One of the leaders is an unpretentious plant - decorative flax. Gardeners who discovered it are regular lovers of this wonderful plant. Having planted it once in their garden, they will grow it constantly. Why is this plant so attractive?
Flax is one of the oldest crops grown by humans. A strong thread was obtained from its fibrous stem by spinning. Linen fabric is environmentally friendly, durable, beautiful. Clothes made of linen are not hot in summer and not cold in winter. In nature, flax has small blue flowers.
Grandiflora flax is an ornamental annual plant, often used in flower beds, gardens and parks. It grows from 30 to 60 cm in height, and can reach a height of up to 110 cm. Flax flowers are medium-sized - up to 3 cm in diameter, collected in inflorescences. The petals fall quite quickly. A dry capsule with numerous brown seeds is formed. The plant reproduces exclusively by seeds.
In its natural environment, flax grows in northern Africa. Became cultivated since the 18th century. Currently grown almost everywhere. In Russia it grows even in the northern regions.
Decorative flax grows even on the poorest soils. Loves sunny areas very much. It grows quite poorly in the shade, the plants become thinner, stretch out and bloom little. Does not like wetlands with very wet soil.
Soil preparation
The flower bed is prepared in advance. The soil should be dug well; the soil should be loose and saturated with oxygen. It is advisable to fertilize the soil with humus and superphosphate. You can use special fertilizers for flowering plants. After applying fertilizers, the soil must be loosened again, leveled and sowing started.
It is advisable to make rows, water them and sow the seeds. You need to plant shallowly - about 1.5 cm. You can sow in holes. The plant grows well in a group or in dense rows. After planting, the soil needs to be watered again.
When to plant decorative flax
You can sow flax in early spring or before winter. You can plant as early as the end of April. The plant germinates for quite a long time, the first shoots appear after a few weeks. If the flax is planted very densely, then thinning can be done.
Plant care
During the summer, plantings should be watered if necessary, but not too often to avoid waterlogging. If there is enough rain, no watering is required. It is advisable to loosen the soil and weed out weeds so that they do not choke out tender plants.
With good and timely care, plants will delight you with abundant and long-lasting flowering. It begins to bloom quite early and ends in late autumn. Flowers come in different shades, but mostly they are blue, blue, pink-red, milky flowers. In combination with different flowers, the flower bed looks simply magnificent, attracting attention. Before flowering, you can feed flax with mineral fertilizers for flowering plants.
According to the rules of crop rotation, decorative flax needs to be planted in a new place next year. The soil becomes depleted and plants may grow weak.
The use of flax in plantings
Decorative flax is widely used in landscape design of gardens and personal plots. It is a wonderful decoration for alpine slides. Unpretentious plants take root well and actively bloom in combination with other alpine plants, creating a unique floral pattern. Looks good with wildflowers - bells, cornflowers, daisies.
There are not only annual, but also perennial varieties that have flowers of a wide variety of colors. They are taller and form dense thickets that need to be thinned out periodically. Flax reproduces by self-sowing, so you need to ensure that the seeds do not spill out of the dry bolls. Dried flowers must be removed; this will prolong the flowering time of the plant and make it more lush.
Medicinal properties of flax
Flax is not only an ornamental plant, but also very useful. White flax is especially famous for its healing properties. The seeds produce a valuable medicinal oil that helps with many diseases. It improves immunity, has a rejuvenating effect, and saturates the body with healthy fatty acids. Since ancient times, people have known about the benefits of this plant and grown it not only for decorative or industrial purposes, but also to improve health. This is a natural, environmentally friendly medicine for many ailments, which has no side effects when used correctly.
In autumn, dry bolls are collected and the seeds are poured into a special container. The stems are removed and burned, and the bed is dug up before winter. This helps destroy many pests, weeds and saturate the earth with oxygen. If you don't dig it up, the soil becomes dense and much more difficult to work in the spring. You can sow flax before winter, but you need to take into account that tender seedlings are afraid of frost.
Growing flax at home
Flax can be grown in the city on a balcony. Growing at home is not particularly difficult, due to the unpretentiousness of the plant. Planted in special boxes. A prerequisite is the location on the sunny side.
The soil must be alkaline. You can buy soil in specialized garden stores. You can also buy decorative flax seeds there. Drainage is poured onto the bottom of the box - these are pebbles, expanded clay or gravel. A layer of earth is placed on top, which can be mixed with a small amount of sand for looseness. It is advisable to add mineral fertilizers, but the plant is unpretentious, so it makes sense to fertilize it with humus.
