Azaleas plants belong to the Ericaceae (hearth) family. They grow in cool mountain forests of the northern hemisphere. Botanists gave the name “azalea” to the subkinds of rhododendrons that are adapted for growing in house and in greenhouses. In natural conditions the azalea plant is an evergreen and deciduous bush or small trees.  Nowadays you can find azaleas for sale in many florist shops.
House azalea plant is very decorative and favoured by many floriculturists. The thing is not only that the flower is very beautiful, but that it also blossoms in winter when the most house plants are at rest and do not blossom, and we want bright colours – so azalea flower is willingly purchased and is often presented with instead of a holiday bouquet. In Japan they used to growing azalea shrub in a special way. Nowadays azalea bonsai is rather popular worldwide.

AZALEA VARIETIES

Two types of azalea plant are the most common – azalea Indica, or Indian azalea (rhododendron simsii) and azalea Japonica, or Japanese azalea (rhododendron obtusum).
Azalea Indica – rhododendron simsii is a small evergreen bush up to 50 cm high. Young sprouts are almost always covered with flat, chestnut-brownish bristly fuzz. The leaves are small (3-5 cm long), leathery, the upper surface is dark-green, the underside is light-green, covered with reddish fuzz. The leaves are short-stalked. The azalea flowers make up inflorescences, they can be double and single, wide funnel-shaped (3-5 cm in diameter), they open simultaneously. The Indian azalea’s colour can vary from white to bright red. Often azalea flower is two-coloured: white with pink centre and a border around the edge, and spotted.
Azalea Japonica appears rarely as a pot plant. It is also a short bush with small shiny leaves from 3 to 5 cm long. It usually blossoms with small (up to 3 cm in diameter) flowers. The flowers are funnel-shaped, of different coloring.
After blossoming in the premise, azalea Japonica can be bedded in the open soil. This kind of azalea bush is rather cold-resistant. It survives the frosts of 20 degrees, but growing azalea (rhododendron) in the open soil requires special knowledge that is not considered in this article.
Indoor azalea shrubs are also recognized by color. Common florists often call them like red azalea, pink azalea, white azalea or yellow azalea. In bonsai azalea is also called dwarf azaleas.

AZALEAS. HOW TO GROW THEM. PLANTING AZALEA

Like the majority of rhododendron azalea bushes are fastidious plants. That is why very often the azalea flower bought at the florist’s loses its leaves and dies after several weeks of blossoming, but if you create appropriate conditions it will blossom year after year.
Azalea flower likes coolness. The temperature should not be higher than +18 degrees and the optimal temperature for the azalea plant is 10-15 degrees above zero. In winter azalea plant can be kept in closed loggias while the temperature there is above zero (not less than +5). During this period (October-December) flower buds start to form. When the temperature decreases azalea plant should be taken inside, put on the north or west windows and protected from hot air of central heating. The desirable temperature in this period is 13-16 degrees above zero. Such temperature conditions stimulate blossoming, and if you decrease the temperature a bit during blossoming, it will extend the period of blossoming. In order to create such conditions floriculturists use some tricks. For example, they put ice along the edge of the pot, water the plant with melt cold water, spray it. If the room is too hot and dry the period of azalea’s blossoming shortens considerably and even the buds can fall.
Watering conditions are closely connected with temperature conditions. Azalea flower is a humid climate plant, so the soil must be constantly damp but not wet. At lower temperatures watering must be cut and the plant should not be sprayed, at higher temperatures – vice versa. If the soil is dry it should be moistened. To do this you are to put the pot with the plant in a container with water for not more than 3-4 hours and keep there until the earth lump is saturated with water. 2-3 days after this procedure you should resume regular watering. You should be especially careful about soil moisture in dry warm premises with central heating. Soil surface watering must be alternated with watering from underpan. In summer, when it is hot, azalea should be watered twice a day – in the morning and in the evening; and you should not forget to spray it.
The best water for house azalea is rainwater, melt-water or distilled water. If you water the plant with tap water, you should distill it or even boil. The plant should be sprayed with boiled water too. Azalea plant does not like hard water at all. Rarely (once a fortnight) house azalea can be watered with weak solution of citric acid (one teaspoonful for 2 liters of water). It will allow keeping the necessary acidity of soil. Another way to acidify soil is watering the plant with very weak solution (0.2%) of sulfuric acid once in 3-4 months. Acidifying watering must be made only after the soil is damped.
Taking care of azalea flower includes bright lighting, but direct sunrays can destroy azalea plant, its leaves begin to shrink, and buds to fall. You should find a proper place for azalea plant where it won’t be accessible for direct sunrays but the lighting will be sufficient.
When the azalea flowers stop blossoming treatment should be continued. First, all faded flowers should be removed together with pedicles. Brownish leaves must be removed, too. A month after blossoming finishes, when 3-4 pairs of leaves are formed on young sprouts, the tops of sprouts must be nipped. This procedure should be repeated three times a year. The sprouts are nipped last time before the buds start to form – in July or the beginning of August. Nipping is obligatory for azalea plant. It increases the blossoming intensity. If young sprouts appear near the buds which have just been formed, you should remove them.
After blossoming (in spring) weak and very long sprouts must be cut and the plants themselves should be transplanted. You should transplant adult azalea once in two years, and young plants (up to the age of three) – once a year. For transplantation wide flat pots are the best as azalea root system is horizontal and prefers the upper layer of soil which is well-aired and does not need loosening which can harm the plant’s roots.
The soil meant for azalea planting can be bought at the florist shop as it has a complicated composition. Though, if you have all the components, you can make the necessary earth mixture yourselves. The soil for azalea plant should consist of turf and deciduous earth with 1 part of hearth (Ericaceae) earth and a part of coniferous earth with some bank sand. There must be drainage in the bottom of the pot.
During the transplantation pay attention to the root collar (singulum) – it must not be covered with earth, otherwise the plant will die. Also you should try not to damage the roots while planting azalea, so try not to touch the earth clod around the roots, you just roll the plant over in the fresh soil, and if the pot is small, choose the bigger (for 2 cm) one.
In spring, when the danger of frosts is over, azalea plant can be taken outside, in the shadowy place. You can bed it in the garden, in the loggia or a balcony, where azalea plants can be kept until the first frosts come. Then they should be taken into well-lighted cool premises. People say that azaleas can stay outside “from cold to cold”. All this time the plant must be fertilized.

PRUNING AZALEAS. AZALEA PLANT PROPAGATION.

