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Regardless of whether your garden is large or small, flower decoration is always suitable for it: graceful flowerpots, complex mixborders or small flower beds. Flowers will turn gray everyday life into holidays, and the aroma and brightness of colors will create a unique atmosphere of joy and make it clear that life was a success.

Colchicum

Colchicum grows in many places: in Central Europe, the Mediterranean, Central Asia, Turkey, Crimea and the Caucasus. About 40 species of colchicum have been found in nature. In culture, the most decorative colchicum beautiful with pink-lilac flowers is most often found - their number is from one to three, and their height is up to 5-15 cm. Autumn colchicum is also popular with smaller flowers and leaves than in the previous species.

Both colchicum have a white Alba shape, which is famous for its high decorative qualities. There are varieties with large double flowers.

The Bornmüller colchicum is noteworthy - it has flowers with a pink base with purple, from 1 to 4, blooms in the second half of September until frost. The Byzantine colchicum comes from Asia Minor, and the flowers are large, bright pink and numerous (up to 15 pieces).

The main role in creating floral harmony in the garden is played by bulbous plants. They have a lot of advantages: with minimal care, their flowers adorn the garden throughout the summer season. Many species are the "calling card" of a particular season.

For example, after a long cold winter, snowdrop flowers (Galanthus) appear - a symbol of early spring and the first warmth. It is followed by the flower garden (Leucojum), chionodoxes (Chionodoxa), crocuses (Crocus), daffodils (Narcissus) and the first tulips (Tulipa). In April - May, the lineup of Muscari and charming hazel grouse (Fritillaria) is suitable: they are vivid harbingers of summer. Decorative bows (Allium) bloom from late May to late July.

In summer, the airy inflorescences of Kamassia (Camassia) bloom, delicate poultry farmers (Ornithogalum) bloom and amaze with majestic colors and aroma of majestic lilies (Lilium). And in the fall colchicum and Colcus chickens (Crocus speciosus) will reveal their delicate flowers.

This variety allows you to choose the bulbs for your flower garden so that you can admire them for six months. Many plants of this group are quite unpretentious, and they will always find a place even in the smallest kindergarten. For example, you can plant low onions in a border of stunted plants, where they fill the voids before the development and flowering of perennial neighbors, and those, in turn, cover their dying leaves in the summer. Between higher perennials you can always find a place for tulips, camassia, slender “minarets” of the poultry catcher and decorative onions. In shaded places under trees and shrubs, you can make a flowering carpet of unpretentious and hardy bulbous plants. Scilla are irreplaceable for this purpose - they are like blue, white or blue stars glow on the lawn. They fit in with white, blue and pink hionodoxes, spring bloom and, of course, the most paradoxical of all flowers - colchicum autumnale (Colchicum autumnale).

Accommodation

Remember: the effect of a flower carpet can be obtained only by planting a large number of bulbs. On the lawns and lawns, snowdrops and crocuses look excellent, in the rockeries and on the Alpine hills, undersized species of decorative bows look very natural. When planting on a lawn, one must take into account that grass cannot be mowed until the leaves of the planted plants die (late May - early June).

You can talk about each of these wonderful plants for a very long time, but the main property of many of them is that they do not require special care, regular feeding, frequent transplants and shelter for the winter. But still, some simple agricultural rules need to know. Particular attention should be paid to landing.

The beginning of autumn is just the time when, as Karel Chapek wrote in the book “The Year of the Gardener”, it is time to “lay in the ground what spring should find in it”. This primarily concerns the planting of bulbous plants.

Landing place

When creating flower beds, bulbous plants can be planted in two main ways. In the first case, they are the main "protagonist", with their help you can create a colorful or plain seasonal composition. After flowering, the entire flowerbed is planted with annual plants.

In the second case, they are planted with narrow long strips among perennials or low shrubs and trees. In the spring they will fill in the flower beds with their delicate flowers unsightly voids. After flowering, their yellowing leaves hide among other plants.

Purchase and storage

The best time to acquire bulbs is from late July to September, when the bulb is at rest. When choosing bulbs, it is necessary to check their condition. They should be dense and heavy, with preserved membranes, without overgrown roots and stems. If the stems and roots nevertheless started to grow, then such plants must urgently be planted in the ground. Bulbs should be whole: without cuts and damage. The Donets should also be intact and without rot. Even bulbs with a chopped top, but not damaged by the bottom and kidneys, retain their viability. You should not buy only crumpled, light, broken onions. Soft areas on the bottom or sides are the first sign of decay. A decayed bulb is almost impossible to cure.

Purchased bulbs are stored until planting in a cool, but not cold, ventilated area. If the bulbs are not covered with dry membranous scales (snowdrop, white flower, sprout, chionodox, pushkin), then it is better to store them in slightly moist peat or sawdust in plastic bags with holes. So that the roots do not appear ahead of time, the substrate in which the bulbs are stored does not need to be over-moistened. Bulbs of hyacinths, tulips, daffodils, hazel grouse and decorative bulbs are planted on an already prepared place.

Preparation for landing

The larger the size of the planting material, the stronger the plant and the more abundant it blooms. Bulb packages almost always indicate their size. Recently, notice, it is customary to indicate the circumference, and not the diameter, as before.

To prevent various diseases, the bulbs are etched in a solution of foundationazole or any other agent designed to combat fungal diseases. If suddenly such funds are not at hand, then you can use a solution of potassium permanganate (5 g per 10 liters of water) for processing bulbs for 20-30 minutes.

