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Pasque flower 'Alba'

Pulsatilla vulgaris 'Alba'

Also known as : Common pasqueflower 'Alba'

Pasque flower 'Alba' or the white pasque flower is an herbaceous perennial garden plant characterized by white flowers with golden centers, which contrast with the blue-violet colored flowers of the parent plant. This popular cultivar grows up to 30 cm tall and flowers in early spring.

Hardiness Zones

5 to 7

Care Guide for Pasque flower 'Alba'

Water

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Drought-tolerant. Allow the soil to dry completely between watering.

Soil

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Sand, Acidic, Neutral, Alkaline

Sunlight

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Full sun

Hardiness Zones

See Details

5 to 7

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Pasque flower 'Alba'

Hardiness Zones

5 to 7

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Lighting

Full sun

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Temperature

-20 35 ℃

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Common Pests & Diseases

Common issues for Pasque flower 'Alba' based on 10 million real cases

Wilting after blooming

Flowers may wither for a variety of reasons.

Solutions: Check the soil or potting medium. Coarse textures can allow water to drain too rapidly, preventing the plant from taking up enough. If the soil and roots seem very dry, add sphagnum moss or other mediums that hold water. Water according to recommendations for each plant's species. Low humidity can be corrected by misting the plant regularly or placing it near a humidifier. Keeping it near other plants helps, too. Keep the environment consistent in terms of temperature, humidity, and lighting. Keep it away from vents, heaters, and air conditioners, and avoid moving it to locations where it will experience a temperature shock. Hot, dry heat, and cold drafts are problematic for many plants. Especially if the plant is outside, it could be experiencing heat or light stress. Try moving it to a shadier location.

Fruit mold

Fungal infections can cause mold to grow on the surface of the fruit and may also cause decay.

Solutions: There are some relatively easy steps to stop the spread of fruit mold, but swift action must be taken. Prune away infected fruits or flowers. As soon as lesions or fuzz are seen, cut away the infected parts and dispose of them. Do not compost. Apply fungicide to plants with mild infections (those with severe infections may need to be destroyed). Increase airflow. Since spores are mainly wind born, increasing the airflow around your plants will make them less susceptible to infection. Maintain maximum space between plants and open branch structures during the pruning season.

Petal blight

Bacterial infections can cause flowers to become soft and rotten.

Solutions: Like other fungal diseases, the progression of petal blight is extremely difficult to stop and impossible to reverse once it infects a plant. The best course of action is to remove all damaged flowers immediately and dispose of them entirely. Do not put them in the compost pile, where spores could grow and spread.

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Overview

Wilting after blooming is sometimes a natural aging process of the flower, while other times it may indicate a problem. Orchids, for example, can bloom for anywhere from two weeks to three months, so wilting after a few days signals a problem for most varieties. This can happen to virtually any ornamental flowering plant, but those with shallow roots and limited tolerance for drought, full sun, and low humidity are more susceptible.

This is a common problem, and often has an easy fix. Sometimes, however, it is the result of more serious causes such as pests or disease of the root system.

Symptom Analysis

At first, flowers may look a little limp.
Petals may start to appear dried out and turn brown.
Eventually they may drop off the plant all together.

Disease Cause

Wilting blooms can be a sign of an unhealthy root system. Any condition that prevents the plant from absorbing enough water and nutrition can result in wilting blooms and sometimes other symptoms. If the plant doesn’t have enough water, it cannot maintain appropriate pressure within stems, leaves, and blooms, causing them to wilt.

This can result from physical damage – for example from root breakage during re-potting or attack by insects like cutworms. If you recently re-potted your plant, physical damage to the roots is a likely cause. If you see insects, they may be eating leaves, roots, or flowers. Fungal infections can also cause root rot and damage, preventing water and nutrient uptake.

Finally, wilting blooms can result simply from age. If no other symptoms are visible, it may simply signal the natural end of the flower’s lifespan. If it seems premature, this may be caused by environmental factors: water, humidity, light, or stress. Under-watering is a common cause. Similarly, plants adapted to high humidity dry out easily when humidity is low, like during winter or in dry climates. Too much light can also stress plants that need shade, causing blooms to wilt.

Solutions

Check the soil or potting medium. Coarse textures can allow water to drain too rapidly, preventing the plant from taking up enough. If the soil and roots seem very dry, add sphagnum moss or other mediums that hold water.
Water according to recommendations for each plant's species.
Low humidity can be corrected by misting the plant regularly or placing it near a humidifier. Keeping it near other plants helps, too.
Keep the environment consistent in terms of temperature, humidity, and lighting. Keep it away from vents, heaters, and air conditioners, and avoid moving it to locations where it will experience a temperature shock. Hot, dry heat, and cold drafts are problematic for many plants.
Especially if the plant is outside, it could be experiencing heat or light stress. Try moving it to a shadier location.

Prevention

Read up on moisture, light, and soil type preferences for each plant to avoid underwatering, incorrect light levels, or other conditions that can cause wilting blooms.
Avoid re-potting during the flowering period. This causes additional stress on the plants because they need to repair root damage and adapt to the new micro-environment, all of which can result in wilting.
One other potential cause is ethylene gas, a plant hormone related to ripening. Some fruits and vegetables emit ethylene, especially bananas. Apples, grapes, melons, avocados, and potatoes can also give it off, so keep flowering plants away from fresh produce.

Overview

Fruit mold is the result of fungal infection by one or more of a wide variety of fungal species. Favoring damp and cool conditions, this problem can have a devastating effect on most fruit crops as it tends to occur just when fruit are reaching maturity. Once mold establishes itself, the fruit quickly decays and becomes inedible. The fungus is capable of spreading quickly to other fruit, either or the same plant or on neighboring plants.