Azalea is usually reproduced by pruning, but this is not easy and very troublesome task, so buy azalea plant in the shop if you do not want these difficulties. If you still want to try pruning azalea, you should follow these rules:
- for cuttings young sprouts that are not entirely woody should be taken;
- cuttings should be from 10 to 15 cm long;
- the cutting is cut with the sharp knife or a blade above the leaf bud;
- leaves should be removed from the lower part of the cutting;
- the cutting should be put in the saucer with damp turf in the depth of near 5 cm;
- the earth around the cutting must be well pressed;
- the bedded cutting should be covered with a jar, polyethylene or put in a greenhouse;
- high humidity of air is necessary for rootage as well as the temperature of about +25 degrees;
- the cuttings must be regularly sprayed (up to 3 times a day) and aired so that they would not decay;
The cuttings strike roots for about half a year. After rooting azalea plants are transplanted in the permanent place and treated as it is described above.
Azalea can be reproduced also by layers, which you can try to implant. To do this, you can make a small cut on the side sprout over the leaf bud. One pair of leaves must be formed over such leaf bud. After this the layer is pinned to the earth with a wooden hook and covered with earth. Then you should wait until the plant strike roots, after which you should carefully separate the layer from the maternal plant in order not to damage the roots and transplant it in the pot.
Pruning azaleas should be done very carefully to get it propagated. You should remember it.

AZALEA DISEASES AND PESTS.

The guarantee of success in growing azalea is treatment, care and knowledge of the main rules. All azalea diseases are caused by breaking temperature conditions, improper watering, lack of light, unsuitable soil etc.
Wrinkled faded leaves, falling leaves and buds testify to insufficient soil moisture and air humidity, too high temperature or improper lighting. In this case you should water the plant more often, use the method of putting it in the container with water (see above), spray it, put the pot in the damp turf or on the tray with pebbles. Water should be added in the tray in the way that the bottom of the pot does not touch the water. Thus the necessary moisture will be created. You should be careful and keep the air temperature-moisture balance. When the temperature is higher watering must be intensified and it must be reduced when the temperature is low.
Direct sunrays are disastrous for azalea as well as the lack of lighting. Try to find an appropriate place for the flower.
Improperly chosen soil (azalea needs acidic soil), or watering with hard water result in yellow leaves, their falling and weak blossoming.
Azalea flowers are rarely attacked by pests. If the air is too warm and dry, and watering is insufficient, the plant can be the object of forceps’ and spiders’ attack.
Red spider is a tiny spider of red colour. It appears on the underside of the leaves and envelops them with thin white webs. It can be exterminated by spraying and washing the leaves, especially their underside, with water, weak tobacco solution with soap, dusting (in the open air, outside the rooms) with grind sulfur, or the plant can be treated with ready-made system insecticides. The treatment must be repeated several times until the pests are exterminated completely. In order to avoid affection with red spider the plant must be kept clean, often sprayed and far from the central heating.

Amaryllis is a rather nice-blossoming perennial bulbous plant. It comes from Africa. Amaryllis plant has linear-linguiform leaves.  Big flowers with perfect fragrance are located on the firm flower stalks. Big bulbs can form 1 or 2 flower stalks with 6-12 flowers of white, pink and red colour. The flowers make up inflorescences that form splendid amaryllis bouquets. The true amaryllis blossoms in autumn.  Nowadays it is rather popular and you can find amaryllis bulbs for sale in every florist shop, as well as amaryllis seeds.
Amaryllis is a heat-loving plant. It is not grown in the open soil, it does not tolerate cold wintering. Planting amaryllis should be done very carefully. Amaryllis belladonna – “amaryllis the beauty” – is grown in house. By the way, it is the only kind, which is referred to as amaryllis plants. All hybrid forms of this flower are usually considered amaryllis Hippeastrum flowers (knight’s-star). Hippeastrum’s flowers are bigger (up to 15 cm in diameter), the flowers’ colouring can be different, even striped, flower stalks are fistular. Amaryllis bulbs are pear-shaped, rather big. Hippeastrum amaryllis bulbs are more round and slightly flattened, but it is hard to distinguish one type of amaryllis bulbs from the other. So, in order to buy exactly the amaryllis, not the amaryllis hippeastrum, the planting stock should be bought in specialized shops in packages with the manufacturer’s label.  The amaryllis bulbs can be stored in the dry place for a long time.
We should mention other species of flower amaryllis family: red amaryllis (or amaryllis red lion), amaryllis Minerva, white amaryllis, blue amaryllis and so on.

GROWING AMARYLLIS FLOWER

If you wonder how to grow amaryllis, we can say that we usually get amaryllis plant for the first time already growing in the pot. You can also buy amaryllis plant in the flourist’s already planted or in the form of amaryllis bulbs which you are to plant yourself. Growing amaryllis is rather simple.
If the pot with amaryllis plant was in a quiescence when being very rarely watered and kept in a cool place at +13-15 degrees, then in order to induce it for vegetation the plant should be brought in the warm room with the temperature of +20-25 degrees and put in the light place. The beginning of vegetation depends on when we want to obtain a blossoming plant. The most luxuriant flowers can be at the beginning of vegetation not before March.
A flower stalk appearing from the bulb will tell you that the vegetation period has started. Attention! Don’t make a mistake! Until the flower stalk is 10 cm long, amaryllis should not be watered. If you start earlier the stalk will grow slowly, it is the leaves that will grow fast, and, consequently, the plant will have less strength for blossoming. Further watering should be made as the earth lump dries with warm settled water near the edge of the pot in the way that prevents water from getting to the bulb. In this period the flower must be fertilized once a fortnight so that the bulb couldn’t weaken.

Amaryllis flowers usually blossom when they are leafless. Leaves appear only during blossoming. After blossoming finishes, when the flower stalks become dry, leaves should not be cut, and the plant should be fertilized for some time. Then fertilizing and watering should be reduced, and after two months the plants must be watered only occasionally. The plant goes into a quiescent state. The desirable temperature in this period is cool but not lower than +10 degrees. The plant does not need bright light during this period either. The quiescent state lasts for about 3 months, after which the plant can be put to forcing treatment. Alteration of quiescent periods and periods of growth is important. In this way the plant does not weaken and blossoms year after year. Many floriculturists note that even if you don’t create special conditions for quiescence and leave the amaryllis plant on the light windowsill you still can get flowers, but it is better for the plant to create conditions that are close to conditions of its natural growth, in this case you can expect active growing and new generations.
Amaryllis is a perennial plant and they should not be transplanted every year. It will be enough to change the upper layer trying not to damage the roots and not to cover the bulb more than to the level it was covered before. The plant can be transplanted once in 3-4 years or when the bulblets are to be separated.
Transplantation is made after blossoming finishes and the flower stalk becomes dry. The soil for planting is composed of equal parts of deciduous, turfy, humus earth and sand or bought in the shop for bulbous plants. The bulb which was taken from the old pot must be cleaned from rotten roots and dry squama, from bulblets that are formed in the pockets of outside squama of maternal plant. The bulb prepared in this way is planted one for a pot, not less than 1/3 of the bulb’s height should be on the surface. Even 1/2 of the bulb can be left on the surface. The pot must have a drainage layer, and it will be good to put a layer of sand under the bulb’s bottom. Amaryllis does not like when the water stagnates. It is better to forget about watering this flower on time than to overwater it. The pot should not be very big. 3cm of free space from the side of the bulb to the edge of the pot will be enough.
There are special methods to achieve amaryllis rebloom. Making your plant bring flowers again is a subject for a separate discussion, and we will talk about it later.

