If the owners managed to buy a summer cottage in winter or spring, then it is quite difficult to ennoble it for the season. It’s true that you can plant beds, but it’s difficult to break beautiful flower beds, because many plants begin to bloom and become decorative only in the second year. The only option is to buy or grow annual flowers for flower beds on window sills. Their growing season is so short that many plants begin to bloom in May. The main thing is to correctly combine and choose varieties so that the flower beds look spectacular all season.
Features of ripening and flowering annuals
When buying annual seeds, you need to tune in to the fact that your flower bed will bloom no earlier than mid-May, even if you grow seedlings at home, on window sills. With direct sowing in the soil, the plants will bloom and even later - by June. And the reason is not only that most annuals give the first flowers 40-45 days after seed germination. The weather will also influence the ripening rate of the plants. If May is cold, frost-bitten, then the hatching sprouts will easily be damaged, will stop growing, and their growing season will increase. Even the most unpretentious marigolds do not like contrasts of night and day temperatures. Therefore, gardeners have an unspoken rule: plant seedlings only after the end of May frost, and if they were sown immediately in the ground, then cover with a spanbond or other non-woven material for the night.
Annuals in containers: salvation for spring flower beds
The only option to make the flower beds bloom in April is to decorate them with beautiful annuals in pots and containers. Seeds have been planted at home in containers since the beginning of January, in order to get tall seedlings covered with flower buds by the end of spring.
A flower bed from pots can stand in this form until the beginning of June, and then all seedlings are planted in open ground by the method of transshipment
Ampelous petunias, calendula, lobelia and marigolds are well suited for these purposes. They begin to sow in the middle of winter, and in order to accelerate the vegetation, until March seedlings are additionally highlighted. Already at the end of April, beautiful flowers will bloom in pots and containers, which can be put on flower beds during the day. True, in the evening the beauty will have to be hidden in the veranda, so as not to freeze.
Some cunning summer residents who decorate small flower beds in such a way (up to a meter in diameter) manage to save plants without dragging them back and forth. To do this, they build from wooden stakes, a high pole and lutrasila a kind of wigwam:
- First, in the center of the flowerbed (certainly round!) A pole is hammered.
- Around it, space is filled with containers of flowers, setting them in several tiers.
- Pegs are driven in along the edge of the flowerbed.
- Lutrasil is sewn from two canvases in the form of a wide sleeve, whose diameter should be slightly larger than the diameter of the flowerbed.
- Tie the top of the sleeve to the top of the pole, and the lower part of the shelter is straightened on pegs and pressed to the ground with pebbles.
- On the day, the lower part of the shelter is rolled up and tied to a pole.
To make such a building look aesthetically pleasing during the day, you can hide lutrasil in a bright linen cover, putting it directly on a pole. It seems to be a lot of trouble. But having done the wigwam once, you will use it for several seasons.
In the first drawing, the flowerbed is covered with lutrasil and pressed with pebbles, in the second - the shelter is tied to a pole, and the stones act as a curb, located between the pegs
There is a video on this topic:
Monoclubs of annuals blooming all season
If there is no desire to bother with the selection of plants, but at the same time you want to maintain the original landscape, we recommend creating monoclobs from one annual plant that has a long flowering period. Today, many varieties have been developed with different colors of flowers, therefore, having bought several bags, you will design the site in the form of bright color spots. The most spectacular are miniature flower beds in the form of circles or squares, randomly located on the lawn.
You can use the following annuals for a flower bed of a monostyle:
Option # 1 - Ageratum
It begins to bloom from the end of May and does not stop until the October frost. Tightly planted plants resemble a terry rug, because they bloom very abundantly. Ageratum is absolutely not afraid of moisture, but even slight frosts can spoil the decorative leaves. It grows to half a meter. The best varieties for monocots are considered dwarf (10-30 cm). Keep in mind that the degree of growth depends on the illumination. In partial shade, the ageratum begins to stretch upward, reducing the number of flowers, but lengthening the stem.