Seeds need to be sown in moist soil to a depth of about 1.5 cm. After about a week, the first shoots may appear. If the ground is cold, seedlings generally emerge later. Seedlings are thinned out and watered regularly. You definitely need to loosen the ground a little and remove weeds. With proper care, you can grow beautiful flowers on your balcony that will delight you all summer. You also need to pick off dry inflorescences for more abundant flowering. In the fall you need to collect seeds for the next planting in the spring. You can be sure that the plant will become one of the most beloved and in demand among gardeners.
Growing perennial flax in the garden
Perennial flax is an ornamental plant cultivated in regions with plenty of sunlight. Growing it doesn't require much effort. In response to care, the plant will decorate the area with its lush blooms.
Botanical description of the species
The herbaceous plant is cultivated in mid-latitudes as a decorative element for borders, flower walls, and rockeries.
Source: Depositphotos
Perennial flax is widely used in the design of summer cottages
Among the varieties and subspecies, you will recognize perennial flax by the following distinctive features:
- bush height – 50 cm, stems thin, erect;
- leaves – elongated;
- the flowers are blue or white, reaching 2 cm in diameter.
The flower consists of 5 petals that fall every day and grow again overnight. Flowers bloom only on sunny days before lunch.
Continuous flowering lasts from May to July. Thanks to selective breeding, varieties with red and yellow inflorescence colors have been developed.
Planting and caring for crops
The plant does not require much effort to cultivate, but is highly dependent on the illumination of the area. A sun-loving plant will not be able to develop if there is insufficient light. Choose a place to plant it where there is no shadow from buildings or trees. The technology for planting perennials is as follows:
- choose an open area with light, water- and breathable soil;
- sow seeds in spring or autumn - the main thing is that the temperature is not below +20°C;
- flax is sown randomly, without thickening the crops, as it sprouts very quickly;
- Do not cover the seeds with soil, leave them on the surface, moisten them.
To ensure that the crop blooms on time and abundantly, provide it with minimal care. It consists of regular but moderate watering 1-2 times a week, timely weeding, and fertilizing several times a season. Fertilize the crop for the first time when planting: add organic matter and potassium fertilizer to the hole a few days before sowing. In summer, apply liquid fertilizer.
Blue flax is not susceptible to diseases and frequent attacks by pests. Its only enemy is the flax flea, which is easily removed with insecticides. Remember that flax is an aggressive crop that tends to quickly conquer new territories. Select a separate flower bed or area for it.
If you give the perennial a lot of light and protect it from waterlogging, it will respond with long flowering, which will end with self-seeding. You will admire the delicate flowers for three months.
It would seem - what could be useful in a plant that produces little green mass and is extremely difficult to care for? These species are not suitable for green manure. But flax is another matter. It has been noticed that it prevents the spread of weeds and effectively fights the Colorado potato beetle. Therefore, they try to place flax as green manure next to a potato field or plant it among potato tops.
The homeland of flax is India. There are annual and perennial varieties. Perennials should be updated once every three years. Annuals are grown for seeds and green manure plots.
Useful qualities
The plant is resistant to high temperatures, but for this it needs to be fed with complex fertilizers, preferably three-component ones, in order to maintain immunity. You can sow at temperatures from +2 degrees, since low temperatures also suit it, that is, it doesn’t matter when to sow flax as green manure. If the soil and humidity suit it, temperature fluctuations are not a problem.
Flax seeds are a well-known folk remedy for recovery after illnesses and operations. The seeds are especially valued by people suffering from diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and cardiovascular system.
Video: Briefly about flax
Natural fabric is made from flax fibers - very durable and hygroscopic. Cut shoots retain moisture well if used as mulch for berry bushes and young fruit tree seedlings. Only young shoots are suitable for green manure, since after flowering they become coarser and rot in the soil for a long time.
The most beneficial quality of flax is the presence of tannin alkaloid. Its smell repels the eternal pest of potatoes - the Colorado potato beetle. It is believed that carrots grow better in the presence of flax due to the same tannin.
Flax is an oilseed crop, but to produce 300 g of oil you need 1 kg of flaxseed, so you can squeeze out the contents of the seeds from your summer cottage only for your own needs. To do this, you will have to wait until the seeds ripen and collect them by shaking them out of the boxes.
