Plant and admire: 12 unpretentious garden flowers part 1
I love flowers, but not to receive them as gifts, but to grow them and admire the result.
I usually choose perennials. Annuals take a lot of effort: you have to choose seeds, grow seedlings and find a suitable place for them in the flowerbed to blend in with other flowers.
With perennial flowers, everything is easier: planned, planted - and the next few years only water, remove weeds and sprout. I will tell you which flowers do not require special care.
How to plan a flowerbed
In my experience, the option to quickly add a new plant to the free space usually turns into several transplants. So I suggest taking the time to think about your flower bed. Here's what to consider.
The features of the site: how it is lit during the day, whether it is protected from the wind, how close to groundwater, how harsh and snowy winters, what is the acidity of the soil.
For example, in the shady side, where moisture constantly accumulates, astilbe, hostas and bouzulniki feel great. And irises, on the contrary, in the shade and damp place get sick - it is better to plant them on a sunny slope.
The number of plants directly affects how much time you will spend on care, even if they are unpretentious plants. You will still have to water, remove weeds, and dig up excess plants every few years. Therefore, it is important to be able to say no to neighbors who bring another beautiful rose: "stick it here, and that place is empty".
- *When the plants are in bloom, I like it when the clump looks vibrant throughout the season and the blooms don't become a dull blur. I try to spread the plants evenly around the plot so that each month brings new accents. In May, red islands of tulips are scattered all over the plot, later irises and poppies bloom, then it's time for peonies, roses, lilies, lily-of-the-valley, astilbes. If you plant all irises in one place and all phlox in another, the plot will bloom in chunks.
- *Poppies are beautiful, but they bloom instantly: the next day the flower is already shriveled, and in a week the whole bush will bloom. Phlox, some varieties of geicheras, astilbes and yarrow bloom for several weeks.
- *Many plants remain ornamental after flowering. Their unusual greenery can be a great backdrop or complement for brightly colored flowers with short blooms.
Lilies, poppies and delphiniums, on the contrary, have poor greenery: after flowering, they turn yellow and dry up. I try not to occupy large spaces with such plants and plant next to something voluminous to hide the emptiness. As a last resort, I save the situation with annuals.
For example, bouzelnut has unassuming flowers, but very picturesque leaves, similar to maple trees
Colors. I do not follow trends in floriculture and orient myself on my preferences: I try to distribute plants so that it was not too garish. At the same time, I make sure that there are no plants of the same color that bloom at the same time, otherwise they will merge into a big spot and the beauty of each will be lost.
Colors look differently in the shade and in the sun. Bright white and yellow will be an accent on a dark site, and dark and saturated colors in the shade, on the contrary, will dissolve.
Brightly colored flowers attract insect pollinators and will make good neighbors for vegetables or fruit trees. In recent years, there has been a trend in the gardening world to grow plants that attract butterflies and bees, as the latter are dying en masse.
Landscape designers at a major flower show in 2024 even called for lawns to be replanted with nectar-bearing grasses and flowers.
Bees are willing to travel 30 kilometers for lavender.
Allium is also an unpretentious nectar-bearing flower. Gardeners call it ornamental onions
Landscape designers recommend creating calm areas without screaming, contrasting colors, where the eye rests. I also have one: the green mass of non-flowering dilutes white, yellow and shades of pink
Rate of growth. The distance between neighboring plants and the frequency with which you will have to sprout them depends on it. Here you can trust gardening books and the recommendations on the package of seedlings or seeds. If it is written that hostas should be planted at a distance of 50-70 cm from each other, it is worth doing so, even if it is now a tiny sprout. In a year it will grow twice, and in another year it will begin to oppress neighboring plants.
In the first year, the flower bed will seem empty, but the plants will develop faster and you will not have to replant them in a year.
Height. In theory, everything is simple: you should plant tall plants in the background and low plants in the front. But in practice it is more complicated. For example, delphiniums throw flower stalks to a height of up to two meters, and after flowering bush cut off. I try to hide them somewhere in the middle between other lush bushes.
