Daisies - Pearl Necklace

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Shakespeare spoke of the daisy in the most tender terms: "Her white robe portrays naivety." Another famous poet, Montgomery, wrote: "... the rose reigns only one summer, and the daisy never dies." Indeed, in the damp, but rather warm climate of England, the daisy can be seen in bloom almost all year round. In the Middle Ages, knights who received marriage consent from their loved ones minted flowering daisies on a steel shield. Louis IX in honor of Margaret's wife ordered to capture this flower along with lilies on the national flag.

Daisy Description

In one of the legends about the appearance of daisies on earth, it is said that a rich old man fell in love with a very beautiful girl. He pursued her everywhere and gave rich gifts to her parents. But the girl ran away, hid from him, and finally, having lost all hope of salvation, she asked for protection from the earth, and the earth turned it into a daisy, blooming almost all year round.

The daisy was also reflected in Russian traditions. When Sadko went ashore, Lyubava, yearning for her lover, rushed a bird towards him. The pearls of her necklace hail over the earth, and daisies sprang from the pearls.

Daisy, Latin - Bellis.

Daisy is a perennial plant of the family Asteraceae, 10 to 15 cm high, terry, semi-double or non-terry of the most varied color (except for blue and blue).
The genus includes about 30 species growing in the Caucasus, Crimea, Western Europe, Asia Minor, and North Africa.

Perennial and annual plants, herbaceous with a rosette of scapular or scapular-obovate leaves at the base of long, leafless peduncles. Inflorescences are single elegant baskets 1-2 cm in diameter in wild species and up to 3-8 cm in garden forms. Reed flowers are located along the edge, of various colors, tubular - small, in the center of the inflorescence. It blooms in April-May. The fruit is the achene. In 1 g, up to 7500 seeds that retain viability for 3-4 years.

In decorative floriculture, 1 species is used.

Features of growing daisies

Location: prefer open sunny places, but can grow with partial shading, especially in hot weather. They are characterized by high winter hardiness.

The soil: the growing conditions are unpretentious, grow on any cultivated, well-drained soil, but bloom more abundantly on cultivated light loams rich in humus.

Care: require regular watering, with a lack of moisture, inflorescences become smaller and lose their terry. The culture is very responsive to early spring liquid feeding: 15 g of ammonium nitrate, 30 g of simple superphosphate, 7-8 g of potassium sulfate per 1 m2. To limit self-seeding and prolong flowering, it is imperative to pinch off the flowering baskets. It should be noted that in low areas with excessive moisture in the autumn, daisies may partially fall out. Where snow falls late or is blown away by the wind, it is advisable to cover the plants with a leaf or fir spruce branches.

Diseases and Pests: Daisies are rarely affected by diseases, but sometimes they suffer from overgrowth caused by mycoplasmas: inflorescences are smaller, the peduncle is extended, the leaves are reduced and lose their typical color (discolored). The disease most often manifests itself in early summer. Such specimens should be removed with a lump of earth. Occasionally, daisies are damaged by various ticks, in winter by small rodents. Perhaps the defeat of powdery mildew. In this case, mainly on the upper side of the leaves appears white or gray coating. To prevent plants, timely water and avoid applying excessive amounts of fertilizer.

Daisy propagation

Daisies are propagated by seed, bush division and cuttings.

Seeds are sown in late June - early July on the ridges. Shoots appear after 7-10 days. Seedlings dive according to the scheme 10 x 10 cm, and in August they are planted in a permanent place, maintaining a distance between plants of 20 cm. Seedlings from self-seeding can also be dived and planted in flower beds. But if you grow daisies using only self-seeding, then varietal qualities are lost over the years - inflorescences become smaller and simpler.

Division and cuttings are practiced to preserve valuable varieties, since during seed propagation there is a strong splitting of characters, the plants are heterogeneous in color and terry. Dividing the bush is usually propagated in August-early September, but it can also be done in spring. Bushes are divided into 4-6 parts. For this, almost all leaves are cut off from the most decorative and healthy specimens, leaving petioles, and roots are shortened to 5-8 cm (this helps rejuvenate and better plant survival).

If delenki were without roots, they should not be thrown away, because new ones will grow from the base of leaf petioles. Already formed buds and flowers pinch. Rejuvenated parts take root easily and continue to bloom. When grafting in May-June, small lateral shoots with several leaves are separated with a knife, planted in cold greenhouses or ridges with loose soil. Cuttings root in two weeks and bloom the following year. Daisies can be transplanted and in bloom.

The use of daisies in landscaping

The daisy can be called "mobile greens", which is appropriate in both small and large gardens.

The most interesting option is a portable kindergarten. To make it look beautiful, you need to consider the placement of plants in the vegetation vessels. Ceramic, stone, eternite bowls, troughs, vases, wooden forms (wheelbarrows, barrels) and plastic containers can serve as the latter. These decorative details are best placed in the quiet corners of the garden, near the resting place, near the water, along the edges of the lawn or paved area, at the porch, at the end of the hedge.

