Dried flowers in your gardens — beauty all year round

Not often in our gardens there are dried flowers. With the abundance of summer colors, these flowers play the role of the second plan. Many underestimate them. And it is in vain. They can be very interesting all year round.

The name of the dried flowers carries a touch of decay, so I don't like to use it. Bessmertnyi a more appropriate name, but also slightly scratches the soul. Thoughts on the transience of time. I like the individual names of the group's plants. Helichrysum, statice, sitehost, Lunaria, and so on. Beautiful and mysterious names.

For a long time these flowers I perceived as something artificial that can only be used for floral decorations, but after trying to grow them once, understand their diversity and plasticity.

I had been using for gifts small decorative pumpkins. Decided to add to them Helichrysum. The store bought mix, in a beautiful package. Color names included in this set are not. I didn't care. They are all strangers to me, be interesting to see what happens. Photo promised beauty and splendor.

Floral mixes well planted immediately in a permanent place. I have had to go through the seedling period, so graded seeds in appearance and planted in individual containers. Seedlings were friendly and sturdy. Even had to thin out. In early may, planted under a film cover, along with the other flower seedlings. But nature reminded us who on earth the owner: the storm took out my little greenhouse and the subsequent three-day frost finished off the tender flower seedlings.
However, most of the dried flowers survived. 5 June drop them off on the permanent seats. Grew up great, almost no care. The year was very rainy and cold. I thought that for my colors is bad, but practice has shown the opposite.

Floral bushes rapidly increasing volume and the flowers are much larger than expected. But they bloomed later than the statutory deadline. High humidity provoked the invasion of the snails, which destroyed everything in its path. My gorgeous Phlox was pathetic, and one late variety, was not able to bloom. Flower beds lost their decorative features with every rain. Only my experimental flowers pleasing. Rain they added to the greens, and snails found them not very tasty. I thought I was gonna ruin the song, if you start cutting Helichrysum. Put them for this purpose, but has developed differently. I was expecting a pleasant surprise. It turned out that slice for good. One of the cut flower new grow exponentially. Then regretted that later is realized. It should be noted that with increasing number, flower size decreases. This is a General rule for plants. Want large fruit or flower, not to create or get rid of competitors.

For Helichrysum, not the time of cutting. When drying the buds open, the flowers are wider unfold their petals. From one Bush you can get totally different material, selecting a different stage of the dissolution of the flower.

Statice was ready to cut in July. I cut quite a bit for a bouquet of sunflowers, when planning the main part of the deal in early August. First admired the exuberant flowering, then I realized that I was late with the truncation. To statice, unlike Helichrysum, very important time period in which is made by truncation. The best time for this, the beginning of the dissolution of floral brushes. The material of the later period of cutting, I did not like. If the initial time is missed, then leave these branches for flowering in the flower bed.

It turned out that when zastivanje in a Sunny spot (window), the stems lose their green color, and the flowers retain their color. Try to dry in the dark (far corner under the roof of the shed) to keep the color closest to the original.

Sitehost and tresonce grew up without my participation, healthy and beautiful. Decorated flower until late autumn. Completely unpretentious and grateful plants. Tried to cut in various stages of development. Liked the result, when the ears have reached the allotted size, but have not yet begun to change color. Later truncation becomes a gray color, the faster it crumbles. Next year self-seeding was not observed. It's important to me, because they are afraid of their own hands to settle the aggressor like Oxalis and Nevenka.

Colors I defined names. Helichrysum, statice, sitehost, tresonce very easy to learn and remember. Among them grew the mystery, the name of which I couldn't identify. Plush, soft, slightly pubescent, with a silver, rounded leaves were growing actively. A Bush resembling the burdock, have grown well but not bloomed. I thought I just did not in this weather. In the autumn he was so dressy that I felt sorry for him to pull out.

In the spring I met an unusual silvery purple Bush. I did not even realize that this is my last mystery. A neighbor mistook him for the ornamental cabbage, which managed to survive the winter. Of course, the bulk of the leaves have suffered from hibernation, but after sanitary pruning, Bush was handsome. It became clear that it is perennial. Spike quickly gained the desired size, and with forget-me-nots bloomed a rich violet-purple color. In the image read familiar magazines features, but the name slipped away. And only when I saw the seed pods, all doubts have disappeared. These fruits are used florists. It was Lunaria. This is known to all in the bouquet, it remained a mystery while growing.

The only disappointment of steel insidious snails. They just fell in love with Lunaria the vtorogodnitsey, completely forgetting about the Phlox. With a sharp drop in the total number of snails in the area, compared to the previous year, use blue pellets, these pests spoil the beauty. But the seeds ripened well.

Helichrysum and statice I cut before fruiting, so I cannot judge about the possibility of obtaining their seeds. I always want new, so buy the favorite plants of other varieties and colors. As it turned out, the dried flowers there for every taste. Different colors, heights and shapes. Try to choose low-growing varieties, as the most practical in the short Northern summer.

All the flowers for winter bouquets dried at room temperature, was hung upside down (tresonce and sitehost), laid out on newspaper (Helichrysum), put in a vase without water (statice). Chose a place away from the sun. Collected several bouquets of which took the flowers as needed. Made an arrangement in a basket with a pumpkin. In addition to the previously named plants it added sprigs of asparagus with red fruits and Chinese lanterns. This couple has been living in my garden. From the pear-shaped gourd vase made in which all winter adorned with the flowers of eternal summer. I tried to do topiary (tree of happiness). Turned out beautifully and very clearly. Today, small sunflowers, which complements the bouquet of yellow statice.

Professional florists often uses dried flowers to create a bouquet. Among gardeners, they are rare guests. For myself, I discovered the magical world of plants, capable of a long time to give us your beauty. Grow them for three years. Extend the summer at all times of the year. So nice to look at bright part of your garden when other flowers are sleeping until spring under a blanket of snow and it seems that last summer we just had.

Helichrysum:





Lunaria:



Statice:



Sitehost:



Topiary:



Source: vcvetah.ru/