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Muscari flowers
The attractive muscari flowers are popular with gardeners. These unpretentious crops do not require special attention to themselves and at the same time delight with friendly flowering in early spring.
Muscari flowers: description and photo
Perennial bulbous plants belong to the asparagus family. In nature, they can be found on the mountain slopes of the Crimea and the Caucasus, as well as in Central Asia and the Mediterranean. Crops are early, so they are often grown to decorate borders, flower beds and rock gardens in early and mid-spring. But if you create good conditions, you can achieve flowering crops already at the end of winter.
Muscari flowers are quite unpretentious and take root even in the shade
Many varieties of muscari have been bred by breeders. Ocean Magic, Blue Spike and Pink Sunrise are especially popular.
Plants grow up to 40 cm in height. Their leaves are dark green and do not exceed 20 cm in length. Muscari flower stalks are of a rather unusual shape. Cylindrical buds with bent tips are collected in small cone-shaped inflorescences. Depending on the variety, they are white, blue, blue, yellow, pink and purple.
Planting and caring for muscari outdoors
The bulbs should be planted in mid-autumn so that they can take root before frost. For planting, choose a lighted place, although the flowers take root in the shade. As for the soil, muscari prefer loose, well-moistened, fertile soil with neutral acidity.
Plants are unpretentious, but in order to achieve friendly and long-term care, they need to provide comfortable conditions. Care rules:
- Watering. Abundant and regular moisture is needed for flowers only at the beginning of the growing season. In the future, the plants will have enough rainfall and groundwater. It is not necessary to water the crops during the dormant period. Otherwise, the bulb will rot.
- Top dressing. Flowers respond well to organic fertilizers. Add 1 square meter every spring. m, 5 kg of compost or humus.
- Loosening and weeding. Such events are necessary during the flowering culture.
- Pruning. Do not forget to remove wilted peduncles in time. Then the bulb will not waste energy on them. After pruning, fertilize the soil with potassium-phosphorus preparations.
- Transfer. Over time, flowers growing in one place lose their attractiveness. Therefore, it is recommended to replant the plants to another area every 4 years.
- Preparing for winter. Crops are frost-hardy, and you do not need to cover them before the cold weather. But to protect the plants, you can mulch the soil with humus.
Attractive and unusual muscari will adorn any flower bed. At the same time, a novice gardener can also grow these unpretentious flowers.