There is a condition when to sow oilseed flax as green manure - when the soil moisture is maximum. This happens immediately after the snow melts. Seeds and young shoots absorb all the water from the site. If the plant does not have enough water in the spring, the seed yield, and therefore the oil, will be less.
Disadvantages of flax as green manure
The plant, although useful, requires care. The soils on which flax seedlings will sprout must be alkaline - there will be no harvest on acidic and heavy soils. Sandy ones are a little better, but additional mineral fertilizers are required, since the plant consumes the most nutrients before flowering - just when it needs to be cut and embedded in the ground. To maximize the value of green fertilizer, flax is fed with nitrogen and phosphorus.
It is better to plant seeds in sunny areas - they grow worse in the shade.
Seed consumption rate for planting
For greening purposes for 1 hundred square meters it is necessary to prepare about 300 g flaxseeds.
After uniform scattering, the ground is harrowed to cover the seeds with a layer of soil, since they do not like to germinate in sunlight. During the growing season, you need to monitor the crops, as they are often subject to fungal infection. To prevent the disease from spreading to neighboring beds, flax is sprayed with fungicides.
conclusions
Flax crops have proven themselves well as a means of combating the Colorado potato beetle and some other garden pests. You can also sow for beauty in an area that is not used in crop rotation. This helps control weeds.
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The flax genus, according to various sources, includes from 100 to 200 varieties and species, here are some of them: common flax or long-lasting flax, oil flax, large-flowered flax, clear dawn flax, yellow flax. Representatives of species and subspecies have different purposes, for example, long fiber is obtained from long flax, and curly flax is used as an oilseed plant.
Oil flax is an ornamental variety of flax grown at home, often for the purpose of obtaining nutritious and incredibly healthy flax seeds. The seeds of modern varieties contain about 50% oil and 30% protein. The plant usually reaches a height of no more than 30 cm. The flowers are tiny. Their color can be soft lilac, lemon and even scarlet. Oil flax vacates the field early. It is a good predecessor of winter crops, as well as spring cereals, buckwheat, corn for grain, silage and green fodder, beets, and peas.
Perennial blue
Blue flax is a perennial up to 60 cm high. The flowers are light cornflower blue, up to 2 cm in diameter, there are subspecies with snow-white flowers. Flowering time: June-August. The species is drought-resistant and overwinters without shelter. Loves light and fertile, sufficiently moist soils. A perennial grown from seeds blooms in its second year.
Red
Red flax is an annual, its stems are graceful and straight. It reaches half a meter in height. The leaves of the plant are elongated. The flowers are scarlet, up to 4 cm in diameter. The five petals are shaped like saucers. It blooms for only one day, falling off in the evening, but the next day new flowers bloom to replace it. Their attractiveness is similar to wild poppies. Flax amazes with its abundance of bright colors, especially if representatives of the species are planted in a large group.
Northern
Northern flax is a perennial plant up to 35 cm high. The rhizome is large and strong. The stems are simple, there are few branches, quite leafy. The leaves at the bottom of the stem are tiny and elliptical. Flowers are solitary or inflorescences with a small number of flowers, large. Petals are up to 1.8 cm long, oval, cornflower blue. The capsules are 6–8 mm long, brown, tapering towards the apex. Seeds up to 4 mm long, brown. It grows mainly in the high mountain regions of the Northern, Subpolar and Polar Urals. Grows on slopes and river banks, on pebbles. Reproduction is by seed. Blooms in summer. Found singly or in small groups. The stems break easily.
Clear dawns
Flax clear dawns belongs to the annual family. The stems are straight, up to 40 centimeters high. The leaves on the stem are light turquoise and straight. The stem ends in fleshy inflorescences that are purple in color. The diameter of the blooming flowers is up to 3 centimeters. The plant is used for cutting, as well as for decorating lawns and flower beds.
Yellow
Yellow flax is a perennial with a stem height of up to 60 cm. The stems are ribbed and densely leafy. The strong root is shaped like a spindle. The flowers have a bright yellow color and reach 3 cm in diameter. Yellow flax blooms from the beginning of summer, the seeds ripen in August. One of the few types of flax that can grow in shaded areas. In the black earth zone, yellow flax grows in the steppes, meadows, glades, and rocky slopes. Distributed in the southern half of Europe, the Caucasus and Asia Minor. In Russia it is found in the European part, mainly in the black earth zone, where it is quite common. To the north, including in the non-chernozem zone of Central Russia, this is a rare plant.
sky blue
Flax sky blue is a perennial unpretentious plant up to 80 cm high. Planted in a group shaped like a cloud. If a plant grows in one place for many years, it becomes like a rug, although it is not climbing. This is a herbaceous plant with soft blue flowers that grow on the side shoots. Several dozen flowers bloom on one plant, which open mainly in sunny weather.
