Flowers Emilia and Gilia - care description
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TWO FAVORITE FLOWERS - EMILIA AND GILIA
Not so long ago, unusual plants settled in my garden with names unheard of for most flower growers - emilia and gilia... Each has its own characteristics, and they go well with each other.
EMILIA - LANDING AND CARE
Emilia caught the eye with flaming terry tassels. It is not for nothing that the people nicknamed her "flower-tassel" or "Cupid's brush". This is a plant of the Aster family with tiny (2-3 cm in diameter) double flowers that look like flashes of fireworks in a flower garden. By itself, you cannot call it chic, but it gives a zest to any bouquet!
Since this thermophilic perennial is native to Africa, it tolerates the alternation of drought and rainfall. But here it is grown as an annual plant - it is more afraid of frost - 7 degrees. Emilia looks advantageous in natural-style flower beds, on a Moorish lawn, next to cereals, and flax. It is combined with almost any annuals, emphasizing their beauty favorably.
LOW CARE INQUIRIES
Growing a flower is easy. I sowed emilia outdoors in May. Shoots appeared in a week. They rarely ascended, so they did not thin out. I realized: so that the branches do not break from gusts of wind, it is advisable to sow more heap.
Emilia is comfortable on both slightly acidic and slightly alkaline soils (pH 6, 1-7, 8). It blooms perfectly even on poor sandy and sandy loam. Although much more baskets bloom on fertile land - up to 30-50 at a time!
The soil is desirable drained, fertile. I generously applied humus for digging last fall, I did not use mineral fertilizers.
IT IS INTERESTING
In Africa, emilia greens are eaten because it has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, sedative and wound healing effects (crushed fresh leaves are applied to the wounds).
We also recommend reading: Flowers and other plants for a wet, wet garden
GILIA - CROPS "BELLS" - GROWING, LANDING AND CARE
I liked Gilia tricolor for its expressive flowers that look like bells. They are small, only about 1 cm, collected in loose brushes. In height, herbaceous bushes reach 5-40 cm, at the peak of flowering they look very elegant. They are also decorative with openwork carved leaves. Sowed seeds in open ground in May (although it is recommended to grow through seedlings, sowing in March-April). Shoots appeared in 50 days. Thinned them at a distance of 12 cm from each other. Gilia bloomed in the first half of July.
PREFERENCES
Gilia is a plant of the Cyanus family, its homeland is North America. For this culture, damp, cold and damp areas are destructive. Light sandy soils are ideal.
Gilia is very light-loving, so she gave her the sunniest place. In a drought, it was not watered too abundantly: it does not tolerate excess moisture.
I calmly managed without fertilizing on a site well-filled with organic matter.
FOR THE NOTICE
Gilia looks great in naturgarden style flower beds, imitating meadow vegetation. Next to it, it is advisable to plant neighbors who can support its fragile stems, which tend to fall apart.
EMILIA: FROM A SCARLET FLOWER TO AGGRESSOR
When a packet of seeds of an unfamiliar rare plant caught my eye, I immediately thought: “So that’s what you are, a scarlet flower!” The picture showed bright red flowers—balls.” It was Emilia. Of course, I wanted to grow an interesting curiosity.
Information about the plant on the Internet was scarce: no reviews from happy owners, no discussions on social networks. But what touching folk names: “elf tassel”, “lady’s tassel”.
WAITING FOR LUCK
There were a lot of seeds in the bag. In the spring, I sowed half of them and hid the rest just in case. I followed all the techniques of correct agricultural technology: sterile soil, the right temperature, additional lighting. Manufacturers promised that germination would not take long. I looked into the bowls every now and then, but did not notice a single sign of life. Hope glimmered until the last, but even after a month the bowl remained empty.
ATTEMPT #2
The next year I sowed the rest of the seeds. Only a few seeds did not fly out of the package, and I was too lazy to take them out from the glued edge of the bag. And again a miss: the result is zero. Apparently the seeds were old.
A MIRACLE HAS HAPPENED
A new season has arrived. Among the numerous packages of seeds lay the same one with three stuck seeds of the “rebellious” Emilia. I thought about abandoning the pointless idea, but at the last moment I decided to take a desperate step. She extracted the last seeds and laid them out on the hot soil, poured with boiling water. Without much enthusiasm, she put the bowl under the lamp. But what if? And what was my joy when three sprouts appeared a week later! Isn't it a miracle?
WRONG SURPRISE
After some time, I found a small bush in the flowerbed. Emilia decided to grow in size that same year. I tore off the leaves of the neighboring delphinium seedlings that were in the way. In a matter of weeks, this “little one” caught up with her parent and joined the orange team of “ladies’ tassels.” And later I discovered many other new plants that were crawling out of the ground in huge numbers. By the end of summer, the entire bed was strewn with orange “blobs” of flowers.
And then I got a little worried. It turned out that in the thickets of Emilia the dwarf tansy suddenly “disappeared”, and the delphiniums were barely making their way to the light. Orange aggressors began to displace even young plantings of double echinacea. In the end I started weed out Emilia seedlings, so that weak neighbors do not fade away under its pressure. Only the first frost was able to stop the triumphal procession of the overseas guest.
But I’m still haunted by the thought that next year I added more weed control work to myself.
THE JOY OF FLOWERING
Having raised the “babies” as a great value, in late spring she carefully transferred them to a flower garden with the most delicate and whimsical plants. Emilia's growth energy turned out to be great. I rejoiced at every new leaf, flower stalk, and miniature buds. And finally, the reward: a dazzling scarlet “light” flashed in the flowerbed, followed by another, a third. Flowers in shades from orange to piercing scarlet seemed to be floating in the air in funny flocks. I kept walking around them, waiting: when will I collect the long-awaited seeds to consolidate my success?
The ripe heads resembled miniature dandelions. I had to compete with the wind, which swept away the weightless parachutes right from under my hands. What I managed to collect was a great treasure for me: my own fresh seeds of a garden curiosity. Three years of effort - and this is the result.
© Author: Tatyana POLITOVA, p. Bogoroditskoe, Oryol region
We also recommend reading: Cyanosis blue (photo) planting and care
© Author: Julia KUPINA, pos. Leninsky, Belgorod region Photo by the author
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