Most of the suburban areas are used by their owners, of course, for growing various kinds of garden crops. But almost every summer resident gives in his garden or in the yard a little land and flowers. There are many ornamental crops that are excellently suitable for cultivation, including in the Russian climate. Some of them are well known to gardeners, others can be considered rare and little known. Among the plants of the latter variety is the oblique chelone.
Where is it found in the wild?
Also, this unusual spectacular plant summer residents called pink flamingos. In the wild, such flowers are found mainly in the forests and fields of Canada. The climate in this country, as you know, is very similar to the Russian one. Accordingly, in the suburban areas in the Russian Federation, this North American guest feels just fine.
In winter, the oblique helone does not freeze even in Siberia. In the summer, neither prolonged rains nor drought have a particularly harmful effect.
Plant description
The oblique Helone flower (Latin name - Chelone obliqua) belongs to the family Podorozhniki, a group of perennials. This plant is very dense and stately. At the flower beds, chelone looks just great. But more often this wonderful plant is still planted in tubs. Pink flamingo fills their area completely, and therefore it looks especially impressive in such containers.
The oblique chelone root gives several powerful stalks of bright green color at once. Leaves of pink flamingos are small in size. But growing them on one bush is just a huge amount. Therefore, the plant looks very thick and fluffy. The chelone leaves of this variety are slightly oblong with sharp tips. Their hue, like the stems, is saturated green. There are denticles on the edge of the chelon leaves.
This plant is called pink flamingo for the unusual configuration of its flowers. The buds on the chelon are collected in powerful panicles-candles and protrude above the surface of the densely leafy bush on the arrows. Thus, outwardly, they resemble the heads of flamingos on long necks. The pink color of the chelon panicles complements the impression, of course.
This decorative culture looks very attractive. Photos of Helone Oblique presented on the page. As you can see, both the stems and leaves of this plant and its flowers simply look luxurious.
Biological features
Pink flamingo will feel great on the site both in single landings and in company with other colors. Adult oblique chelons usually reach a height of 50-80 cm. This plant blooms in the Russian climate, usually in August. The last time he panicles bloom in mid-September.
One of the features of this plant is a weakly creeping rhizome. Such flowers grow on the site usually for a long time. Also, the features of this decorative plant include the fact that it is very fond of moisture. You will have to water the chelone in the garden quite often.
What varieties exist?
Unfortunately, almost no varieties of this rare decorative culture were bred. In any case, it is the basic pink species of this plant that is mainly popular among Russian gardeners. But then on the sites of domestic gardeners you can see such a culture with a variety of shades of panicles. Very light on the flower beds look like light pink flamingos, and dark pink or even almost red.
Grade oblique chelone in gardens and courtyards in suburban areas in our country can be seen mainly one. It is called Alba. Flowers in such a chelone are not pink, but pure white. Of course, such a plant looks very impressive in flower beds and in tubs.
Landing Helone oblique on the site: the choice of place
As already mentioned, such plants are usually planted in tubs as a single plant. On the flower beds, the helon oblique in most cases is combined with other decorative perennials. For example, it is believed that this culture looks very nice in plantings with asters, echinacea, solidago, etc.
Chelone is considered a very unpretentious plant to the composition of the soil. This decorative culture adapts well even to poor or clay soils. Accordingly, it is possible to plant pink flamingos on the site almost anywhere. The only thing, many summer residents are not advised to choose a place on the hill for Helone. Planting this crop is best in the lowlands - where the soil contains more moisture.
Very often this plant, for example, is planted on the banks of artificial garden ponds. But to place a pink flamingo in a wetland, of course, is not recommended. In this case, its roots will still begin to rot.
If necessary, a perennial helone oblique can be moved at any time on the site to any other flower bed. One of the features of this plant is that it tolerates transplants very easily.
How to plant?
This beautiful plant is propagated mainly by seeds. Sowing them is allowed directly into the flowerbed. But sometimes gardeners also grow oblique helone seedlings. The seeds of this plant are mostly viable and germinate well, including without stratification. Sowing planting material Helone oblique on flower beds in late May or early June. Moreover, they are not buried too much into the ground. At the same time, seedlings are also transferred to the open ground.
Of course, like almost any other decorative perennial, pink flamingos can be propagated on the site and dividing the roots. In this case, the oblique chelone is taken on a new flowerbed also usually very well. Many experienced summer residents even advise beginners to definitely divide the flamingo bush into 3-4 parts every 2-3 years.
Care and watering
One of the undoubted advantages of this beautiful plant is that it does not require too much attention from the gardener. Most likely, you will not have to weave the slanting helone oblique during the season to the summer resident anyway. Bush pink flamingo forms a very dense. And the weeds through it simply cannot break through.
Watering this decorative culture is necessary as the soil dries underneath. Usually summer residents moisten the soil in the flowerbed with chelone once every two days.
How to fertilize?
Pink flamingos will grow and bloom on the plot without fertilizing. But, of course, you still need to fertilize this decorative culture from time to time. In this case, the oblique chelone will look especially impressive.
Experienced summer residents advise feeding pink flamingos 3 times per season. At the same time, it is believed that chelone reacts best to complex mineral fertilizers designed for ornamental garden crops. For the first time, such dressing on a flowerbed with chelone is usually done in early spring, during the snowmelt. The second time, pink flamingos are fertilized at the end of May. The third top dressing for such plants is introduced at the beginning of bud blooming.
Winter preparations
Thus, we found out how oblique landing and care are carried out for helone. Given a timely watering, this wonderful decorative perennial will surely please the garden owners for many years, letting out new sprouts every spring. But how to cook chelone for the winter?
Frost pink flamingo tolerates very well. Therefore, it is not necessary to cover such a decorative culture for the winter. But to prepare this plant for the cold, of course, is still worth it. Helon winter in the Russian climate is usually about the same as peonies. That is, in the autumn, summer residents most often simply cut the bush so that there are stumps about 10 cm high above the ground. Next, the plant is mulched with dry grass, straw or sawdust.