Delicate Flower Borders

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Flowerbeds, bordered with flower borders, have long become irrelevant. Natural beauty and flowing lines are in vogue today. This transition from a flower bed to a lawn of lawn grass will ensure the use of low-growing flowers as curbs. They will beautifully outline the garden paths. But what kind of flowers to choose so that they do not lose their decorative effect for a long time and decorate the garden for the whole summer?

Ageratum blooms from June to late autumn

One of the most unpretentious with a long flowering period is such a perennial as ageratum. It is well suited for flower beds, because it grows better in an open, sunny place. However, the layout of the flower bed must be planned so that the taller ones gather around the flower garden not casting a thick shadow on it.

Prefers sandy loam type of soil or loam. Non-acidic nutrient soil is recommended. But it is not advised to make manure for planting.

Ageratum has several dozen species. And the height of different varieties ranges from 10 cm to half a meter. Therefore, you need to carefully study the characteristics of the selected variety before planting, so that there is no embarrassment later.

Let's take a closer look at the most popular varieties for border decoration:

• Blau Sternchen - forms a small spherical bush, 10-15 cm tall. Flowers are collected in loose inflorescences-baskets of blue color;

• Blau Bal - also forms a compact bush, the height reaches 15-20 cm. It is decorated with large dark lilac baskets, collected in inflorescences of medium density;

• Blue Perfection - is a spherical bush 20-25 cm in size. It has dense inflorescences, collected from a pale lilac with a blue tint of baskets.

It should also be borne in mind that although ageratum belongs to perennials, in garden floriculture it is grown as an annual. It is a very thermophilic plant. And while the flowering period lasts from June to late autumn, we must not forget that they cannot stand frosts. Therefore, the ageratum will delight in the garden for a very long time, but under conditions of warm autumn.

Reproduction of ageratum is carried out by seeds and cuttings. Sowing seedlings is carried out in April. This must be done in greenhouse conditions. When the seedlings grow up, they dive into the greenhouses. The thermophilic ageratum is moved to the open ground only when the return of frost is not expected.

When propagating by seed, there is always the danger of producing a heterogeneous batch of flowers. To avoid this, use cuttings. For this purpose, for the winter period, the mother liquors are moved to greenhouses. Each is capable of producing up to three dozen cuttings. With the arrival of the time to move to the flower beds, they begin to rooting the cuttings. This process does not take long. The optimum temperature for obtaining high-quality planting material is + 20 … + 22 ° С

Alissum will delight in the spring

Many impatient backyard owners love to see their gardens full of blooming flower beds in spring. To achieve this effect, we recommend planting alissum as a curb plant. This baby forms an air cloud of white, yellow, purple flowers in April. True, its flowering period is not as long as that of the ageratum, and in June it passes this baton to other plants.

Sowing starts in April. You can immediately go to a permanent place or to a greenhouse. In cool regions, they are relocated to open ground in mid-May.

You can sow alyssum in the middle of summer. However, in this case, the perennial will bloom only next year.

Another summer breeding method is cuttings. It is used for breeding terry forms of plants.

Alyssum is perfect not only as a curb plant, but also for decorating an alpine slide. It will harmoniously fit into rockeries and mixborders. One of its advantages is that it grows well in rocky areas.