Ordinary or seed
The flax genus includes more than a hundred species, of which the most important is common or seed flax. This is an annual herb, practically hairless, about 60 cm high, and even higher in warm countries. Branches at the top. Leaves are alternate, narrow. The flowers form a false umbrella, the sepals are pointed; the petals are ash-azure, sometimes snow-white, the fruit is spherical, the seeds are shiny. Wild cultivated flax is unknown. It is believed that, most likely, it originated from angustifolia flax, which was cultivated in ancient times in the Mediterranean.
Modern cultivated flax is divided into three groups: long-lasting flax, curly flax and mezheumki flax. They are all annual plants and differ in size and purpose. Fiber flax is grown to produce fiber, curly flax is grown as an oil plant, and midge flax is used for these and other purposes. Long flax has erect stems, up to 60 cm high, while curly flax has stems up to 30 cm, sometimes creeping. The leaves of long flax are sessile, the lower ones are opposite, the upper ones are alternate, linear, with entire edges. Near the base of the leaves, instead of stipules, there are glands. The flowers are predominantly sea-green, sometimes white, less often pearlescent, five-petaled, collected in spreading shield-shaped inflorescences. The fruit is an ovoid spherical capsule with 6-10 seeds. The seeds are shiny, smooth, flattened, light brown in color, without endosperm. The plant blooms in June-July, the seeds ripen in August-September.
Large-flowered
Flax grandiflora is an annual plant with a straight, bare stem, branched at the top. Height up to 60 cm. Leaves sessile, sharp, oval. Large-flowered flax has scarlet flowers with a diameter of 3 cm, which are located in loose corymbose inflorescences. After flowering, fruits appear - dry capsules with flat seeds. The homeland of this species is North-West Africa.
Short Sunny Bunny
Low-growing flax is a perennial that amazes with an abundance of bright yellow flowers on numerous peduncles. The plant is herbaceous, with thin shoots, many amber flowers collected in umbrella inflorescences. It is also planted among low-growing perennials or in flower walls. The plant is unpretentious. For full development, the plant only needs an open sunny area with light, fertile soil. Sow directly into the ground in spring or before winter. For flowering in the first year - seedlings in March-April. 3 weeks after the emergence of seedlings, the crops are thinned out, leaving a distance of 20 cm between plants. They are planted (with a clod of earth, since flax does not tolerate transplantation) to a permanent place in May. Prefers an open sunny location. Best development is achieved on light, fertile, well-drained soils. Plants grown from seeds bloom more abundantly and are stronger than when dividing the bush. Two weeks after germination, the plants are fed with complex mineral fertilizer. It blooms in June - September, in the second year after sowing.
Perennial
Perennial flax is a plant up to 80 cm high. The stems are bare, thin, and usually branched at the top. The leaves are small, linear, alternate, green or bluish. Perennial flax pleases with cornflower-blue flowers, about 2 cm in diameter, collected in a fleshy panicle. Sepals are round, easily falling off. The capsule is spherical, 8 mm in diameter, the seeds are brown, flat, 5 mm in length. the perennial plant tolerates light shade, but grows better and blooms more profusely in open areas well warmed by the sun.
Perennial flax, so familiar to most of us, is often relegated to the background when choosing suitable decorative flowers for the garden plot. But in vain. After all, this plant has long been considered a real decoration of any home and its protector. Flax is a completely unpretentious plant, but at the same time capable of blooming with incredible luxurious flowers. By the way, contrary to popular belief, linen does not have to be blue. Today you will learn about all the features of growing perennial blue flax in open ground: planting, care, use in landscape design (photo materials are attached).
Perennial blue flax: description, main varieties and varieties
Flax belongs to the genus of herbaceous plants, numbering about 200 plants that are diverse in appearance and properties. Most often, flax is represented by a small plant, reaching a height of about 0.5 m, with fairly thin but strong stems and flowers of various sizes (they can be both small and quite large) of a soft blue, white or pink-red hue. .
Actively cultivated in mid-latitudes. The plant prefers a temperate climate, so blue flax can most often be found in North America, Africa, some parts of Europe and Asia.