I didn't notice this iris until the second day, even though I walked by it. It is poorly planted and not visible behind the other flowers
The shape of the bushes and the inflorescences themselves. When the bushes are of the same shape and similar volume, the flowerbed seems monotonous. You can combine different plants. For example, among the sprawling bushes of peonies or phlox look interesting arrows of delphiniums or gladiolus.
If the advice seems complicated, it is better to start small: plant a few flowers, observe them during the season, note what succeeded and what did not. And the next season with new strength and experience to break up the garden.
For those who want to break up a flower garden and not pay much attention to it, I have selected 12 non-capricious plants that rarely get sick and do not suffer without regular fertilizing.
I think it's a good combination of differently textured plants.
Primrose
How much it costs: on Amazon and gardening markets from $0.5, in stores from $1.2.
Bloom time: early May**,** blooms for three to four weeks. Here and further I speak about terms for the average strip of Russia: in the south everything blooms two weeks earlier, and in the north - later.
Planting time: in May, when there is no threat of frost. Faded plants can also be transplanted in summer. This is a primrose - it blooms when the other plants are just starting to sprout.
I was given a few times primrose in a pot for March 8, but of all the gifts, only this species took root. Perhaps the indoor hybrids are just less tolerant of frost.
Conditions for different primrose varieties vary, but all like semi-shade and moist areas with loose, light soil. This means that it is best to add sand and humus to clay soil before planting. Primroses also grow in full sun, but the flowers are smaller and fade faster.
To check what kind of soil you have, simply take a handful of soil: if it crumbles, the soil is light, and if you can make a lump out of the soil, it is heavy.
- *Water, loosen and weed. If you feed once a season with organic fertilizer, you will be rewarded with abundant flowering. When new rosettes appear, it is better to sprout the bushes: overgrown plants bloom worse.
Narcissus
What it costs: from 10 ₽ per bulb on Avito, up to 250 ₽ for a variety.
Flowering time: late April to mid-May, depending on the variety.
Planting time: the first half of September. Plant at a depth of 10-15 cm - the heavier the soil, the smaller the hole.
There are plenty of daffodil hybrids in the stores that look more like roses.
Conditions. Daffodils grow best in sun or semi-shade. They do not tolerate heavy, wet soils and may die. In such areas you need to make a drainage of coarse sand, and then plant bulbs on this cushion.
Water and feed twice a season with phosphorus-potassium fertilizer - right after the snow melts and after flowering.
Narcissus blooms even in the most carefree gardeners in forgotten corners of the garden. Unlike tulips, daffodils do not need to be dug up every year - they can grow in the same place for up to 6 years.
Astilbe
How much does it cost: from $1.5 at private sellers, from $3 in stores.
Bloom time: from the end of June to the end of August.
Time of planting: they say, in spring and fall, but I many times transplanted in the summer even flowering bushes - all survived.
Astilbe is beautiful both in early spring, when the graceful pinnate leaves are just emerging, and during the blooming season
A classic combination of astilbe - in the foreground - and hosta
Conditions. Shade or semi-shade, preferably light soil, but most importantly well moistened. Astilbe grows even in swampy areas where little survives.
How to care. Water abundantly in dry weather and mulch the soil, that is, cover it with a layer of dry grass, straw, crushed bark, peat. The mulch protects the soil and roots from drying out, and at the same time dampens the sprouting of weeds.
Peony
How much it costs: from $4.5 per cuttings. But expect it to bloom only the second or third year.
Bloom time: June.
Planting time: mid-August to early September.
Peony has gorgeous flowers and openwork leaves that provide a textured backdrop for other plants
Conditions. Peony needs sunny or semi-shady sites with fertile, humus-rich soil. It cannot tolerate acidic soil or overwatering.
Since peony grows for a long time in one place, when planting for it make a large hole as for fruit trees: up to 70 cm deep and up to 60 cm wide. At the bottom lay drainage from stones or broken bricks, and then fill with soil from a mixture of humus, compost, sand and ash.
How to care. Water throughout the summer, loosen, feed in spring with organic fertilizer such as horse manure, and after flowering - with compost. On fertile soil with good care peony can grow for decades.