Symptom Analysis

Symptoms tend to be obvious but are quick to develop.

Brown lesions form on the fruit and occasionally the blossoms. These lesions become soft, mushy, and develop a fuzzy gray or brown coating.
The infection will very quickly spread to any fruit in contact with those that are infected.
Fruit may drop or remain on the plant and mummify over time.
Infection may spread to leaves and new branches, eventually leading to demise of the entire plant .

Disease Cause

This condition is caused by one of a number of fungal species which all follow a similar cycle. Spores remain dormant on dead plant material over the winter months and then emerge during the spring when they are carried by the wind or insect vectors to the host plant. Once they land on a plant, often facilitated by damp conditions, the spores will gain entry and breed (sporulate) rapidly. Entry to the plant is often through damage caused by sap-sucking insects.

Solutions

There are some relatively easy steps to stop the spread of fruit mold, but swift action must be taken.

Prune away infected fruits or flowers. As soon as lesions or fuzz are seen, cut away the infected parts and dispose of them. Do not compost.
Apply fungicide to plants with mild infections (those with severe infections may need to be destroyed).
Increase airflow. Since spores are mainly wind born, increasing the airflow around your plants will make them less susceptible to infection. Maintain maximum space between plants and open branch structures during the pruning season.

Prevention

There are easy, preventative steps the gardener can take to stop mold from attacking fruits and fruit-bearing plants:

Rake up rotting debris when the growing season is over. Fungi can overwinter on rotting debris and reinfect plants the following season. Clear the ground beneath fruit trees and remove hanging mummified fruit.
Prune off any infected branches.
Burn all infected debris.
Preemptively apply fungicide to susceptible plants, especially in the spring. This can help prevent infections from progressing to a stage where fruits are affected.
Don't overcrowd when planting. Overcrowding will reduce air circulation, leaving plants wetter for longer and increasing the chance of infection.
Use drip irrigation instead of overhead irrigation. This will help keep plant surfaces free of moisture, while still ensuring roots are getting enough water. Hose-watering should be performed early in the day, with the spray directed at the base of plants.
Don't over-fertilize early in the spring. Added nutrients will increase leaf size. As leaves can hold moisture and provide a surface for spores to adhere to, this can increase the chance that mold grows on the plant. Fertilizing later in the season, when fruits are ripening, means additional nutrients will be directed towards those fruits, rather than leaves.
Insect prevention measures will reduce wounds on plants and decrease access points for fungal spores.

Overview

Petal blight, sometimes called flower blight, is a fungal disease that only affects the blooms of some ornamental flowering plants. As the infection progresses, it destroys the flower, yet it never damages the vegetative or green parts of the plant.

When flowers are infected, the symptoms look similar to Botrytis blight, but Botrytis also infects dead or dormant vegetative tissue.

The disease was first discovered in Japanese plants in 1919 and in the US in the late 1930s. Presently it is also found in New Zealand, Australia, and parts of Europe. Unfortunately, no plants have high resistance to petal blight, but specific cultivars are more susceptible than others, particularly species with double blooms.

Petal blight infection rates are high when temperatures are mild to warm (optimum temperatures are 15 to 21 ℃) and the weather is misty or rainy.

Overall, petal blight is an aesthetic problem that ruins blossoms. The disease is not harmful to the long-term health of the plant.

Symptom Analysis

The severity of the symptoms varies, depending upon the species of plant infected. Signs of petal blight are commonly seen on the blooms just after they open.

Pallid spots on colored petals.
Brown spots on white petals.
Browning around the petal edges.
Small spots look water-soaked.
Spots rapidly enlarge and merge.
Flowers become limp.
The entire flower turns light brown, but does not crumble.
Flowers become slimy at first and then take on a leathery texture.
A ring of white or gray mycelium can be seen at the base of the petals.

Disease Cause

Petal blight is caused by several different fungi, with each type infecting specific plants. Ovulinia azalea infects azaleas species and cultivars, and rhododendrons. Ciborinia camelliae infects camellia cultivars.

Shortly after blooming, the fungus infects the base of the flowers by the calyx. The fungus produces cell wall-degrading enzymes that destroy flowers within a couple of days. When the flowers fall to the ground, the fungus' hard fruiting bodies fall to the soil as well, overwintering until the following spring.

When temperatures hit the optimum range the following season, spores are transmitted by insects or can spread on wind currents up to about 12 miles. Once in the soil, the pathogen can be active for three to five years.

Solutions

Like other fungal diseases, the progression of petal blight is extremely difficult to stop and impossible to reverse once it infects a plant. The best course of action is to remove all damaged flowers immediately and dispose of them entirely. Do not put them in the compost pile, where spores could grow and spread.

Prevention

Apply a preventative dose of fungicide as soon as blooms start to show color on the plant. The preventative can be applied as a soil drench or directly to the flowers on the plant.
Avoid overhead watering during blooming.
Remove any leaf litter and dead flowers at the end of the season.
Cover the ground under infected plants with 4” of fresh organic mulch before winter, taking care not to disturb the infected soil.
Buy bare-root specimens when available.
When potted plants are purchased, remove the top layer of potting soil and replace it with fresh mulch.
Plant cultivars that bloom early in the season before the temperatures get high enough for petal blight pathogens to be spreading.

More Info

Flower Color

White

Leaf Color

Green

Scientific Classification

Phylum

Vascular plants

Class

Dicotyledons

Order

Buttercups, poppies and allies

Family

Buttercup

Genus

Pasque flowers

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