Everyone knows the snowdrop flower, the photo of which is even in the children's primer. This small beautiful plant is the first to come to life after winter. At first it releases a couple of leaves, and very soon 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, it is the snowdrop flower that warns us about the approach of 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, in 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, whose photo even children recognize, is a low herbaceous culture with two linear leaves up to twenty centimeters long. They come out immediately, at the same time as the flower stalks.
Single, drooping bluebells have a white perianth consisting of sixleaflets. Three of the outer ones are elliptical or obovate, while the inner ones are wedge-shaped and have a green speck at the 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 succulent appendage to attract ants, which pull them apart and thus spread the plants.
The snowdrop flower has ovoid or conical bulbs, which are a compact group of modified leaves planted on one common base.
Landing
The best time to plant this plant is between July and September. With a long warm autumn, planting can be stretched until early November. Today, on 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 altogether. And although the bulb remains alive, it is weakened. True, the next year such a plant blooms weakly or does not bloom at all, although it does not die.
Features
Galanthus bulbs cannot stand drying. They cannot be kept in the air for more than a month, but if it is not possible to plant them in the ground, they should be sprinkled with sawdust or shavings and put in a plastic bag. The bulbs are planted according to the following rule: they are placed in loose soil at a depth equal to twobulbs, 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 regulates the depth of germination of its root system. If it is planted too deep, it will form a new bulb on the peduncle, but already at the right depth.
Growing
The first spring flower - snowdrop loves shaded, but warmed by the sun 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 breaks right out from under the snow. In autumn, galanthus should be covered with a small layer of loose compost.
You have to be careful when feeding this crop. Snowdrop does not tolerate fresh manure, so complex mineral fertilizers are best suited for it.
These plants are bred for flower decoration of plots. 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 landscapers use snowdrops to create white lawns in the middle of lawns.
Views
The Amaryllis family includes eighteen species. The most common of these is the white snowdrop. His homeland is the forests of the Carpathians. The flower reaches a height of fifteen centimeters. This species also includes Viridapisis, which blooms in February, Lutescens, which has an identification mark - yellowspeck, as well as terry Flore Pleno, Pusi Green Tip, Ophelia and many others.
Another species is the Elwes snowdrop native to Asia. It, unlike the previous varieties, is taller - up to twenty-five centimeters. It has bluish-green wide leaves, large spherical white flowers. This is the very first snowdrop. Its flower appears in early February. To date, many Elwes hybrids have been bred, which are distinguished by decorativeness and great endurance. The most popular variety is Arnott, with large, fragrant flowers.
Other species, such as Galanthus plicatus or Folded, which gave rise to many interesting garden forms, Ikarian, which came to us from Greece and today grows beautifully in Krasnaya Polyana in Sochi, as well as Forster's, Voronov's snowdrops and many others are widespread in the botanical gardens of our country.
The uncontrolled collection of these beautiful representatives of the plant world led to the fact that many varieties had to be listed in the Red Book. And this means that every year it becomes more and more difficult to meet them in their 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. The snowdrop, which blooms the very first of all bulbs, gives buds in the middle of winter. To do this, it must be taken out of the room.
Because we are talking about a very hardy and cold-loving plant that can survive at temperatures up to ten degrees below zero, it is not difficultguess that he will die in a warm room. Therefore, during flowering, you need to keep the snowdrop in a very cold room.
Conditions for growing at home
Two months after planting the bulb, the plant must be kept in complete darkness. Then he will need natural light. It must be completely excluded from direct sunlight.
The optimum temperature for the bulb in the dark is around zero degrees, and during flowering - a maximum of 10°C, otherwise the plant will die.
After planting the bulb, the soil should be thoroughly moistened, and then left alone without watering until the pot has been moved to the light. After that, it is necessary to maintain soil moisture by watering twice a week.
You can't spray snowdrops. At the same time, during flowering, they need good ventilation, and when it ends, you need to cut off the withered heads, and let the leaves die naturally. If the plants were fed, they need to be transplanted into open ground. Otherwise, they will not bloom again in the same pot.
Galantus nivalis, a common snowdrop that blooms from mid-winter to April, is the best variety to grow indoors. Today, unfortunately, this flower is rarely found in an apartment or even in a garden. And in vain! After all, even when winter still rules around, you can be sure that its days are numbered, when from under the snow, crawling out through deadwood, a snowdrop flower appears on the site, and when it grows at home in a pot, thengood "weather" and mood in the family are provided.