The square shape of mini flower beds, filled with fluffy bushes of ageratum, is in perfect harmony with green inserts from lawn grass or ground cover plants
The following grades are suitable for color spots:
- White bouquet (up to 25 cm high). The color of the flowers is naturally white;
- Blue mink (up to 25 cm high). Color - blue;
- Kalinka (up to 20 cm high). Color - burgundy red;
- Malinka (up to 20 cm high). Color - raspberry;
- Pink ball (up to 25 cm high). Color - pink-lilac.
If you want to create colorful spots, then you can plant a variety of "Aztec treasures", where seeds of different colors are mixed.
Color spots from different varieties of ageratum, scattered throughout the site in the form of miniature flower beds, will look decorative until winter
Option # 2 - Alyssum (Lobularia)
This is a ground cover plant that fills the proposed territory with a dense carpet up to 20 cm high. Even weeds rarely make their way through it. It has an incredibly pleasant honey aroma, so for those who keep beehives, it is very beneficial in terms of feeding bees. He does not like fresh organic matter and acidic soils. Arid summers require watering. It blooms from June to late autumn.
For monoclomb use the following varieties:
- "Pink rug". It is better to take root if you grow seedlings, and then transplanted into the ground. The flowers are small, pink in color.
- "Snow carpet". One of the most unpretentious varieties. Perfectly propagated by planting seeds directly into the ground, and next summer it will germinate by self-sowing, if you do not pull out the bushes for the winter, but do it in early spring. It is very densely covered with small white flowers and looks like it was doused with milk.
- "Gold placer or Golden Wave". Spectacular bright yellow variety. Unlike the previous ones, it does not creep on the ground, but grows like small balls. Therefore, the flowerbed will have a wavy relief.
- "Magic circles". Light purple inflorescences look very decorative. He does not like heat and reacts to it with the cessation of flowering. In such a summer, alissum can dump leaves and flowers. In this case, gardeners recommend cutting off the aerial part so that the young shoots take root. By August, the plant will bloom again and will delight until winter.
Even after the first October frosts, most of the flowers and leaves of alissum will remain “alive” until the final cooling
Even narrow gaps in rocky slides can be filled with different varieties of alissum, although it is better to sow seeds in such places than to dive seedlings
Option # 3 - Salvia
An excellent option for flowerbeds framed by shorter annuals. The plant itself has a height of up to 40 cm, 20 of which are inflorescences. It blooms for a very long time, until late autumn, but has a long vegetative period. For salvia to bloom, at least 3 months must pass. Therefore, the only option for its cultivation is by seedlings on window sills or in greenhouses, followed by planting in flower beds.
Salvia has a huge number of varieties of different colors, but usually no more than two tones are combined in flower beds so that the flower garden does not look too variegated
To cover a not too decorative stem, it is better to frame flower beds with salvia with some undersized plant, for example, cineraria.
Bright red salvia, framed by silver cineraria, looks solemn and spectacular, delighting the hosts with flowering until late autumn, but both annuals require early sowing of seeds
Annual flowers for decoration of colorful flower beds
If you need to create a flower garden in the form of thin streams running along the paths or framing the patio area, then undersized marigolds are ideal. Not everyone knows that this plant can be cut, giving a geometrically even shape. At the same time, it does not at all reduce the degree of flowering, preserving decorativeness even after the first autumn frosts.
Marigolds not only decorate any flower bed, but also improve the soil, because they produce special volatile products that kill parasites and fungal spores
Purslane feels great on unfertilized and scarce soils. A feature of this stunted plant is the needle-shaped shape of the leaves, which together resemble a furry Christmas tree. But the flowers are large, bright, and when closed (before the rain) they resemble rosebuds. This plant can be used both in alpine hills and along the edges of a mixed flower bed.
Purslane flowers look stunning in both open and closed form, and from the moment of flowering, they produce a large number of lush terry flowers
And finally, a couple of schemes of annual flower beds that grow well in the sun and partial shade:
