How to decorate ... GARDEN?

In nature, plants are not divided into beautiful and edible. Only a person decided to do it once, having determined for some a place in the flower beds, and others, sending it to the garden.

But this division turned out to be temporary, because in recent years, with the advent of the fashion for natural flower gardens and ecological farming, the situation began to change. Therefore, today in the flower garden you can find garden plants - fennel, sunflower, amaranths and others, and among the beds there are flowering letniki: marigolds, calendula and nasturtium.

Once I posted in social networks a photo of pretty fluffy carrot blossoms. “Does the carrot bloom?” I have never seen it, ”an acquaintance wrote to me, having lived all her life in a country house under pines. Yes, it blooms, only in the second year. And very nice. It is worth looking at it at least once, leaving a couple of carrots in the ground after harvesting. The following year, a bushy bush with fine lace foliage and several lush umbrellas, white or pale pink, will appear above the garden bed. And some varieties in the middle of the white inflorescence appear two tiny red flowers, like droplets of blood.

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So the carrot attracts (not only the smell) of pollinators - predatory insects, which are known to destroy herbivorous insects, that is, they become our helpers in the fight for the harvest. In short, flowering carrots are needed not only for beauty, seeds, or curiosity, it will also help maintain the balance of various insects in the garden.

Important: Recently, the seeds of wild carrots 'Purple Kisses' have appeared on the market, it’s not worth counting on the crop of root crops, its large, spectacular inflorescences are intended only for decorating the garden and flower garden.

In general, umbrella plants (fennel, angelica or angelica) have long been used in the flower beds of the new wave, but white laces are good in the garden too. Plant a garden of early ripening coriander on the beds (varieties intended not for greens, but for seeds). It will soon bloom, and a little white cloud will come over the bed. Fluffy umbrellas and another one-year of the umbrella family - anise, but they fall on the ground, and this property can also be used to decorate the lower tier beds with mixed plantings with a haze. Another spicy weed that weren't very popular with us is chervil, it is especially good not during flowering, but immediately after it - with the suddenly burnt color of lace leaves and ripening graceful seeds gathered in small brushes. Good and familiar dill umbrellas, if you look at them with an open mind.

Many biennial and perennial herbs of the umbrella family (celery) - parsley, cumin, celery, lovage - bloom modestly and discreetly, but this is good for decorative beds and flower gardens of natural style. Important: keep in mind that the taste of flowering herbs from the umbrella family is getting worse, and they grow coarser. But if these plants are grown for ns for seeds, and as a decoration for a vegetable garden, it is enough to leave one or two specimens on the beds with mixed plantings, and collect the rest before flowering.

Of course, many herbs can not only smell, heal and attract pollinators to the garden, but also decorate the garden with their flowers. Especially good in flowering are mint and oregano (oregano), thyme and borage (borage), lofang and monard, hyssop and lavender. Garden beds or even curbs grown from such universal herbs will perfectly fit into the design of almost any site. Flowers of numerous varieties of basil, especially Thai basil, look very nice and very diverse.

True, elegant flowering of this southern spice can be achieved only in warm regions, and in the middle lane - only with greenhouse or container growing. But various plant varieties more than compensate for the lack of flowers with a spectacular and not always ordinary leaf color.

Decorate the garden with its flowering and perennial bows. The first, in May, releases arrows with white asterisks, gathered in umbrellas, bear bow, or wild garlic. Then the Schnitt blooms (there are varieties with fluffy white or pink inflorescences), yellow balls of onion-uksun bloom, in the middle of summer comes the turn of onion-slick (its pink inflorescences are slightly larger). If, however, you allow us to winter on a bed of leeks, then it will bloom in the spring with very large decorative balls.

But wait for the flowering of cruciferous vegetables (radishes, turnips, daikon, mustard, cabbage) is not worth it. Firstly, the inflorescences, consisting of four yellow petals, are not too decorative, and secondly, the taste and appearance of the “bloomed” vegetable will be hopelessly spoiled, even if there is talk of broccoli, cauliflower or romanesco. Even so, these varieties, even in dense green, white, orange or purple buds-inflorescences, wrapped with dark green glossy leaves, look very decorative and deserve to become one of the decorations of the flowering vegetable garden. As well as sockets of the usual cabbage (especially its red varieties), as well as Savoy cabbage. If such landings are viewed from above (for example, from the window of the second floor of the house), then it seems that huge roses are lying on the ground.

