There is no garden more beautiful than that decorated with flowers. Their variety is surprising. Each instance has rich colors and amazing aroma. Flowers for the garden are divided into two main groups: one-and perennial. Annuals can be changed every season, one view to another. Particular attention should be paid to a multi-year group. They are divided into two subspecies: bulbous and tuberous. Let's take a look at everything.
Variety of Bulbous Flowers
Bulbous perennials are a surprise planted on the site. What will come out of the bulb in the future, until the last moment no one knows. If you want the flowers to bloom in early spring, then you need to plant them in the fall. Each landing must be carefully thought out. Favorites of perennials include daffodils, tulips, hazel grouse, crocuses, lilies. In fact, there are much more species, but these are the most amazing flowers that are present on each site. Each of them will decorate the flowerbed at a certain time of the year with its bright colors.
All these bulbous perennials are unpretentious and do not require special care, and over time they will begin to multiply gradually. It is these types of plants that grow amazingly beautiful with a large bud size. Early spring perennials include tulips and daffodils. These flowers are planted on flower beds, which can be located anywhere. Lilies and hazel grouse love to grow in sunny places in well-fertilized soil.
Selection of planting material
Perennial flowers will grow well if a quality planting material is initially selected . In order not to make mistakes when buying bulbs and tubers of flowers, we suggest using a few tips:
- Before buying, the bulbs are inspected for any spots that indicate a disease of planting material.
- Tubers need to choose healthy and strong. They should have small processes that guarantee that the plant is alive.
- Before planting bulbous and tuberous perennials, they should be decontaminated with a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
It is also worth noting that you need to responsibly approach the place where you want to make a purchase. No need to purchase flower bulbs and tubers from unverified suppliers. It is better to turn to specialized stores for help , where staff will explain all the little things and help in choosing colors. Often on the streets you can buy low-quality goods, which in the future does not live up to hopes and expectations.
Now it’s worth talking about the choice of planting material for certain types of perennial flowers:
- Lilies Bulbs should be dense, with healthy and lively roots. The presence of a small sprout indicates that the flower is alive and can be planted. Bulbs should be free from stains and rot. Before planting, the material is stored in peat in a cool place.
- Gladioli. This is another representative of perennial flowers. They will delight with their colors from mid-July. Before buying, pay attention to the following points: bulbs are allowed to plant without mold and extraneous stains; the sprout must be small, otherwise it is easy to break it when planting.
- Dahlias. Before buying these tubers, you should make sure that there are live kidneys on them. Dry tuber is not worth buying.
- Peony, phlox, host. These flowering perennial specimens tolerate severe frosts. Before buying, you need to inspect the roots. They must be strong with live kidneys.
- Daffodils. Flowers of the early spring. Bulbs are bought with processes, without diseases.
The list of perennial flowers does not end there. We reviewed only the most popular instances.
When to plant
Having selected flowers for planting, we transfer them to the open ground. Perennial flowers are planted with bulbs, tubers or seeds. The best period for planting is considered to be spring, namely its beginning. Late summer and early fall are also suitable for this. If you decide to plant flowering perennials with seeds, then it's better to do it in the fall, when the first frosts pass. Before planting, the earth is well loosened and fertilized. They will bloom only after 2-3 years. The exception is the delphinium. True, in the first year its flowering will be not abundant.
Bulbous perennials (such as crocuses, tulips or daffodils) are planted in autumn. Plants that should bloom in summer are planted in a permanent place at the end of spring. Lily bulbs can also be planted in the fall. Basically, all bulb plants tolerate winter well. There are exceptions, such as callas and dahlias. They are dug up in the fall and stored in the basement or cellar.
How to care
Having planted flowers in the open ground, you need to start to properly care for them. The main operations include the following operations:
- Watering.
- Loosening.
- Weed weeding.
- Pruning.
- Fertilizer.
- Preparing for the winter.
So, we will analyze each item individually.
Watering
This is a mandatory flower care procedure. Do you want plants to live long and bloom beautifully? Remember: they need to be watered abundantly. Perennial flowers have a very powerful root system, unlike annual flowers , so they need abundant watering. It is also needed at the stage of ovary buds and their flowering. The best time for watering is either morning hours or evening hours. The soil should be irrigated to a depth of at least 10 cm.
Weeding
The list of obligatory care items also includes weeding flowers from weeds. The presence of weed grass on the flowerbed prevents the plants from receiving nutritious and water care in the right amount. Weeds have a powerful root system and do not allow perennial flowers to develop and grow fully. Because of this, weeds need to be constantly cleaned. It is better to get rid of them along with the roots in order to prevent their further appearance. At the end of summer and until mid-autumn, flowers weed, so that in spring the number of weeds was insignificant.
Cultivating and fertilizing
These are two more main points for the care of perennials. Loosening is necessary for air to flow to the roots of the flowers. As a rule, after rains, a crust forms on the ground, which interferes with the free breathing of the roots. Therefore, after every rain, the earth should definitely be loosened. Good flowering of plants is achieved by constant fertilizers of the soil and its top dressing. For this, organic and mineral fertilizers are used.
Preparing plants for wintering
If winter is with severe frosts and little snowfall, then you should not expect anything good from the flowers in the new season. As a rule, plants freeze and die. Therefore, it is better to cover all perennial flowers before the first frosts. To do this, you can apply sawdust, dry leaves and peat. Of the latest innovations, a special material is used to shelter flowers - agrotex. It protects plants well from the cold and at the same time promotes good air circulation.
Perennial pruning
Tuberous or bulbous garden flowers that have thrown off the buds must be pruned. This will help the plants to get new shoots, and in some cases, you can achieve repeated flowering. It is also a must-have spring care item that helps plants get rid of extinct parts.
Tuberous and bulbous perennials are the most beautiful flowers in every garden. If you follow all the rules for choosing, planting and caring for plants, you can get an amazing flowering garden that will delight you from spring to autumn with its riot of colors.