REPRODUCTION OF AMARYLLIS FLOWER.

All bulbous plants: hippeastrum, amaryllis, lily, tulip and others can be reproduced by daughter bulbs, which are separated from the maternal plant during transplantation. It is the simplest way of reproduction for these plants. Planting daughter bulbs is the same as planting maternal plant during transplantation: the same earth composition and the same height of bulb planting. The pot must be taken considering the size of the adult bulb. Young plants grow fast and in two years they reach the size of the maternal bulb. And you should not transplant amaryllis very often.
The second way of reproducing amaryllis is by amaryllis seeds. In order to get seeds you should use cross-pollination of amaryllis flowers with the brush and let them ripen. The process of seeds’ ripening lasts about one month, after that they must be planted in the soil and watered properly because the soil must be damp. In about a month young growth will appear. When the plants grow up, they should be planted by one in small pots.
When reproducing by daughter bulbs you can get a blossoming plant on the third year, when growing from seeds amaryllis can blossom only on the seventh year.

OTHER PLANTS RESEMBLING AMARYLLIS FLOWER.

First of all, it is a vast family of Hippeastrum hybrid forms. They blossom with big funnel-form flowers of red, orange, pink colouring with stripes. Hippeastrums are not fragrant, they have less flowers than amaryllis plant.
Vallota purpurea has long dark-green leaves, the flower stalk of 25 cm in height. It blossoms with red flowers which are gathered in the umbel.
Nerine is a rare plant. The leaves are ribbon up to 35 cm long. The flowers on long pedicles look like lilies with long stamens. It usually blossoms in the end of summer.
A low bulbous plant with big purple-red flowers – sprekelia formosissima – resembles amaryllis too. This plant is suitable for early forcing treatment.

Jasmine flower belongs to bushes – olive family lianas. About 200 Crimea jasmine varieties are already known which mostly grow in tropics and subtropics. There are three types of jasmine flower in the , Caucasus and in the Middle Asia.
Jasmine flower is an evergreen plant with plain and double, not very showy but fragrant flowers. There are completely odorless kinds of jasmine. The plant “jasmine natural” that originated in warm countries will not survive in the open soil of our latitudes. Cultivated jasmine flower (wild jasmine, or false), grown in our gardens, belongs to Philadelphus kind (mock orange). This plant is a bush, not a liana, and its only common feature with the natural jasmine flower is the similar flower fragrance.
Some kinds of natural jasmines feel good as house plants. All house jasmine flowers are lianas, their flowers are made up in inflorescences. As a rule, jasmine blossoms for a long time. The kinds of house jasmine flower blossoming during winter months are the most popular as there are very few other blossoming plants during this period.

JASMINE VARIETIES. TYPES OF JASMINE

Large-flowered jasmine flower (J. grandiflorum), aka officinal jasmine (Jasminum officinale) is one of the best house jasmine flowers. It is an evergreen bush with long (up to 10 meters) sprouts. On the tops of these sprouts inflorescences of big white star-shaped flowers are formed. The leaves of this jasmine flower are small (2-3 cm), elliptical with sharp end. Jasmine blossoms from spring to autumn and only when it is adult. Big-flowered jasmine plant is grown in the open soil (in Georgia, Abkhazia) to obtain jasmine essential oil which is used for tea aromatization and in fragrance industry.
Multiflowered jasmine plants (Jasminum polyanthum) look like big-flowered jasmines and are also preferred as house jasmines. It’s a fast-growing liana with composite small leaves, with pink buds opening in white small star-shaped flowers in spring. The plant can be twined around a support giving it a desired shape. In order to prevent branches from loosing leaves a big-flowered jasmine plant must be cropped each year.
A house flower “nakedflowered” jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) is not less popular. It’s a yellow jasmine flower is yellow. It grows as a rather small bush with flag sprouts. In winter the part of leaves fall but at the same time (from January till March) bright yellow flowers appear which lie in the base of leaf.
Sambac jasmine (Jasminum sambac) is also rather common among all types of jasmine plants. It is called Arabian jasmine or Indian jasmine flower, or simply Asiatic jasmine. These are the names of the same flower. Sambac jasmine comes from India and Middle East. It gives long sprouts. To make it look like jasmine bush it must be often clipped. Sambac is a white jasmine flower. It blossoms abundantly almost all year round. The flowers are double, very fragrant, and they become reddish in colour by the end of blossoming. This kind of jasmine flower is grown in many south countries to obtain essential oil that enters into the composition of the finest perfumes on industrial scale. These very sambac jasmine flowers are added in famous Chinese jasmine tea. And the jasmine tea benefits are well-known worldwide.
Royal jasmine (Jasminum rex) is very beautiful. Unlike many types of jasmines, it has long oval leaves. Royal jasmine blossoms with big (up to 7 cm in diameter) white odorless flowers in winter.

HOUSE JASMINE FLOWER. ATTENDANCE.

Jasmine flower is not fastidious, looking after it is no particular problem, but still there are some peculiarities to consider. The soil for house jasmine flower should be made of deciduous, clay and turf earth and sand in equal parts. The jasmine plant does not tolerate lime in soil or in watering. Otherwise it grows and blossoms not properly. So, it should be watered with settled and a bit acidulous water.
Jasmine flower likes water, but you should take care not to overwater it. The soil must dry well. The temperature of environment also affects watering. In summer and in warm premises watering must be more abundant, and it should be less at low temperatures. As for jasmine water, the plant likes its leaves to be sprayed.
Young jasmine plants should be transplanted each year, adult ones – once in 2-3 years. At this for adult plants soil should be altered with clay and turf earth up to 2 parts. Transplantation is usually made in spring. Planting jasmine should be done very carefully.
It is good to keep a certain temperature condition when looking after jasmine flower. In winter jasmine requires the desired temperature more than +20 but not lower than +8. If the winter is warm, you should add watering. In summer house jasmine flower is better kept in the fresh air: in the garden or in the balcony. Bright light and some amount of direct sunrays are useful for the plant but it must be covered from hot midday sun.
Pruning jasmine is very important. All house jasmine flowers are lianas and if you want you can twine with long sprouts of these flowers any support of any form, but if you want to have a jasmine bush you have to prune it rather often. Besides, pruning is necessary for branches not to lose leaves and for flowers to blossom well as it forwards appearing side sprouts where the buds are easily formed. The twigs with small unattractive leaves must be removed completely. The tops of sprouts of young plants that are too young to be pruned, must be nipped, this helps bushing and increases the number of flowers. Sambac jasmine is especially often pruned (up to 3-4 times a year).
Jasmine flower’s reaction on nutrition is rather good. Nutrition should be started from the moment when the buds are formed and continue during the whole time of blossoming. Full-fledged organic and mineral fertilizers must be put under the house jasmine flower every fortnight.
If the attendance is not proper and leaves are not kept clean, in dry air and at high temperature jasmine flower can be attacked by pests: red spider, aphid, and whitefly. The pests are exterminated by spraying and washing leaves (especially the underside) with water, weak tobacco solution, Dalmatian pyrethrum potion with green soap, preparations with permethrin. Outside the rooms in the fresh air the underside of leaves can be sprayed with ground sulfur. 2-3 hours after washing the leaves with green soap potion the plants should be washed with warm water. The treatment should be started immediately after you have noticed the first signs of pest affection and repeated until the pests are completely exterminated.