The daisy can be used as a carpet plant in moderately moist and semi-shaded areas of large size. In such conditions, she has beautiful and bright inflorescences, and fresh leaves remain until late autumn. Daisies can be planted in a group, unevenly, but this does not mean that plants are planted by chance. In order for a group to be beautiful, composing it, it is necessary to adhere to strictly defined rules of composition.

The most important rule - the most prominent element is not recommended to be placed in the center of the group, preferably slightly from the side, preferably about 1/3 of the length and depth of the entire group. On the opposite side, in contrast to the brightly colored and large bush, another bush of the same bright color, but smaller, is planted as the dominant element. The remaining space is filled with daisies of a more delicate color and smaller size. Using the same scheme, you can create a spectacular group of daisies in combination with stunted coniferous plants, using conifers as the dominant element of the whole group. The framing of decorative ponds with a daisy and fern looks charming and gentle.

And finally, something unusual: floating in decorative reservoirs of the island from daisies, landed on special platforms. It is not difficult to make them: the inner surface of the foam base with low sides is poured with liquid glass, dried, filled with an earthen mixture and plants are planted. Daisies are unpretentious, and the platforms are beautiful throughout the season - guests will be delighted.

A daisy is often sown on Moorish lawns. However, sometimes the daisies themselves very heavily clog the lawns, from where they can only be dug out, since the rosettes of the leaves pressed to the ground with a mower cannot be cut. Inflorescences are cut for miniature bouquets.

Partners: goes well with spring blooming crops (hyacinth, tulip, daffodil, forget-me-not, pansies).

Types of Daisies

Daisy perennial - Bellis perennis

Perennial plant, cultivated as a biennial, 10-30 cm tall. The leaves are scapular or oblong-ovate with a blunt apex and a winged petiole, collected in a basal rosette, which develops in the first year after sowing. Peduncles numerous, leafless, bristly-pubescent, 15-30 cm tall, grow in the second year. Inflorescences - baskets, white, pink or red, 3-8 cm in diameter, with large reed or tubular flowers located on the periphery, and small tubular, golden yellow - in the center. Leaves and buds laid in the fall are well preserved under the snow, and daisies bloom in early May.

Most of all they bloom in the spring and in the first half of summer, but in wet and cool weather, the buds open before the cold. In areas with a hot climate, inflorescences quickly become smaller and lose their terry. Seeds are small, flat, oval, yellow. In 1 g about 6000, the germination of which lasts 3-4 years. Gives abundant self-seeding, which is advisable to use as seedlings. In culture, the original form is almost never used.

The modern assortment is quite diverse. Varieties are few, the best of them:

Schneebal - white inflorescences;
Beethoven - pink inflorescences;
Etna - inflorescences are dark pink;
Rosa Gigantea - with large, pink-scarlet inflorescences;
Pimponetta - pink-red inflorescences, similar to pompons;
Dresden China - pink inflorescences;
Rob Roy - red inflorescences.

According to the structure of inflorescences, all varieties are divided into: Daisy perennial reed (Bellis perennis var. Ligunosa) and Daisy perennial tubular (Bellis perennis var. Fistulosa). Within both groups, plants with double, semi-double and simple (non-double) inflorescences are distinguished. Non-double have 1-3 rows of colored reed or tubular marginal flowers and a large disc of small, tubular - yellow. Semi-double inflorescences have 4 rows of marginal stained flowers and a yellow disc of small tubular ones. In terry inflorescences, colored marginal flowers completely cover small tubular ones, but in most varieties, when the inflorescences are completely dissolved, it is visible. By the size of inflorescences they are divided into: small - 2-4 cm in diameter; medium - 4-6 cm; large - more than 6 cm in diameter.

Recently, varieties with orange and yellow coloring of regional flowers have been created. In culture since antiquity, varieties from the 17th century.

The gentle shy, which we are used to counting the daisy, today is experiencing a genuine garden renaissance. Among the undoubted achievements of the Benari breeding and seed-growing company in the selection of this culture, we should mention the salmon-pink Robella variety 15 cm high. The inflorescence d 4 cm consists of densely arranged folded tubular flowers. Gold medal "Fleroselect."

The new variety series Rominette (Rominette Series) - early, 12 cm high. Baskets d 2 cm of the remembered type, densely terry, on strong stems. An excellent border and container daisy, forming a dense flowering carpet or volume. Includes 4 colors, including a very spectacular carmine.

The famous Habanera Series with lancet baskets d 6 cm invariably attracts the public at spring seedling fairs. It looks especially impressive next to the viola. Of the 4 varieties, the most elegant is white with red tips.

Tasso (Tasso Series) - a series of pompom type, 12 cm high. Large dense baskets consist of tubular flowers. Plants are compact, aligned, bloom earlier than Habanera. Novelty of the year - "Strawberry Eps Cream".

Waiting for your advice on growing these plants!