Everyone knows a snowdrop flower, a photo of which is even in the children's alphabet. This small beautiful plant comes to life first after winter. First, it releases a couple of leaves, and very soon it blooms with white bells with drooping heads. He is not afraid of either winter frosts or snow. And if numerous white bells carpet the garden, this is a sure sign that spring is near. After all, the snowdrop flower warns us of the approaching warm days.
Description
Scientifically, this plant is called galanthus. It belongs to the genus of perennial herbs from the Amaryllis family, which combines eighteen subspecies. The plant is most common in southern Europe, the Crimea, the Caucasus and Asia Minor. Most species — about sixteen — are found in the Caucasus.
No one names the exact number of varieties of this plant. The snowdrop flower so beloved by us, the photo of which is even recognized by children, is a low grassy crop with two linear leaves up to twenty centimeters long. They come out immediately, simultaneously with peduncles.
Single, drooping bells have a white perianth, consisting of six leaves. Three of them are external elliptical or obovate, while the internal ones are wedge-shaped and have a green spot on top. Snowdrop is a flower with a pleasant, but very faint smell. It has rounded fleshy fruits in the form of a box with three compartments. They contain a few black seeds. The latter have a juicy appendage to attract ants, pulling them away and thus spreading plants.
The snowdrop flower has ovoid or conical bulbs, which are a compact group of mutated leaves planted on one common base.
Landing
The best time to plant this plant is from July to September. With a long warm autumn, the landing can be extended until the beginning of November. Today, in the market, a snowdrop flower is often sold blooming, but this is not entirely correct, because as soon as the planting material is in the ground, its leaves wither and turn yellow, and soon die off. And although the bulb remains alive, it is weakened. True, next year such a plant weakly or does not bloom at all, although it does not die.
Features
Galanthus bulbs cannot stand drying. They can not be kept in the air for more than a month, but if it is not possible to plant them in the ground, you need to pour it with sawdust or shavings and put in a plastic bag. Bulb planting is carried out according to the following rule: placed in loose soil at a depth equal to two bulbs, and in heavy soil to a depth equal to one bulb. But in any case, you can not plant a snowdrop deeper than five centimeters.
Snowdrop is a flower that itself regulates the depth of germination of its root system. If it is planted too deep, it forms a new bulb on the peduncle, but at the right depth.
Growing
The first spring flower, a snowdrop, loves shaded, but sun-warmed places and soil with good drainage. When transplanting wild species, you need to choose a more illuminated area. This culture is winter-hardy, which is not surprising. After all, the first snowdrop is a flower that makes its way directly from under the snow. In autumn, galanthus should be covered with a small layer of loose compost.
With top dressing of this culture you need to be careful. Snowdrop does not tolerate fresh manure, so complex mineral fertilizers are most suitable for it.
These plants are bred for flower design sites. They look very nice in large groups both in rock gardens and in the form of carpets - under bushes and trees in light partial shade. Some landscape designers use snowdrops to create white lawns in the middle of lawns.
Kinds
The Amaryllis family includes eighteen species. The most common of these is snow-white snowdrop. His homeland is the Carpathian forests. In height, the flower reaches fifteen centimeters. This species also includes Viridapisis, blooming in February, Lutescens, on which there is an identification mark - a yellow speck, as well as terry Flora Pleno, Pusi Green Type, Ophelia and many others.
Another species is Elves snowdrop, originally from Asia. He, unlike the previous varieties, is higher - up to twenty-five centimeters. It has bluish-green broad leaves, large spherical flowers of white color. This is the very first snowdrop. His flower appears in early February. To date, many Elves hybrids have been developed, which are distinguished by decorativeness and great endurance. The most popular is Arnott with large flowers with a fragrant aroma.
Other species, such as Galanthus plicatus or Skladchaty, which gave rise to many interesting garden forms, Ikariysky, who came to us from Greece and today grows beautifully in Krasnaya Polyana in Sochi, as well as Forster, Voronov's snowdrops and many others are widespread in the botanical gardens of our country .
The uncontrolled collection of these wonderful representatives of the plant world has led to the fact that many varieties had to be listed in the Red Book. And this means that every year it is becoming increasingly difficult to meet them in the natural environment.
Home Care
These flowers can be grown not only in the yard, but also at home - in a pot or in a bowl. A snowdrop blooming with the very first of all bulbs gives buds in the middle of winter. To do this, it must be taken out of the room.
Since we are talking about a very hardy and cold-loving plant that can survive even at temperatures up to ten degrees below zero, it is not difficult to guess that it will die in a warm room. Therefore, during flowering, you need to keep the snowdrop in a very cold room.
House growing conditions
Two months after planting the bulb, the plant must be kept in complete darkness. Then he will need natural light. It is necessary to completely exclude direct sunlight.
The optimum temperature for the bulb in the dark is about zero degrees, and during flowering - a maximum of 10 ° C, otherwise the plant will die.
After planting the bulbs, the soil must be thoroughly moistened, and then left alone, not watering until the pot is transferred to the light. After this, it is necessary to maintain soil moisture by watering twice a week.
You can not spray snowdrops. At the same time, during flowering, they need good ventilation, and when it ends, they need to cut off the wilted heads, and let the leaves die naturally. If the plants were fed, they need to be transplanted into the open ground. Otherwise, they will not bloom again in the same pot.
The best species for growing at home is Galantus nivalis - an ordinary snowdrop blooming from mid-winter to April. Today, unfortunately, this flower is rarely seen in an apartment or even in a garden. And in vain! Indeed, even when winter still dominates all around, you can be sure that its days are numbered, when a snowdrop flower appears on the plot from under the snow crawling through the deadwood, and when it grows in a pot at home, the weather is good and the mood in the family provided.