JASMINE FLOWER PROPAGATION.

You can buy jasmine plant in florist shops. You can choose, whether to buy an adult house jasmine, or jasmine seeds. But if you already have this flower, you can get new plants from it. All kinds of jasmine are reproduced by cuttings and layers. Cuttings strike the roots the best during the period of the plant active growth. Cuttings of 10-15 cm in length with 2-3 internodes are taken from the upper part of ripen sprouts. Cuttings can be rooted either in water or in sand or in the mixture of sand and deciduous earth in 1:1 ratio. The most favorable temperature is +20 degrees C. The roots are usually formed in 1-1,5 months. Phytohormone improves the process of rooting. After rooting young plants are bedded in small pots with light soil (deciduous earth – 3 parts, sand – 1 part). Until the plants are strong enough they should be kept away from direct sunrays, sprayed and watered in time not allowing the earth cob to dry. Bedding jasmine flower in the permanent place is possible when the new sprouts appear.
As many plants with long stems growing in hanging pots jasmine flower can be reproduced by layers. The sprout chosen for rooting must be clasped with a bracket or a pin in a separate pot with soil without cutting from maternal plant. On the place where the sprout is clasped a small cut must be made. Maternal plant and a layer should be watered regularly. After the young shoot appears on the layer, this layer is separated from the maternal plant.

PROPERTIES AND BENEFITS OF JASMINE FLOWER.

Growing jasmine gives not only aesthetic pleasure from beautiful and long blossoming but is also useful for health. Jasmine flowers ionize premises where they grow. Jasmine fragrance affect beneficially the way people feel. Jasmine fragrance is considered to have a soothing effect, relieve stress, bring down aggression, and improve sleep.
In many south countries jasmine flower is grown on industrial scale. Jasmine flowers are added into tea. Chinese green jasmine tea benefits include improved workability and mood. The Chinese almost don’t drink black tea and they drink green tea without sugar. Jasmine tea gives special pleasure due to its fresh fragrance. Dried jasmine flowers are used not only in tea but also for bath aromatization. They are good for filling small cushions to put at the head of the bed for calm sound sleep.
Jasmine essential oil widely used in fragrance industry is obtained from jasmine flowers. Jasmine oil enters into a composition of many perfumes both for men and women. Besides, jasmine oil is used to make cosmetic preparations: creams, massage oils and others. Jasmine perfumes are used by an enormous amount of women worldwide.
Jasmine essential oil is valued not only for its fragrance, but for its treatment properties as well. It is used to heal sores, headaches; it is also a good antidepressant. Massage oils with added jasmine oil relieve muscle pains, improve blood circulation, and stop convulsions. And jasmine lotions have a good calming and healing effect.
Like other flowers jasmine flower can cause allergy. Jasmine should be treated carefully by hypotensive patients (when used regularly jasmine flowers can lower blood pressure), people with stomach ulcer should not use jasmine. There are other contraindications as well. Concentrated jasmine oil must not be used, it should be diluted by water in proportion 1:5.
Like any other treatment jasmine usage as a therapy requires a doctor’s advice.

PLANTS RESEMBLING JASMINE.

Apart from jasmine flowers of olive evergreen bush family with climber or erect branches, the plants that blossom like jasmine or smell like jasmine are often called jasmine flowers too.
We have mock orange or Philadelphus in our gardens. It is called cultivated jasmine. There exist many kinds of this plant with fragrant semi-double and double flowers. There are also kinds of cultivated jasmine flower with beautiful leaves (for example, jasmine poecilophyllous). Cultivated jasmine is a branchy bush, in order to give it the shape and stimulate new sprouts to grow you should thin it out every year removing old sprouts. This bush will feel the best in the open sunny place; it requires regular watering and respond to nutrition. Most of mock oranges survive winter frosts well and do not need special covering.
Of all the plants that are grown in tubs, in gardens and in terraces, star jasmine plant (Trachelospermum) should be mentioned – a perennial evergreen liana whose flowers resemble jasmine flowers not only in appearance but also in fragrance. Star jasmine plants can stand frosts up to -10 degrees C, but the best place for wintering is light cool premises with the temperature from 0 to +12 degrees C. In summer at regular watering it feels well in the open air. Long branches of this liana need support. Star jasmine plant is often called winter jasmine as well.
Madagascar jasmine – stephanotis, is a liana with shiny oval leaves up to 10 cm long. Stephanotis flowers are waxy, looking like small stars, and fragrant. Long stems of Madagascar jasmine are usually fixed on the support in the shape of an arch or a hoop. This plant is considered to be not easy grown in house as it does not like temperature changes. In winter it needs coolness (+12 – 15 degrees), and in summer good lighting is necessary, bright but sparse light, abundant regular watering with good drainage, and the leaves should be sprayed now and then.
Red jasmine is a lychnis flower, also called a Maltese Cross. Red jasmine looks more like a carnation, and it belongs to the carnation family. This perennial, bright flower that feels well in winter, is a decoration of any flower garden. Red jasmine plant grows well in open sunny places where moisture doesn’t stagnate, but it needs regular moderate watering. Every autumn all sprouts must be cut at roots. In spring new sprouts appear at their places.

Monstera plant belongs to dracunculus family, and one of the most well-known philodendron house plants. It originated in tropics of America. The most often mistake in writing is “manstera”, but whatever the spelling, this flower has been very well-known for a long time and has a lot of admirers. Monstera plant has multiple names. It is also called ceriman, split-leaf philodendron, swiss cheese plant (or simply cheese plant), delicious monster, monster fruit (often misspelled as monster fruit), fruit salad plant and so on.

Monstera deliciosa is mostly grown as a house plant. The same is its ‘sister’ monster obliqua. It is a big fast growing liana. The first young monstera leaves are small and heart-shaped, but while the plant is growing its leaves can become of sufficient size (up to one meter) and have symmetrical deep cuts. Monstera leaf is of dark-green colour and shiny. The leaves have an interesting peculiarity – when the atmosphere is too humid, which is quite often in damp tropics, they remove excessive moisture through special stomata situated on the edges of leaves. It’s an interesting fact that swiss cheese plant “cries”.

On the lower part of the trunk opposite every leaf air-roots are formed. They help mostera flower get extra nutrition and support. They shouldn’t be removed.

