What to combine decorative sunflowers with. Decorative sunflower - sun in the flowerbed

Do you want to have a little sun in your flowerbed? Then plant a decorative sunflower.

Helianthus seeds, as this plant is correctly called, came to Russia thanks to Peter I, and they come from Mexico. In the beginning, sunflowers were grown as ornamental plants- they were highly valued for their large and beautiful flowers, capable of turning their “heads” after sun rays. And although these were the most ordinary, as “technical” plants are now called, they aroused the well-deserved admiration of amateurs.

Decorative varieties of the famous oilseed crop appeared relatively recently and quickly gained popularity among gardeners.

Baskets of this extraordinary flower There are up to half a meter in diameter, but there are also very small ones - only 10 cm. Unlike an ordinary sunflower, its entire cup is filled small flowers, completely covering the brown base. The flower basket is like a crown with multi-colored tubular flowers, the color of which, depending on the variety, can be not only yellow, but also cream, orange, and even white. The shapes of the petals are also very diverse - long, round, twisted or curved.

This plant is an excellent honey plant; insects love to visit it. Therefore, when flowering ends, it forms large number seeds that taste no worse than those grown on industrial varieties of sunflower.

Helianthus is very unpretentious, but loves open sunny areas. If the soil is fertile enough, you can not fertilize it at all, or feed it with organic matter at the very beginning of the growing season. But we must remember that next year in the place where the sunflowers grew, it will be possible to plant only beans or beans. They deplete the soil so much that even fertilizer cannot immediately improve the situation.

Reproduce decorative sunflowers in the same way as ordinary ones - by sowing seeds directly into the ground, and perennial species- by dividing the bush, which is done in spring and autumn.

Divide the bushes in the second or third year. This not only rejuvenates the plant, but also promotes lush flowering.

Planting decorative sunflowers

Faded inflorescences should be removed immediately. This will speed up the opening of new buds, and the stems will bend less to the ground.

Sow decorative sunflower It is necessary as early as possible - so that it has time to grow and bloom before autumn. But it must be taken into account that all of it annual species They are very thermophilic and therefore afraid of frost. But there is one trick here: to speed up flowering, you need to remove all the stepsons and small buds that are located under the main central one.

If you want to receive abundant and beautiful bloom, in dry weather, sunflowers need to be watered abundantly at least once a week. It is also important to protect the plant from the wind, which can simply break the tall, thin stems with heavy flower heads.

IN northern regions perennial varieties helianthus need extra winter care. If there is not enough snow in winter, they can freeze, so the bushes should be covered.

There are many attractive varieties of ornamental sunflowers. They are great for both garden decoration and cutting. One of the most beautiful is “Teddy Bear”. It is low, no more than a meter, with double flowers, blooms well even in the capricious climate of the north-west. If you plant it at the end of May, it will bloom in the last days of July and will delight you until the frost.

Decorative sunflower - planting and care

The summer resident is a charming, sturdy man no more than 40 cm tall; he looks impressive both in flower beds and in separate groups.
- Red Sun is a tall variety with velvety burgundy inflorescences with a dark center.
- Light of the Moon – huge inflorescences lemon color, up to 45 cm in size; In addition to the central one, the largest, it has a number of lateral inflorescences, which are slightly smaller, but make the plant look like a large bouquet.

Varieties from foreign companies are also popular:

Giant Single - a two-meter giant with golden petals;
- Ginge Nat (Ginger Nat) – yellow, terry, one and a half meters high;
- Moulin Rouge – velvet, dark burgundy color;
- Vanilla Ice – with a black center and pale yellow edges.

All sunflowers are great for making bouquets. And from tall varieties of decorative sunflowers you can make original screen walls that protect the garden from the wind and prying eyes.

July 13th, 2016

Hello, dear readers!

Last time I told you about decorative climbing plant . And now I’ll describe to you how last year I grew another plant that was new to me in the garden. And there was this sunflower Bear, a very cute, cozy and fluffy tenant in the flowerbed.

