• It also has medicinal properties and an alcohol produced from this plant also shares its name: “Gentiana”.

Species and varieties of gentiana

Gentiana acaulis – Blue flowers.

Gentiana asclepiadea – Blue flowers.

Gentiana lutea – Yellow flowers.

Gentiana sino-ornata – Striped blue flowers.

Gentiana nivalis – Yellow flowers.

Gentiana pneumonanthe – Marsh gentiana, large blue flowers.

Smart tip about gentiana

The growing and caring for this plant requires no fertilizer whatsoever.