Monstera deliciosa is not a capricious flower. When cared of properly it can grow up to 5 meters and more, so monstera fruit is considered to be a plant for large premises.

Monstera deliciosa does not blossom easily. The flower looks like a closed white lily, the fruit is edible, but you can get them only under the conditions of a greenhouse or a hothouse. According to the descriptions the fruit smells good and tastes like either banana or a pineapple, but monstera plant is not grown because of its flowers or fruit. This flower attracts with its powerful, beautiful shiny leaves and can decorate any interior.

MONSTERA CARE.

Caring of monstera plant means creating conditions close to its natural living conditions.

The temperature should be above +16 Centigrade. If the temperature is lower, monstera philodendron ceases growing. In winter take care not to let temperature drop below +12. At this the temperature-humidity balance should be observed. In winter, if the temperature is rather low the plant should be watered less but the soil must still be kept damp. When the temperature is normal, monstera deliciosa or monstera obliqua grows watering should be abundant, but the soil between the waterings must dry out a little. Looking after monstera also includes sprinkling and washing the leaves with warm water. You can add some milk in the water so that the leaves were shinier.

As the majority of philodendrons monstera does not like direct sunrays, but this does not mean that it must be put in a dark corner. When there is lack of light the plant stops growing, the monstera leaves become small, lose their colour, right symmetrical cuts are not formed on them. Bright ambient light or half-shadow are necessary for the plant to grow properly.

You shouldn’t forget about air-roots, which must not be removed. In order that split-leaf philodendron got more nutrition and moisture air-roots must be directed to the soil, besides additional support is used in the form of a pipe made of plastic net with moss or peat that are constantly kept damp. Such artificial damp trunk keeps air-roots damp and creates humidity for the whole ceriman plant. In the premises with central heating and very dry air the plant needs to be sprinkled.

Monstera deliciosa is a big plant. It needs a big pot (30 cm in diameter). There should be drainage in the bottom of the pot to make your swiss cheese plant feel well. The soil consists of equal parts of compost earth, sand and peat. Every two years monstera must be transplanted. As it grows it requires a bigger pot.

MONSTERA DISEASES. PLANT PESTS.

Monstera deliciosa being cared of properly rarely ails, and it shows by its looks all the breakings of management rules and conditions.

Like, if moisture appears on the ends of leaves, it means that the humidity is too high. The soil should be dried out a little. Otherwise the stalk will rot, the leaves will become yellow and flabby. You will have to take emergency measures: cut the rot, transplant into the other pot, reduce watering (especially when the temperature is low).

Other monstera plant diseases are connected with extra-dry air, when heating systems are turned on in winter. In this case new leaves grow dark and small and the old ones become dry and brown (especially the edges), and then fall down. The pot with split-leaf philodendron must be put far away from the heating battery, you should water the plant more, sprinkle it more often and observe the humidity of the additional support.

If the monstera leaves become yellow but there are no signs of rot or fading, it is the evidence of a lack of nutrition. The plant must be nourished regularly when it is growing. In summer you should do it once a week, in winter – once a month. To ensure additional nourishing air-roots must be deepened into the soil pressed to the earth with the help of wire brackets or you should direct them on the additional damp support.  

Small pale leaves and leaves without cuts testify to the lack of light or too low temperature. In this case monstera ceases growing.

Plant pests do not stand aside from monstera either. Keep the leaves clean and the air damp. Red spider likes dry warm air, and armored scales like dirty leaves.

Red spider is a tiny spider of red colour. It appears on the lower edge of the leaves and envelops them with thin white web. It can be destroyed by sprinkling and washing the leaves, especially at their lower part, by weak tobacco solution with soap, by pollination (in the fresh air, outside the rooms) with grinded sulphur, or the plant can be treated by ready-made system insecticides. 2-3 hours after washing the leaves by solutions with soap they should be washed by warm water.

Armored scales or parlatoria have their name from waxy shield covering the body of an adult pest. When young a parlatoria is slightly visible but it propagates quickly covering the stalks and leaves with dark spots. Adult species are stationary and sit under the shields where from the larvae crawl out and spread all over the plant. They should be exterminated at this time by sprinkling with soap-and-tobacco solution where some kerosene or denaturated alcohol can be added. Adult pests together with their shields are removed by damp tampon, but the plant should be anyway treated by insecticide or soap solution to exterminate the larvae. Such procedures are to be repeated more than once.

MONSTERA DELICIOSA PROPAGATION.

Any philodendron house plant can be bought at any specialized shop but most often we obtain this plant from our friends and acquaintances that already have it. The easiest way to get a new sample of the plant is reproduction by stem cutting. For this the stalk is divided into parts. Each part must have not less than two buds. Then you put the cutting horizontally into the prepared volume with light soil in the way that one bud touches the earth. The cutting should be pressed to the soil by the bracket but not covered with earth. Cover it with the jar to keep it damp. Take the jar away from time to time for airing. When the first leaf appears the plant is to be transplanted to a permanent pot.

You can take an upper part of the sprout with air-roots as a cutting. Such cutting is cut from the maternal plant and planted into its own pot. Maternal plant carries on growing.

Reproduction by air-cutting is quite suitable for monstera liana. You should make a small cut on the stalk under the leave at the distance not less than 60 cm from the root. On this cut you put a damp moss and cover it with polyethylene film. In 4-5 weeks the roots appear. After this the air-cutting is cut out and planted in the permanent place and the old plant stays in its pot.

Aloe flower belongs to flowering succulent plants. These plants have meaty leaves which serve as moisture reserve containers. All aloe plants came from desert and near desert areas of our planet. The homeland of aloe plants is Africa. Aloe is often grown indoors not as an ornamental plant, but in medical purposes (aloe vera), however, various aloe species are quite attractive for decoration as well.

Due to the fact that aloe treatment is so important for many florists, let us describe benefits of aloe vera (also called medicinal aloe and aloe barbadensis) and its therapeutic properties. Aloe vera juice and leaves are commonly used as a medicine as well as aloe vera extract (dried aloe juice also referred to as Socotrine aloe). Aloe vera extract was mentioned in numerous ancient medical tractates; dried aloe vera juice was used to treat many diseases, and its price was very high.

Aloe vera juice is in wide usage in modern medicine as well. Aloe juice is used to get biogenous stimulators, which are produced in all living tissues (plants’ tissues as well) under the influence of hostilities of external and internal environment.

Currently biogenous stimulators are obtained in industrial conditions. For this, cut aloe leaves are held in darkness with the temperature near zero for three weeks, then aloe vera juice got is heated, packed into ampoules used for aloe injections, ingestions and external use.

Aloe vera uses include treating various diseases: stomatosis, diseases of throat, respiratory organs, eyes, skin diseases, skin burns, septic wounds; aloe vera also is used to treat furunculosis and dermatitis, gastrointestinal diseases, genital diseases (both of men and women) and so on.