Fluffy yellow miracle - decorative sunflower

The first time I saw this plant was at a flower exhibition dedicated to a local holiday, which is celebrated at the end of summer. A bouquet of terry, downright fluffy, bright yellow flowers looked very impressive in a flowerpot. When I got closer, I was surprised to find that the plant was very similar to an ordinary sunflower, only small and fluffy. “Yes,” the owner of the exhibition confirmed to me, “this is a sunflower. Only decorative!” And, of course, after such a discovery, I immediately became eager to grow this pretty sunny plant in my flowerbed.

Sunflower Bear: growing from seeds

The following spring, I purposefully looked for decorative sunflower seeds on sale, asking sellers about their availability. And when I found it, I learned the more accurate name of the plant - “Bear Sunflower.” Growing this flower turned out to be not particularly difficult, although there were some unsuccessful moments.

Sowing

I sowed decorative sunflower seeds in two ways: in cups for seedlings and by direct sowing in open ground in May. I don't know for what reason, but open ground I still couldn’t wait for the shoots to emerge. But the plants sprouted in the cups, and the seedlings developed quite successfully. So in June I had a lot of decorative sunflower seedlings.

Planting and care

I generously planted the “Bear Cub” seedlings in the garden bed. The distance between the plants apparently turned out to be too small, so I soon ended up with thickets of sunflowers. On the bag of seeds it was indicated that the plants should be pinched for better branching when they have 5-6 leaves. I didn’t use this technique, since everything was growing very densely, and I didn’t have enough time for such troubles.

Decorative sunflower - decent plant for the garden

When my "cubs" blossomed, they turned out to be cute, fluffy and very bright colors. But for me they probably grew into a stem and produced a lot of leaves. Apparently, they felt too at ease in my garden. Bouquets of these flowers are very decorative when cut. And they brighten your garden with warm colors sunny colors. I think that if you pay more attention to the formation of the plant, do not thicken the plantings and remove excess leaves, you can achieve even more picturesque flowering to decorate your yard or garden.

I wish you good luck, a bright sunny summer and wonderful flower beds! You may also find this article describing the petunia varieties I liked useful. You can read it

Sunflower- flower of the sun, its seeds were brought to Europe from America in the 15th century. Sunflower came to Russia under Peter I and for a long time he was raised as decorative culture, only after some time, one peasant received delicious golden oil from sunflower seeds through a hand press. Now sunflower is grown as an oilseed crop on an industrial scale.

Today, sunflowers are coming back into fashion; they are grown as decorative annual flowers all over the world, and every year more and more new varieties and garden forms appear.

The Latin name for sunflower is helianthus (Helinthus), like Russian, it comes from the Greek words helios - “sun” and anthos - “flower”.

Genus Helianthus belongs to the family Asteraceae or Asteraceae and includes about 50 species of plants native to the American continent.

As in agriculture, and in floriculture, one type is mainly used - this annual sunflower (Helianthus annuus) from which many varieties have been created, differing both in plant size and in size, shape, color and number of inflorescences on one plant.

Wild sunflower is a plant with a strong branched stem about 1 meter high, on which many small inflorescences up to 8 cm in diameter appear, similar to small suns.

Sunflower inflorescences are a basket, inside of which there are small tubular flowers, they can be yellow or chestnut in color, and along the edge of the basket there are large lingual flowers, usually yellow, they give the flower a crown frame. After flowering, the achenes, faceted in shape, ripen in the sunflower basket, and their germination persists for up to 2-3 years.

The highest varieties of decorative sunflowers grow up to 3-4 meters in height and are appropriately called “Russian Giant” or “Russian Size”. They are suitable for creating high flowering hedges and for hiding unsightly places in the garden.

More attractive to flower growers low-growing varieties helianthus, 40-50 cm high. They are well suited for creating flower arrangements, and also for growing in pots and small containers.

Sunflower varieties with unusual densely double, pom-pom inflorescences of bright yellow color are very popular; they also come in red, brown, bright yellow with a dark center.