How to decorate the garden with their own hands

But, as you know, there are no rules without exceptions. For example, the monumental plant Qatran Tatar (also from the cruciferous family, or cabbage) is sometimes grown exclusively as an ornamental plant with powerful beautiful leaves and a lush cloud of white fragrant inflorescences.

And although the Qatran (the Accord variety Piccade) is a close relative of bitter horseradish (it is planted for even large roots with a characteristic sharp taste and smell in the garden), the aroma of its flowers is very pleasant - sweet honey. Moreover, unlike horseradish, it does not scatter around the site, but grows into an even large curtain. Of course, such a plant should be solo. Like the usual rhubarb with beautiful leaves on bright petioles, blooming in early summer lush panicles.

Another soloist, the artichoke, looks very impressive in the garden, but for the northern latitudes it is not a very comfortable culture, since the capricious "handsome" is not able to survive the harsh winters. Therefore, we leave it to the southerners. And we will pay attention to asparagus - unpretentious perennial delicacy plant.

Shoots that will not be cut in the spring for the table, in the summer will grow and bloom with green fluffy "Christmas trees". Asparagus flowers - tiny bells that you can not see from afar - look absolutely charming, especially when the whole plant stands in dew or sparkles in the sun in raindrops. In addition, a few asparagus bushes - this is a great background and a wonderful camouflage scenery for spectacular soloists and heroes.

Sun-like sunflowers are long-time decorators of vegetable gardens, wicker, village gardens. Those who are bored with planting these annual plants every year can replace them with sunflower tuberozum, better known as the Jerusalem artichoke. This was once a fashion, and then a forgotten plant is remarkable not only for its tasty root crops, but also for the yellow buds that appear in the fall and remotely resemble Rudbeckia flowers. The dense flowering wall, which served as a backstage for heat-loving plants during the summer, at this time of year revives the almost empty garden.

If we talk about vertical plantings, then, of course, it is impossible not to recall the beans. Today there are many varieties for sale, not only with one-color pods and beans, but also with flowers - white, lilac, red. A remarkable property of this culture is continuous flowering, simultaneously with fruiting. Therefore, pyramids or trellis with spectacular leaves, clusters of pods and flowers can decorate the garden almost to the first frost.

The shoots of sweet peas, of course, are not so durable, but the flowers, similar to moths, are still very nice. Especially since now you can plant varieties of peas with purple pods and flowers of the same shades. They will decorate the garden no worse than decorative peas, albeit briefly.

Scorzonera (black root) and oat root (goat) cannot be called novelties, but for some reason they are not too popular in our gardens, although they are quite unpretentious, and the young leaves and roots are tasty and healthy (have medicinal properties). These biennials wintering well in the middle lane, flourishing in the second year, and spread self-sowing. Of course, if you let them. Both medicinal plants belong to the Aster family (Compositae), therefore they bloom quite nicely. The first - yellow slightly disheveled inflorescences, the second - lilac or yellow elegant asterisks.

Important: each flower of oat root reveals only for one day, but there are a lot of them on a high peduncle, so the flowering lasts a long time. Fading flowers look like huge fluffy dandelions, if they are cut off in time (without letting them scatter) and dried correctly, then they may well become an ornament to dry bouquets.

The theme of the flowering garden is endless. You can talk about flowers, scaring harmful insects and even animals, and this is not only marigolds and calendula, but also, for example, root and black root (not to be confused with black root or scoroner). On medicinal herbs relevant in the garden.

About ornamental leafy vegetable plants (quinoa, amaranth, perilla) and numerous blooming sideratah (phacelia, annual lupins, buckwheat), which not only heals the soil, but also attracts pollinators to the garden. In short, the vastness of the possibilities allows everyone to create and decorate the garden to their own taste and enjoy not only the harvest, but also beautiful corners.

Recently, new unusual varieties of vegetables began to appear on sale, for example, vegetable chrysanthemum (there are several varieties of domestic and foreign selection - 'Mirage', 'Amber', 'Patterned', 'Debut', 'Kikubari'). This plant is edible and delicate carved leaves, and the petals of pretty flowers - white and yellow daisies. This annual blooms for a long time, until the fall, and is able not only to give a special taste to salads, but also to decorate them. However, beds and flower beds in a natural style - too.

Cycorn salad 'Arrows Cupid' is very beautiful in and of itself: a rosette of leaves, similar to dandelions, but with bright red cuttings. It is even a pity to tear him for food, he looks so impressive in the garden, and if you gape, he will also bloom with bright blue delicate chicory flowers.

We decorate the garden with our own hands photo