One of Aloe vera juice benefits is its wide use in folk medicine. Aloe juice is a good remedy against many groups of bacteria: streptococci, staphylococci, diphtheria and dysenteric bacilli. Aloe masks with various components are popular in cosmetology. It can be preparations made in home conditions — a large amount of crèmes made of aloe vera extract, aloe balsams, aloe gel, aloe vera oil or aloe drinks, aloe vera lotions, aloe propolis crème and so on.

Uses of aloe vera:

Socotrine aloe – produced as a powder. Socotrine aloes have purgative effect which takes place in 8-10 hours after a contact with preparation.

Aloe vera juice is a moisture in vials. Aloe juice is used in bandaging, as it stimulates regeneration of skin ephitelium and mucous membranes. When drunk, aloe vera juice improves digestion and takes laxative effect. It is also used for gargling in case of upper respiratory tracts diseases etc.

Aloe liniment is aloe juice mixed with eucalyptus oil, castor oil and so on. Aloe liniment is used to treat skin burns and other skin injuries.

Aloe vera gel is a mixture of aloe vera juice, sea ​​buckthorn oil, juice of plantain, yarrow, chamomile, clover, burdock. Aloe vera gel is used as wound-healing, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic cream for any kind of skin.

Syrup of aloe with iron is applied in case of anemia.
Aloe recipes except the aloe juice contain lemons, walnuts, red wine, pine and birchbuds, various herbs, mummies, propolis. Aloe with honey in different proportions is used most often.

If you want to use aloe plant for treatment or getting aloe juice, you should take a plant at least 3 years old. You should cut only lower leaves. And you should not water your aloe flower for a week before you cut the leaves.

Let us mention several aloe vera recipes for medicinal purposes.

Usually 1 teaspoon or 1 tablespoon of fresh aloe juice or juice from pharmacy is drunk 2-3 times a day in 30 minutes before eating to improve digestion, appetite, as well as at gastritis and chronic constipations. Aloe vera juice is also used in case of burns, septic wounds, abrasions, dermatitis.

The mixture of aloe vera juice with red wine and honey (in proportion ?, 1, 1), which has to be held in a dark warm place for a week, is used to improve immunity (1 teaspoon three times a day before eating).

The mixture of aloe and honey (1/2 part of aloe, 1 part of honey) with cod-liver oil is a good remedy for healing infected wounds and burns.

A ‘cake’ of aloe, honey and flour is in use against abscesses with thick skin (soles, palms) and the treatment of furuncles. There are much more aloe vera recipes, but talking about benefits of aloe vera as a medicine is a subject for a separate discussion.

We should mention that aloe treatment has its side effects. Firstly it’s related to diseases which accompanied by bleeding. Hemorrhoids, menstruation, uterine, stomach bleeding, and others bleedings are absolute contra indications against aloe treatment. Contraindicated Treatment by aloe is contraindicated in case of liver and gallbladder, acute inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, cystitis.

Local external usage of aloe plant for to treat burns, wounds festering and others is not dangerous; the only contraindication can be allergy. Anyway, if you want aloe treatment, consult with your attending doctor.

ALOE SPECIES

Aloe flower you can often meet indoors is tree-like aloe (aloe arborescens). It has long and meaty leaves growing right from the trank. Apart from the main trunk, aloe plant often produces many ‘children’ sprouts. This aloe specie can reach 10 m in height in its homeland, Africa, and it regularly flowers. Aloe flowers are red-orange and they appear on long peduncles gathered into inflorescences. It can rearly grow in indoor conditions, and because of it this specie is also known as infinite aloe. To make the plant flower, it should be grown until 10 years old; in winter you must create extreme conditions for it — temperature at most +14 Centigrade, almost no watering. However, you won’t be very happy with the flower, as its flavor causes headache.

Other aloe plant species produce radical rosettes where from thick meaty leaves of various colours grow. This is cup-like aloe. It has bluish-gray or green leaves with white teeth on the edge of the leaves. The plant is very thorny.

Aloe motley spinous is a compact plant with narrow leaves 10 cm long, gray-green coloured, with white thorns at the edges of leaves. There are small white warts on its leaves. Aloe leaves make a globular rosette. Grown-up plants produce a lot of sprouts from these rosette.

Aloe glauca has leaves of interesting blue-green color with white serrations at the edge of leaves. The lower side of a leaf is covered with small white thorns.

Kamniedood aloe stands out of the crowd of its fellows due to its appearance. It has straight triangular dark-green leaves with a white brim at the edge and white transversal strips across them. The leaves are up to 15 cm long.

Aloe vera (or Aloe barbadensis, true Aloe or Barbados Aloe) is a grassy perennial with narrow bluish-green leaves gathered into rosettes. It’s pure Aloe vera that has been cultivated for centuries as a medicinal plant. Aloe vera plant is widespread across the Mediterranean, India, China and other Asian countries. Spanish took aloe vera to America, where the plant felt like home on Barbados island. That’s where from it came to England and there it received its second name – Barbados Aloe. Aloe vera benefits cannot be underestimated.

There are much more species of aloe, i.e. aloe ferox and others, it’s the subject for further discussions.

ALOE PLANT CARE

Aloe is a succulent plant. It means that it needs conditions close to its natural conditions — it’s desert and near desert. Aloe likes well-enlightened windowsills, abrupt differences of daytime and nighttime temperatures. Aloe plant withstands temperature reduction up to +5 Centigrade. To grow normally, aloe flower needs several hours of direct sunlight a day, but in the hottest time of a day it should be covered. Aloe plant loves fresh air, so it feels excellent on a balcony.

Aloe must be regularly watered as the soil dries, at that the water must be settled. In winter watering aloe once a month is enough. The preferable winter temperature should be minimal (+10-12 Centigrade). Spraying aloe is not necessary.

The soil must be breathable and not accumulate moisture, e.g. contain enough amount of sand or another disintegrator (brick crumb, perlite, etc.). We recommend such soil mixture as: 1 part of plate soil, 2 pieces of sod land, ? part of river sand with the addition of broken bricks and charcoal.

During the period of active growth aloe is fed with a mixture of ammonium nitrate - 1 gram per 1 liter of water.

Aloe is not so capricious plant and very survivable. It concerns watering and temperature conditions. Transplanting should be done not more frequently than once per 2-3 years.

ALOE PROPAGATION

Succulent plants feature easy propagation. Aloe plant is not an exclusion. Aloe propagates with stem, leaf stalks and basal shoots. The best time for aloe propagation is spring or summer. The stalk should be dried a bit on the air for 1-2 days. Wet sand or regular soil mixture for succulents can serve as the soil for rooting. You must water the stalks carefully to avoid rotting. Covering stalks is not necessary. Aloe must not be grown in vessels with water, otherwise the stalks will rot and won’t root. The best temperature for rooting is +25 Centigrade.