Sunflower flowers look beautiful with two-colored petals, when their main part has a beautiful red-brown color, and along the edges there is a bright yellow edging.

Coloring modern varieties helianthus is very diverse, if you associate a sunflower flower with the sun, then now you can find flowers with shades of green, white, cream, dark burgundy to almost black.

Choose as much as possible more varieties decorative helianthus, differing in stem height, size, shape and color of inflorescences, to create a varied flower arrangement.

Grow decorative sunflowers Even a novice gardener can grow his own flower garden; the main thing is to take into account several conditions when planting and caring for this plant.

It is not for nothing that the sunflower is called the “flower of the sun”, because it develops well only in the open sunny place and the inflorescences of the plants will be large, brightly colored.

Annual sunflower is a heat-loving crop and therefore does not tolerate frost. This one is propagated annual flower sowing seeds in mid-May. Seeds are sown in holes of 1-2 pieces, depending on the size of the plant, at a distance of up to 40-50 cm.

To get more early flowering Sunflower is grown through seedlings. Seeds are sown in small pots in April, from which young plants are transferred to the ground at the end of May. permanent place, trying not to damage root system, since sunflower does not tolerate transplantation well.

Miniature, low-growing varieties of helianthus are often grown as pot culture, plants up to 35-40 cm high are sown in 1.5-2 liter containers with a nutrient mixture. Pots with blooming sunflowers in summer can be arranged in any arrangement.

The best soil for growing sunflowers is loose and nutritious. This plant actively draws a lot from the ground nutrients, so they feed the flowers two or three times a season mineral fertilizers, fresh manure is not recommended for use as fertilizer.

Sunflowers are watered sparingly, as they do not like excessive humidity. After watering, the soil around the plants should be loosened. Carry out weeding and protection from diseases and pests as necessary.

Sunflowers bloom in July - early August and the inflorescences of the basket will decorate the plants until frost, and in the fall the ripened seeds can be collected for sowing next year or used for food.

Among the many varieties of flowering plants are flowers similar to sunflowers. All of them belong to the Asteraceae or Asteraceae family. The baskets (inflorescences) of representatives of the family have a round corymb. different shapes.

The peduncles of these plants are complex, that is, what we call a “sunflower flower” is an inflorescence of several dozen flowers adjacent to each other in one receptacle. The bed can be flat, concave or convex.

A sunflower flower resembles a miniature sun

All Compositae plants, similar to small sunflowers, have small, thin tubular flowers in the center of the basket, and reed flowers along its edges, which create a lush corolla.

Tubular flowers are tightly adjacent to each other. It is from them that the seeds grow. The receptacle is immersed in a solid base - a calyx, around which small leaves (bracts) grow, framing the basket. They protect the inflorescence until it has formed and opened.

It cannot be said that the common ancestor of all aster plants was the wild sunflower, once brought by the Spaniards from America, but the similarity of the structure of aster plants with agricultural sunflowers is undeniable.

Venidium (Arktotis)

Venidium inflorescences are colored in the most different colors. The varieties Orange Prince, Amaretto, and Venidium marigold are similar to sunflowers.

Venidium Orange Prince produces large baskets up to 10-12 cm in diameter with bright, orange-yellow and orange reed flowers. The diameter of the Venidium marigold inflorescence is 3.5-4 cm.

The reed flowers of Venidium have the shape of a highly elongated oval. Tubular flowers are black, dark brown. The height of the plant varies from 45 to 70 cm, its bushes are wide and branched. The plant blooms from June to September; it is planted in multi-level flower beds and combined with other aster flowers.

Jerusalem artichoke - frost-resistant perennial crop, grown in middle lane and in the south. Some gardeners, when asked what the flower is called, will answer that it is an earthen pear. The tubers, which taste like cabbage stalks, turnips or turnips, are eaten.

This plant blooms profusely with small bright yellow inflorescences. Reed flowers of Jerusalem artichoke are bright yellow, tubular flowers are often dark brown. Baskets grow on thin long stems.

The diameter of Jerusalem artichoke inflorescences varies from 2 to 10 cm. The leaves of the plant are elongated, lanceolate. Jerusalem artichoke grows up to 2.5-4 meters in height.

Elecampane - medicinal plant, which is used in herbal medicine. This herbaceous bush with long stems and wide, serrated leaves. 3-6 inflorescences and several leaves grow on one stem. The height of the bush, depending on the variety, is 30-70 cm, the diameter of the basket is 4-15 cm.

The inflorescences of elecampane are orange, yellow, light yellow, tubular and reed flowers are painted in the same or different colors. The reed petals are narrow and long, they form one or several rows.

This plant is planted among stones in rockeries and alpine hills.

This annual is characterized by abundant flowering, sanvitalia bushes are strewn with dozens of small flowers from July to October. The color almost completely covers the foliage. The baskets of Sanvitalia are small, their diameter ranges from 1.5 to 2.5 cm.

The marginal (ligulate) petals of the inflorescences are deep yellow, the receptacle of the basket is convex. Tubular flowers of sanvitalia are black with purple or brown tint. There are varieties of sanvitalia with a green core, white or orange corolla.

The branched stems of the flower grow up to 30-60 cm, they bend, giving the bush spherical shape. The varieties Gold Braid, Solnyshki, and Yellow Sea are similar to small sunflowers.

Rudbeckia hybrid

This plant with large inflorescences vaguely resembles a sunflower or chamomile (varieties Zelenoglazka, Terry Golden, Autumn Flowers, Amber, Marmalade and others). The reed petals of rudbeckia are very bright, yellow, fiery orange and red. The receptacle of the basket is convex, the tubular flowers are brown, purple and lilac. U different varieties The size of the baskets varies from 9 to 17 cm.

In many varieties of hybrid rudbeckia, the corolla petals are two-colored, with longitudinal or transverse stripes.

The stems of rudbeckia grow up to 50-250 cm in height. They are covered with thick colored green elongated or oval leaves. The flower stems are stable and rigid.

Ornamental sunflowers (helianthus) - similar to sunflowers but not sunflowers - are grown as a crop. Their seeds are not suitable for food or oil production. There are dozens of breeding varieties of this plant.

The color of the reed petals of helianthus can be yellow, white, cream, orange, burgundy, light yellow. The tubular flowers in the center of the basket are yellow, black or brown.

Reed flowers have different shapes and sizes; in some varieties they are rolled into a tube. The diameter of the baskets varies from 5 to 30 cm. Dwarf helianthus grow up to 60 cm, giant helianthus reach 2-3 meters in height.

Calendula inflorescences are simple (with one or two rows of petals), semi-double and double. The color of the corolla is deep orange or light yellow. The reed petals are evenly colored, but in some varieties the color becomes lighter towards the middle. Tubular flowers are orange. They can be painted in a more saturated color than the reed ones.

The leaves of calendula are elongated, lanceolate, light green, the stems of the plant are moderately branched. Flower bushes grow up to 30-60 cm in height. There are large and small varieties calendula. The size of the inflorescence-baskets varies from 3 to 10 cm in different varieties.

All selection chrysanthemums have single-row or double inflorescences of the most different colors and sizes. These plants are resistant to cold and are pleasing to the eye until frost. Chrysanthemums are planted in flower beds behind low-growing flowering plants.

There are dozens of varieties whose baskets look like small sunflowers. These are chrysanthemums Maiden (Golden ball), Terry (yellow and white), Svemba kars, Mishal and a number of others. The tubular flowers of the basket are often black, yellow or green.

Most varieties of this flower have bare or pubescent stems and jagged green leaves. The height of the flower stalks reaches 40-60 cm.

Cosmea yellow (sulfur yellow)

Two varieties of sulfur-yellow Cosmea are popular among flower growers - Bilbo and Cross Lemon. This heat-loving plant, drought-resistant.

The diameter of the inflorescences of this species is small - 5-7 cm. The reed flowers are colored rich yellow, sulfur yellow, orange and red-orange colors. The tubular flowers in the center of the basket are most often yellow.

