Annual ornamental plants
Annual plants complete the life cycle during one growing season, that is, they live their life from seed to a new crop of seeds and die. Some perennial species are cultivated as annuals, that is, they grow only during one growing season, and the next year they are sown again, since they do not hibernate in the open ground( verbena, clove, lobelia, snapdragon, nasturtium, petunia, etc.)..Annuals are grown according to the following scheme:
spring - seeding in a room for seedlings or in the soil in place, planting seedlings on a site or thinning out of soil sprouts;v- summer - care, including irrigation, fertilizing, loosening, weeding and cutting of faded flowers or inflorescences, if desired - collecting seeds;autumn - cleaning of discolored plants.
A rich species and variety assortment of annual plants allows selecting a large number of annuals propagated by a non-seedlent method - sowing seeds in the open ground. More thermophilic species should be sown after the spring matinees stop( early morning frosts).Straight into the open ground seeds are sown and those plants that do not tolerate transplants( pickings), since their root system poorly restores suction hairs that develop only on deep root branches( poppy, levee, reseda, lupine, nasturtium, escholzium).In the open ground, seeds of fast-growing plant species, such as decorative bean, marigold, acroklinum, corneopsis, marigolds, are also sown. To produce additional cuttings, crops are produced at different times.
The crops of annual ornamental plants are best made with selected large seeds. Selection should be made in the process of growing seedlings, leaving seedlings with the largest cotyledons.
Seed seeding can be planted in autumn - after the end of the period of prolonged warming( the second half of November - early December), in the spring - before the growing season( the second half of April) and in the summer. Spring sowing in most cases gives better results than autumn.
Many annual plants are affected by parasitic fungi and grow poorly, often die. Being on the seed coat, spores of fungi during its germination also germinate and are introduced into young shoots. Therefore, before sowing the seeds should be etched in a solution of permanganate( potassium permanganate)( 1 g / l water).The treatment is carried out for 5 minutes.
Soil preparation for autumn and spring crops should be carried out from autumn, for summer - in spring. In cold, belated spring with a high amount of precipitation, when rotting and molding of seeds in the soil is possible, it is better to sow crops with dry seeds. In summer or in the warm early spring, in order to get earlier shoots, it is possible( for most summermen) to sow seeds and even seeds. Poppy seeds, lion throats, levkoy, marigolds, escholzia, resids, urosinia and many other plants are soaked in clean water or in a weak( 0.001%) solution of heteroauxin for 6-24 hours until saliva-like foam appears on them, whichmeans "awakening" of seeds. The swollen seeds are slightly dried, so that they do not stick together, and immediately sowed in pre-prepared places. This technique ensures the appearance of earlier shoots;the same can be said about the flowering period. When sowing with seeded seeds, the area should be moistened to avoid the death of rapidly emerging sprouts. Very small seeds( poppies, sprouts, tobacco, petunia, snapdragon, portolac, etc.) should be mixed with
with sand( 1 gram of seeds per 10 g of sand) for uniformity of sowing. In this case, the seeds do not fall asleep on the ground, but only slightly press the board to the furrow. Large seeds of annuals are sown without sand.
The application of the flyers is very wide. They are planted in flowerbeds and in workbills, placed in various containers and boxes to decorate the balconies and the entrance to the house, are used for vertical gardening and indoors, they are grown on a slice for living bouquets. Among them there are dried flowers, of which are winter bouquets, and leaf-decorative plants, irreplaceable for curbs( kohia, cineraria) or solitary plantations.
Autumn crops of summer produce on frozen soil. The rides are prepared in September, the rows are planned, then seeds are sown in previously made grooves or holes. Above them, they are covered with a triple height of seed diameter with a mixture of leaf and turf. Add some sand to the mixture. In winter, the ridges should be covered with snow. To do this, in November-December they are thrown on small branches or install snow boards, especially in those places where the snow is blown away by the wind. In the spring, gently loosen the soil. Seedlings are weeded and cut 2-3 times: the first thinning is performed after the appearance of the first 1-2 leaves, the second after 2 weeks;with the third thinning, the distance between the plants is adjusted to the rate established for them. During autumn sowing, a peculiar vernalization of seeds and shoots of plants takes place. They blossom a week earlier than when planting seedlings.
Plants such as alissum, astra summer, cornflower, viscaria, Ajax delphinium, zlatotsvet, iberis, koreopsis, kohia, kosmya, annual poppies, summer lemon, marigolds, tobacco, summer chrysanthemum, eshsolcia, when sowing in the open ground form strong stockybushes. Early spring sowing of flower seeds of annuals is carried out in the middle or in the end of April, crops in May are already conducted in ripe soil, ready for processing, summer crops are carried out in June or July. During the growth of the plant should be fed once a week with ammonium nitrate and superphosphate. Top dressing is given in the form of solutions of weak concentration. Watering, weeding, loosening, fighting pests and diseases are conducted regularly.
Much attention should be paid to weed control. This requires deep
preliminary digging of the soil with a careful selection of all the roots of the weeds. Advantages of annuals
Annuals are rapidly developing and are capable of decorating the garden. With their help you can create a new flower garden in one season, decorate the staircase, veranda, fence.
Annuals quickly bloom and bloom long and abundant until frost.
Huge selection of plant forms from dwarf to ampel, from high to curly, which allows annuals to be used in any type of flower arrangement.
Incredible richness of colors and shades, allowing to create any color combinations.
Flyers in vessels with a small volume of earth are absolutely indispensable: window and balcony boxes, vases, pots, hanging baskets and containers.
Compositions from the summer can be updated every year and change their place.
Letniki with strong roots, for example asters, marigolds, ageratum, can be dug with flowering and transplanted, summer boxes in containers can be planted throughout the year.
It is important that among the annuals there are cold-resistant, drought-resistant and generally not very demanding plants, which can also be sown directly into the soil.