The flowering candle (Gaura lindheimeri) grows every year to an impressive height of around one meter. With a little care, most types of this perennial, also known as prairie candle, can enrich the garden with their flowers for several years in a row.

The magnificent candle does not need much water

How often does the magnificent candle have to be watered?

So that the magnificent candle can optimally develop its enduring blooms in summer, it should be planted in the garden in a location with as much sun as possible. The magnificent candle usually survives shorter dry phases much more easily than a waterlogged location. As soon as the top layer of soil in the perennial bed feels very crumbly and dry during longer dry phases, it should be watered in the morning or evening hours.

When is the best time to repot?

Since the magnificent candles are difficult to repot during the flowering period in summer, you should do this as early as February or March. Make sure to provide the substrate with a drainage portion of gravel and sand. In this way, you also prevent the risk of waterlogging and root rot in potted plants.

When and how is the splendor candle cut?

While some gardeners advocate cutting back the dead parts of the plant only in spring, most do the pruning immediately after flowering in autumn. In this way, hibernation buds can be formed and if the hibernation is successful, the magnificent candle will sprout even more widely branched in the new vegetation period.

Which factors lead to deficiency symptoms of the magnificent candle?

The magnificent candle is usually not very susceptible to pests or diseases. However, few flowers form if the plants are positioned in the garden in too much shade. Other deficiency symptoms and stunted growth are mostly due to root rot due to waterlogging of the roots of this sun-loving steppe plant.

Should the magnificent candle be fertilized?

Outdoors, apart from regular application of deposited compost to the soil in the perennial bed, no special fertilization is necessary for the magnificent candle. For specimens in the tub, you can mix some liquid fertilizer into the irrigation water every four to six weeks.

How is the magnificent candle optimally overwintered?

Since the magnificent candle is only partially hardy even with pruning in autumn, it should be overwintered in exposed locations under the following conditions:

  • as a container plant in a sheltered area
  • bright
  • Frost free
  • at temperatures below five degrees Celsius
  • with very sparingly dosed moisture

tips

Specimens of the magnificent candle that have frozen to death outdoors can also ensure a new sea of flowers in the garden the following year if you cut back the leaves a little later in autumn and thus allow self-sowing

Category:

Herbs