Thanks to the lush foliage of Cosmea sulfur-yellow, it completely covers the soil. The leaves of this plant are rugged, pinnate and lanceolate. The Bilbo variety blooms with semi-double orange baskets and grows in height up to 50-80 cm. Lemon Cross is low-growing and reaches 40 cm.

Among the numerous varieties of this plant, Helenium autumn yellow and Helenium Canaria are similar to small sunflowers. The baskets of this plant are single, but more often corymbose, collected in inflorescences. The receptacle is surrounded by reed flowers of reddish, purple, orange, brown and yellow flowers. In the center of the basket, on a strongly convex bed, there are tubular flowers (brown or yellow).

Helenium autumn yellow grows up to 3 meters in height and produces inflorescences measuring 4-6 cm across. Helenium Canaria grows up to 150 cm, its baskets with a diameter of 3.5-5 cm form corymbose apical inflorescences.

Chamomile yellow

Yellow chamomile is also called gooseberry or doronicum. There are several breeding varieties of decorative chamomile of this type.

Both the reed and tubular flowers of this daisy are bright yellow and lemon yellow. The diameter of the inflorescences varies from 4 to 10 cm across.

Glossy dark green leaves grow on the rigid and slightly branched stems of the flower bush; the basal leaves form a rosette. After flowering, the foliage of yellow chamomile does not wither and retains fresh look until the end of summer. The height of dwarf bushes is 20-25 cm. Tall chamomile grows up to 70 cm.

Asters

Asters are not terry varieties The structure of the inflorescences is similar to a sunflower. This is Andrella super, Matsumoto, Rainbow, Alpine Astra.

Alpine Aster has white or yellowish reed flowers, they also come in pink, red, lilac and purple. The receptacle of the baskets of this variety is raised, but slightly recessed towards the center. The tubular flowers have yellow petals. In the center of the calyx, the flowers are undeveloped and green in color. The diameter of the inflorescence-baskets is 4-6 cm.

Aster Andrella is super similar to the variety described above, but the receptacle of the inflorescence is flatter. The color of the reed flowers of Andrella Super is pink, purple, white, yellowish, the tubular flowers are yellow. The diameter of the basket is 9-10 cm.

There are many more flowers that look like sunflowers. You have met only the most common plants.

I was buying flower seeds for my dacha and an ornamental sunflower caught my eye. The variety is called bear cub.

There are about 40 seeds in a package,

They all came up together, we threw them three at a time into the hole, as a reserve. It’s not worth doing this, it’s better to do 1 per hole, and at a distance of a meter or more, so that they don’t feel crowded. These flowers are very easy to care for and are not demanding of either soil or water, although if both are good, the result will greatly please you. We also sowed it in unfavorable conditions, in trampled ground and did not water. The poor fellow grew 20 cm tall, but still bloomed, small flowers in diameter 4 cm. We are grateful for that, because besides him no one survived there at all. Under normal conditions, the sunflower grew 90-120 cm high. The stem is powerful, the flowers are large, very fluffy and very beautiful, they decorated our entire dacha! Attracted a lot of bees. And this is also a very big plus for the garden. The maximum diameter of the very first flowers is up to 20 cm! those that later emerge from the side axils a little smaller and bloom less until the frost kills them, withstood the cold like the children of Porfiry Ivanov; they were the last to be killed by the frost at the dacha.

They stand very well in a vase, beautiful compositions can be made from them, and even when isolated they bring a lot bright colors to the house!

It is impossible to obtain seeds from them, even if you dry a sunflower according to all the rules, its seeds are hollow. Every year we buy a new pack, but these pennies are not a pity for such luxury. They also managed to “treat” their neighbors with seeds from one pack!

The photo shows that some do not correspond to the picture on the pack, we don’t know whether he was pollinated with someone ordinary, or just a “geek” (I’m not swearing, breeders have such a term), but they’re not even very fluffy the specimens delighted with their sunny yellow color.