ALOE DISEASES AND PESTS

Almost all aloe diseases are caused by incorrect watering. Most often it’s excessive watering, especially at low temperatures and in calm period, e.g. in winter. At that, the foot of a stalk can start rotting, leaves can wither and become pale. If you water aloe plant with cold tap water, it also can get an illness. You must obligatory settle tap water for a while. Do not forget to water aloe in summer (in the period of growth).

Aloe can be attacked by mealybugs. If the damage is insignificant, you can just wipe damaged leaves with a wet swab. If aloe plant is seriously damaged, you should spray it with an insecticide once a week; at that, you cannot use it as a medicine during this period.

Narcissus flower belongs to permanent bulbous grasses of amaryllis family. Its homeland is the South Europe as well as Mediterranean countries (Spain and Portugal in particular). There are several dozens of species (according to one data – 30, others give the figure 60). Narcissus, like crocus, tulip, hyacinth refers to early blossoming flowers. 

You can find a detailed botanic description of narcissus in the books about bulbous plants. Here a short characteristic of the plant is given. Narcissus leaves are root, linear, dark-green, depending on the variety they can be of different length and width. By its building the flower consists of pipe perianth with six lobes (double kinds have many lobes), near the perianth there is a crown inside which you can see six stamens. The narcissus bulbs are long and of pear-shaped form, covered with thick brown pellicle. The feature of the bulbs is that there are two reproduction buds. Roots growing from the end of the bulb most intensively develop in autumn and die out every year. The flowers can be double or plain, they sit on the leafless stems covered with a film. Narcissus starts blossoming in the first half of May and finishes in June. Due to the absence of leaves on the stems cutting a bouquet is harmless for narcissus. Bulbs do not suffer during cutting.

You surely know how narcissus looks on the example of Narcissus Poeticus flower, which most often is planted in the  gardens.

Narcissus flowers are various due to various forms, size and colour of a crown (paperwhite narcissus, yellow, orange narcissus or two-colour one). Selectionists work eagerly with narcissus flower. Thanks to their efforts there are different species: one-colour, two-colour, very beautiful flowers with pink crown (also called the pink narcissus), but white and yellow ones stay the favourites. Pictures of narcissus are often put on congratulatory cards especially for spring holidays like the Easter, Women’s Day, The 1^st of May and Victory Day.  

Narcissus flower has long been known in many countries. In Greece narcissus flower is the symbol of self-admiration and an early death (the legend of a young Narcissus who died of love to his own reflection), in China narcissus is a symbol of success and wealth in a New Year, in Japan it is a symbol of purity. Narcissus is especially loved on the British Isles where the glades of wild narcissuses blossom in early spring. Citizens of Great Britain are famous for their love to flowers and each part of this country has its symbol-flower: in England it is a rose, in Ireland it is a trefoil, in Scotland – thistle, and in Wales it is a narcissus flower (along with leek).

Narcissus is also loved by filmmakers. In 1947 the film “Black Narcissus” was made in the USA.

One of the few wild narcissus species are narrow-leaved narcissus flowers growing in the Carpathians. Every year in the first half of May when the narcissus blossom thousands of tourists come to Ukraine (Khust, Transcarpathian region) to admire the valley of narcissus flowers – the biggest field of wild narcissuses in Europe. There are also such fields but smaller in size in the Alps, Romania mountains, in the Balkan Mountains and in Great Britain.    

NARCISSUSES SPECIES.

In the open ground and when growing narcissus at home usually the species are used that were obtained by hybridization of several kinds of wild narcissuses. Today all kinds of narcissuses are divided approximately into twelve groups. The most well-known species of narcissus are:

- Trumpet daffodils. The flowers are single and big. The crown is pipe looking like a bluebell, equal or longer than the perianth lobes. The flowers are one-colour paperwhite or yellow, can be two-colour. The most famous kinds of this group are Mount Hood – paperwhite narcissus, early; Birsheba – white with a very long pipe; Gold Medal – yellow, low; King Alfred – deep yellow, a pipe with a beautiful crimped edge.

- Large-cupped Daffodils. The flowers are big, paper white, cream-coloured, orange; the crown is pear-shaped or pipe-shaped, a bit shorter than a perianth. The sorts are – dark-yellow with an orange crown, La Argentina – white with a yellow crown.

- Small-cupped Daffodils. The crown is far shorter than the perianth lobes. The sorts are: Arguros – a snow-white perianth with a slightly greenish middle; Cansas – white with a cream-coloured crown, Verge – white with a dark-red crown.

- Double Daffodils. The perianth consists of many lobes. The sorts are: Golden Ducat – very double, bright yellow; Inglescomb, Texas – narcissus daffodil; Snowball – white.

- Narcissus poeticus (Poeticus Daffodils). They have single white flowers with a small flat brightly-coloured cup. The sorts of Narcissus Poeticus are: Aktea – an orange cup inside a big paperwhite narcissus; Queen – a big paper white narcissus with a bright-red crown; Milan – a tall white narcissus with dark-green eye.

These are only the main species of narcissus flower. Besides, there are much more of them, such as:

• narcissus tazetta
• narcissus jonquilla
• narcissus tete a tete
• narcissus bulbocodium
• narcissus cyclamineus
• narcissus triandrus
• narcissus triandrus
• narcissus canaliculatus

and many more.

To grow narcissus in a pot at home the small-flower narcissus Tazetta is the most appropriate. They give bouquets of white, yellow or two-colour flowers.

According to color classification, there are many varieties of narcissus flowers as well. The most well-known are narcissus papyraceus, also referred to as paperwhite narcissus, or simply white narcissus as well. A huge variety of colors can also bring us yellow, orange, pink narcissus plant. You can choose almost any color.

Also Narcissus Poeticus (or Poet’s Narcissus, Poets Daffodil) is popular due to its medium size and intriguing name. Narcissus Poeticus was one of the first narcissus species to be cultivated, therefore its history is longer than other kinds of narcissus plant. You can often meet paper white Narcissus Poeticus in a garden and recognize its shape and color. As for narcissus paperwhite color is the most common color. We also cannot forget to mention Narcissus Minnow, which is also popular among the florists.

You can buy narcissus bulbs at virtually every florist shop, there are also many proposals in the Internet.

PLANTING NARCISSUS BULBS.

Narcissuses are not choosy in place. They prefer open sunny place but still grow well in the half-shadow. Flower narcissus can be planted near trees and bushes but you should protect them from strong winds. 

Narcissus flower grows well in any cultivated soil. You should add sand or peat into heavy clay soils and turf earth and humus into the light ones. Acidic soils should be limed. As most of plants having bulbs narcissus flower cannot not stand too much water in the soil, it should be taken into account when choosing the place for growing narcissus.

Paperwhite narcissus bulbs are usually planted in the middle of September or the beginning of October so that the bulb could root before the frost come. The bulbs need 20 days to root. If you plant the narcissus in spring the plant grows poorly and there are usually no flowers during this season.

The standard depth of planting a narcissus bulb is 2-3 diameters of the bulbs (10-15 cm). The depth must be less on the heavy soils and more on the light ones. The distance between the plants should be near 10 cm. The distance between the rows is 20-25 cm.