Among the existing types and varieties of flax, the following can be particularly highlighted (photo below):
- Oilseed. This decorative variety of flax is grown at home, often for the purpose of obtaining nutritious and incredibly healthy flax seeds. The plant usually reaches a height of no more than 30 cm. The flowers are relatively small. Their color can be soft blue, yellow and even red.
Oilseed flax
- Decorative. One of the most picky varieties of flax: growing it is a pleasure even for a novice gardener. In addition, it is from decorative varieties of flax that durable natural clothing is produced.
- Large-flowered. This variety of flax appeared in domestic gardening not so long ago and immediately became one of the “favorites” among gardeners - lovers of home flora. The plant can be called medium-sized - it usually reaches a height of 0.5 m. The flowers of decorative flax are very large, presented in a rich range of shades. Decorative flax is considered a perennial: under favorable conditions, it can live in one place for up to 5 years.
Large-flowered flax
- Perennial flax. This type of flax is considered the most common among all existing ones. Perennial flax is used to decorate flower walls, borders, etc.
Planting a plant in open ground
The plant cannot be called particularly picky about growing conditions, but still flax, regardless of the variety or variety, needs a sufficient amount of sunlight, so the area for planting it must be chosen that is not shaded by houses or trees.
Advice. If you are a resident of a region where the sun is considered a rather rare phenomenon, unfortunately, it is better for you to refuse to grow perennial flax.
The soil for planting flax can be almost any, but you are unlikely to be able to grow flax in a swampy area. The soil must be light, with sufficiently deep groundwater. Perennial flax will take root well even on slopes (but not too steep).
It is better to plant perennial varieties of flax in closed ground, but if the climate is warm enough, you can sow them directly into open ground, and it is advisable not to deepen the seeds into the ground, but simply spread them out on the ground and spray them with water from a spray bottle.
flax bush
Growing in open ground is possible both in spring (when the temperature reaches a stable 20 degrees) and in autumn (when the temperature has not yet dropped below 20 degrees).
Advice. When growing perennial flax in open ground, be sure to take into account the cold factor: planting cannot be done in damp or rainy weather, and after this process, the seeds must be covered with a small layer of soil, then insulated like a regular flower crop.
Plant propagation
Perennial flax is propagated in several ways:
- Seeds. As we already know, propagation by seeds is possible both in spring and autumn (when seed material is sown in winter). The seeds are carefully laid out on the ground (without digging into the soil) and slightly moistened with water. By the way, perennial varieties can be safely grown even in the summer. When grown in containers (meaning a permanent place, since the seedling method of growing flax with subsequent transplantation is ineffective), removal to an open place is carried out immediately after sowing.
- Dividing the bush. This propagation method is relevant for two-year-old plants. The process of separating several parts from the mother bush is usually carried out in mid-spring, or after the end of the flowering period - in August. Parts of the bush are usually planted at a distance of about 20 cm from each other. They require constant watering and protection from direct sunlight.
Blue flax care: watering and fertilizing regime, pest control
In order for the plant to please you with luxurious, albeit not too long-lasting, flowering in the summer, be sure to make sure that it receives proper care. Next, we will talk about what kind of care perennial flax will require when grown in open ground.
In order for the plant to remain healthy and “live” a full life, it is necessary to provide it with periodic watering, which, by the way, should not turn the soil surface into a swampy area.
Avoid stagnation of water at flax roots
Remember that flax does not like stagnant water. A sufficient frequency of watering can be about 1-2 times a week (depending on the dryness of the period and the temperature characteristics of the region). Make sure the soil is always moist. But with the onset of autumn, it is advisable to reduce watering to a minimum, and then stop altogether.
In addition to watering, flax will also need periodic weeding, since weeds and excessive plant thickening do not have the best effect on the appearance of flax.
Fertilizing is not a weak point of perennial flax, so you can forget about constantly preparing nutrient mixtures for the soil. It is imperative to apply organic fertilizer a few days before sowing the seed and add a little potassium fertilizer to it. It is advisable to apply liquid fertilizer at least a couple more times throughout the season. It is advisable to carry out the process of feeding plants immediately after watering.
As for diseases, flax has something to boast about, because the plant is not susceptible to any diseases. Unless the flax flea can sometimes attack it. Unfortunately, folk remedies are powerless to combat it, so immediately when a small pest appears, it is necessary to treat the area with growing flax with a special chemical preparation.
Combination with other plants
In order for flax to take root well in the garden plot and become a worthy decoration, remember that the best combination of the plant is observed mainly with crops that have a similar development pattern and growing conditions.
Linen in landscape design