Fertilizers

In autumn, one compost is enough. Chemical fertilizers are used only in spring. Complex fertilizers in the amount of 15-30 grams per square meter are best suited for this. These top dressings are best applied in liquid form, which is ideal. But you must always remember that all bulbs are afraid of excess fertilizer. From a high concentration of salts in the soil, the roots quickly decay, which leads to the complete death of plants. Therefore, it is better to underfeed than overfeed.

Landing time

Bulbs blooming in spring can be planted in September - early October. With a long and warm autumn, landing is allowed until the beginning of November. But it should not be delayed - it is advisable to do all this work before the frost.

Colchicians should have been landed in August - early September; they cannot be pulled off! Then, already in mid-September, they should please you with their delicate flowers.

Soil type and drainage

Bulbs do not like excess moisture. The ideal soil for them is medium-heavy, but well-permeable to moisture. Sandy soil passes water well, but to improve fertility it is necessary to add compost or nutrient soil to it. If the soil is too dense and the water stagnates in it, then the bulbs may rot in it. To avoid this, it is necessary to pour an additional drainage layer 4–5 cm thick from coarse sand, gravel, or gravel into the planting hole. Heavy soil needs to be dug up properly, adding coarse sand or compost.

Landing

Before you begin planting bulbous plants, you must carefully dig up the soil and, if necessary, add compost. It is absolutely not permissible to replace compost with fresh manure! This can cause an outbreak of fungal diseases in the bulbs. Plant a large onion in the hole so that it is facing down with its bottom. Small onions can be sown.

Landing depth

Regarding the depth of planting, there is a generally accepted rule: the bulb must be planted at a depth three times its height. For large bulbs, such as lilies, tulips, imperial grouse, the depth of planting is from 15 to 20 cm, and very large - even up to 25 cm. For smaller bulbs, such as snowdrops, muscari, hionodoxes, cannons or crocuses, the depth is about 5-10 cm.

The distance between the bulbs

Large bulbs require a longer distance than small ones. Large bulbs should be planted at a distance of about 12 cm from each other, and small ones at a distance of 5-7 cm. The intermediate distance, or the number of bulbs per square meter, largely depends on what effect you want to achieve. For a natural, “laid-back” picture, plant the bulbs at different distances from each other. Several bulbs can be planted a little further from the rest. If you want a monolithic flower field effect, plant the bulbs at the same distance from each other. The number of bulbs per square meter depends on their size and ranges from 50 pieces of tulips and daffodils and up to 400 plants "small onion".

Water and frost

If during planting there is warm, dry weather, then planted bulbs should be immediately watered. This will accelerate root growth and plants will winter better. Any newly planted in autumn plants, preferably in the year of planting for the winter, cover with fallen leaves or peat. It is especially desirable to do this if the landing is too late or if there is severe frost in the absence of snow. In subsequent years, shelter does not need to be done, but peat moss can be used annually as a mulching layer.

Transfer

Bulbs planted in the soil can remain in one place for several years. A transplant is necessary if the bulb nests formed over the years have grown too much and interfere with each other. In this case, the area of nutrition becomes insufficient and the flowers become smaller. Usually, in rapidly growing plants this need arises in the 3rd – 4th year (crocus, bluebill, chionodox, muscari), while in the slow-growing plants (hazel grouse, kandyk) - in the 6–8th year. When transplanting, plants are dug out of the soil only when the aboveground part completely dies. Bulbs are cleaned of old scales and roots and laid out in a single layer in a dry, ventilated room.

Distillation

Now many enthusiastic gardeners, in order not to miss the plants in winter, are able to make them bloom in winter. To do this, in the fall, specially selected large bulbs are planted in containers (pots, boxes, flowerpots). Planting bulbs is very simple. You need to choose a not too small pot or box with a drainage hole in the bottom. The holes must be covered with several shards and put a bit of expanded clay to ensure a good outflow of excess water. After this, partially fill the container with earth. The soil may be different - leaf or compost. Use so much garden soil to plant the bulbs to the depth they need. Bulb flowers grown in containers can be planted more often than previously indicated. However, care must be taken that they do not touch either the walls of the container or each other. Planting stock is stored first at a temperature of 20–25 ° С, and after October 1, at a temperature of 17 ° С. The cooling period is 5 weeks at a temperature of 9 ° C, then 11-12 weeks at 5 ° C (in some cases, a decrease to 1-2 ° C is practiced). Before planting, the material is disinfected. Bulbs should be planted in prepared containers for distillation from the end of September to November to the same depth as in the garden - two to three bulb heights. After planting, the soil is shed well, but then kept in a moderately wet state, especially in cold weather. Due to the short distillation period, top dressing is not required. Flowering occurs approximately 3-4 weeks after the temperature rises to 12-15 ° C.

Difficulties

Bulbous plants are one of the most extensive flower groups throughout the globe. Many of them adorn our gardens, although they themselves come from a variety of places and climatic conditions. Therefore, among them there are "whims" and "sissies." This is especially true for most species of hazel grouse (Fritillaria). We can say that these plants are good, but they are more suitable for sophisticated gardeners.

Good in the garden and oriental lilies. Their extraordinary beauty and amazing aroma will certainly attract the attention of all neighbors. But, unfortunately, they are also better at the most experienced and patient amateur gardeners. If you grow oriental lilies in a perennial culture (plant in the ground and do not dig 3-4 years), then every autumn you need to cover it with a film from cold and heavy rains. And for the winter you need a light shelter (ideally - coniferous litter).

Many of the bulbs give self-seeding. It pleases someone, but sometimes the arbitrary and chaotic distribution of plants can disrupt the strict pattern of the flower garden. To prevent this from happening, you need to remove wilted flowers as early as possible, while leaving a maximum of leaves. Thanks to this, not only the number of bulbs is controlled, but also there is a greater accumulation of nutrients for future flowering.

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