Narcissus bulbs must be planted before the cold weather comes so that the narcissus bulb could grow roots and sit firmly. They do it for about a month. If the frosts come unexpectedly early and the winter is going to be cold you should cover the plants with a layer of leaves not less than 10 cm.

You can easily find paper white narcissus bulbs in florist shops, as this specie is very popular.

NARCISSUS FLOWER CARE.

Care should be started in early spring when you are to look over the plants after winter and remove weak and ailing ones. During their growth and blossoming the earth under narcissuses must be regularly loosened, weeded out, watered.

The soil for planting should be prepared in advance and the main fertilizer must be put in at the same time. The best fertilizer for narcissus is rotten humus or compost earth (8-10 kg for 1 square meter). It is good to put a handful of bone flour under each bulb, it will provide phosphorus for intensive developing and nourishing the roots. At the second loosening you should add phosphorus fertilizer in the form of bone flour or superphosphates (60 kg for 1 square meter).

When growing narcissus flower you must take into account the nutrition requirements of these plants. When cared of properly narcissuses must be nourished several times during the season. In order that fertilizers assimilated well the first nourishing is best done when there is still snow on the ground. Then the full fertilizer is put into ground with increased content of nitrogen and equal parts of phosphorus and potassium (NPK), the proportions should be 2:1:1. The amount of fertilizer for 1 square meter is 100 g. Before the narcissus flower starts blossoming the second nourishing must be carried out in the same amount but with more phosphorus, the proportions (NPK) are 1:2:1. The third nourishing is made during the period of blossoming, its amount is less (30 g for 1 square meter), the ratio of phosphorus to potassium (PK) is 1:1.

A bunch of narcissuses looks great, so the flowers are often grown for sale by the spring holidays. The experience of narcissus growing for cutting shows that cutting does not affect the bulb development, and if we want to have a high-quality planting material for growth cutting flowers is even helpful. It is especially important not to miss ripening of seed bolls.

Narcissus bulbs grow slowly. Only the third year brings full development, at this time the flowers blossom most intensively, that’s why narcissuses are not recommended to be dug out in less than three years after planting. Narcissuses grow on one place during 3-5 years and there is no need in frequent transplantation.

When necessary you can dig out the bulbs when the leaves are fully yellow and dry. The dug out bulbs must be put in one row for drying in the shadow or in the room with the temperature not lower than +20 degrees Centigrade. Before you put bulbs for storing they must be cleaned, looked over and the ailing one must be removed. If you find daughter bulbs you shouldn’t tear them from maternal bulbs. This can cause diseases. Daughters will split themselves when the time comes. The bulbs should be stored at the temperature of 16-18 degrees Centigrade.

NARCISSUS. FORCING TREATMENT.

Forcing treatment is a method of narcissus flower growing at which the conditions are created for them to blossom at the unusual period of time. Narcissuses refer to the flowers that can be treated both in a greenhouse conditions (where the best conditions can be created) and on the open ground or in the pot at home. Early blossoming species are the most appropriate for forcing treatment.

Bulbs intended for forcing treatment must have some periods of storage. At first the bulbs are dried during two weeks after digging out at high temperatures (up to +30 degrees Centigrade), then the temperature is lowered to +17 degrees and the bulbs are kept at this temperature for three weeks. After that the bulbs must be cooled to +9 degrees Centigrade. Air humidity in the premises should be high (80-85%). The bulbs are kept in these conditions up to the moment of planting.

Garden earth mixed with sand or sawdust will suit well as a soil for forcing treatment.

A month before the desired term of having flowers the bulbs are planted in the boxes or in the soil of the greenhouse. You can plant bulbs very closely but they should not touch each other and the walls of the box or a pot. The upper part of the bulb must stay on the surface. The seedlings are kept at +9 degrees Centigrade and at air humidity close to 100% for about a week, after that the temperature is raised to +17 degrees. If the temperature is higher it will cause elongation of the plants and blossoming will be too fast. If you lower the temperature from the beginning of blossoming you can increase the period of blossoming.

There is one other method of forcing treatment, when the bulbs are kept at temperature +17 degrees all the time up to the planting. Then they are planted in the boxes or pots with sand. They are put into dark premises with temperature +5-9 degrees Centigrade and humidity close to 100%. For narcissus plant this period lasts 2-3 months and usually by this time the seedlings reach the height of 3-5 cm, after which the plants are put into a light premises with +15+17 degrees air temperature and humidity about 50%. In two weeks narcissuses will blossom. When blossoming starts the temperature in the premises with narcissuses must be lowered to +10 degrees, it will prolong blossoming. 

NARCISSUSES IN A POT.

You can easily have a house narcissus in a pot. Growing narcissus at home has a number of peculiarities. For forcing treatment all species are suitable but depending on the time period when the flowers are necessary you can take either early blossoming or late blossoming plants.

Only big (weighing not less than 60 g), healthy adult bulbs can be taken for forcing treatment. The vessel for home narcissus must be not less than 10 cm high. The pot is filled with earth and the bulbs are planted in the way that one-third of each bulb is on the surface. The earth is pressed and watered. Then the phase of rest comes. During this time the seedlings must be kept in full darkness at temperature +5-7 degrees. Such conditions can be created if you dig the pots into the garden earth under the layer of peat up to 10 cm, or put them into a cold cellar, garage on the lower shelf of your home fridge having wrapped it in a black package. This stage is finished when the first sprout appears. Now the plants must be moved to the premise with temperature about +10 degrees on the place which is well-lighted but without direct sunrays. When the buds appear the temperature should be raised to +18-20 degrees. The further care of narcissus in home conditions is limited by timely watering and putting supports when the flower grows tall.

When the narcissus fades don’t throw it away. You should just cut the faded narcissus flowers, continue watering, put the fertilizer and wait for the leaves to become dry. After that the narcissus bulbs are dug out, dried and put for storing. These bulbs are not appropriate for forcing treatment for the next year, but, when planted in the garden in autumn, they will root, sit firm, become strong and blossom.

NARCISSUS FLOWER. DISEASES. PESTS.

Most often the diseases of narcissus flowers are brought through poor-quality planting material. Be careful when buying and sorting the bulbs at transplantation.

Narcissus flower can be affected by fungi and viruses. Fungi are such diseases as gray rot, spotting, sclerotium rot, vine wilt. Excessive humidity (especially when the air temperatures are too low or too high), lack of light, excessive nitrogen nourishing promote development of these diseases. As a preventive measures against fungi diseases bulbs must be treated by fungicides before storing and temperature conditions must not be broken. Immediately before planting narcissus bulbs must be treated by putting them for 30 minutes in a 0,1-0,2% solution of fundazol or some other system preparation. 

Of virus diseases narcissus flower can have white and yellow streak, stem nematode. The most efficient method to fight virus diseases is timely detection, removal and extermination of ailing plants. