I grow petunia both outdoors and in balcony boxes on the veranda. Usually I sow these flowers during February, but it is not too late to sow them in March: although the petunia will bloom a little later, it will delight you until the frost.
Galtonia (Cape hyacinth) is a plant that retains its decorative characteristics for a long time and needs proper care after planting in the open field. The birthplace of the inflorescence is considered to be South Africa. Despite this, the flower has taken root in the temperate climate of Russia, it tolerates severe cold weather and a large amount of precipitation well.
There are only two types of hyacintoids, undescribed and Spanish, their main difference is the shape of the inflorescence.
The homeland of the plant is considered to be Spain, France and Portugal. The leaves are long, monotonously green, reaching 30 cm. They are located near the root and emerge from the ground in a rosette. Up to 7 leaves can grow in one rosette. It should also be remembered that only one peduncle grows from one bulb, on which inflorescences bloom, resembling bells in their shape and having a diameter of 2.5 cm. Up to 10 bell buds bloom on one peduncle. After pollination by insects, a seed pod is formed in place of the flower, in which round seeds ripen. The flowering period begins in late May and early June and lasts for 25 days. Plant petals are:
Hyacintoides undescribed is a perennial outdoor plant. The leaf mass is green, long, growing from the neck of the bulb. In landscape design, hybrids of this plant are used, since their shape and color of inflorescences has a great variety. There are hybrids with a bell-shaped inflorescence, but also found with chamomile inflorescences, which looks very unusual.
Hyacintoides has positive traits:
No negative aspects of plant cultivation were found.
You can get a new cobra lily by sowing seeds or vegetatively.
When grown from seed, it is recommended to sow them in late summer. If you break this rule, then the germination rate will noticeably decrease. To speed up the germination process, the seeds must be freed from the juicy pulp. They are removed from the berry, placed in a colander and washed under running water. The cleaned seeds are dried and after that a two-month stratification is carried out. After this period, the seeds are sown in a peat-sand mixture poured into seedling boxes. Sprout the seeds of a cobra lily at a temperature of 20-25 degrees, constantly monitoring so that the soil does not dry out. Usually, the first shoots will appear on spring days. When they grow up, a pick is carried out in separate pots made of peat. After that, the seedlings are not disturbed before being transplanted into the open ground.
In the middle of the summer season, you can plant young, grown arizems in open ground. At the same time, the planting depth should not exceed 3-5 cm. While the plants are being taken care of, it is important to monitor the condition of the soil, if it is allowed to dry out, otherwise the one-coverts will grow underdeveloped, and after going into a state of dormancy, they may even die. Flowering of such seedlings can be expected only after 4–5 years.
If you decide to save the seeds for later planting, then it is recommended to wrap them in well-moistened (but not wet) moss, put them in a plastic bag and keep them on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. Often, self-seeding propagation is possible in the garden cultivation of Arisaema.
The plant can be propagated vegetatively both by dividing the tubers and with the help of children. All such operations are best carried out in the autumn, when the growing season has already been completed. The bush is removed from the soil, its residues are carefully removed and the tubers are allowed to dry out. Then they are planted in open ground at a distance of about 15 cm from each other. It is recommended to bury the tubers well, so that there is a layer of 5-10 cm of soil above them.
The first step is to determine a suitable area for planting a plant. This cannot be a place where humid air stagnates and poor ventilation. Open, sunny areas will not work either. This flower loves the morning sun and shade on a hot afternoon. Therefore, we plant it on the eastern side of a house or a group of bushes or trees.
The Japanese anemone needs light, loose soil. The plant does not make high demands on its fertility, but dry and poor will not work. Before planting in the ground, it is recommended to add a spoonful of complex fertilizer to each plant and mix it with the ground.
This is the most successful way of planting and breeding anemones. First, the roots are dipped in warm water. For disinfection, add preparations Maxim, Fitosporin, you can use a solution of potassium humate. Withstand the necessary time, according to the instructions. Then the rhizomes are slightly dried and planted in the ground.
If the plant was purchased in a garden center, it should be planted after soaking in a pot, buried 5 cm into the ground. After the emergence of seedlings, the anemone is transplanted into a flower bed. For this, a hole is dug with a diameter of 30 cm and a depth of 15 cm. A seedling is placed, covered with soil, compacted, watered.
Can be used for sowing and seeds of anemone
As with any plants, timely watering is primarily important for the New England aster. Many gardeners love the plant for its drought tolerance. After all, if the summer is moderately rainy, then nature will do everything by itself, and you can completely do without watering. In the dry period, it is necessary to water the bushes once, maximum 2 times every 7-10 days. After watering, it is worth loosening the ground around the asters. It is important to take into account that the root system is located rather shallow. Optimally, if the depth of weeding is less than 5 cm. The plant prefers a nutrient soil with a neutral environment. If the soil is acidic, then lime or dolomite flour should be added to it. A light, loose soil with a drainage layer that avoids excessive moisture is considered ideal. And you can also carry out mulching using dry sawdust or peat.
It is advisable to apply fertilizers no more than 3 times a year. For the first time, it is worth feeding when 4 leaves have appeared. For this, mineral fertilizers are suitable. During the budding period, it is better to use complex fertilizers. You can feed the bushes with a potassium-phosphorus composition during the period when they are actively blooming.
In too cold winters, when the temperature drops below 35-40 degrees of frost, it is worth insulating the plant. To do this, the stems must be cut, and the leaves with humus must be put on top. It is worth noting that New England aster tolerates extreme heat worse than cold. In summer, the optimum temperature is 26-28 degrees Celsius. You can prolong flowering by removing wilted flowers.
Shrubs are traditionally used to decorate the area near the house. They require much less maintenance than flowers. Shrubs can be both flowering and fruiting. In the adjoining territories, the following unpretentious and frost-resistant plants are usually planted:
Aster is very often used in group plantings, when creating flowering compositions on the site. The flower bed will become a real decoration in the garden when you combine asters with bright marigolds or zinnia.
It will be possible to create a beautiful composition with flowers by planting multi-colored crops together, creating a picturesque picture of a living and bright blooming carpet.
Asters are combined with many garden crops for compositional planting, but the culture will look no less attractive in mobile flowerpots or pots for a single planting. The variety of colors will help to create a real decoration of landscape design from an aster.
You can see everything about the annual aster in the video below.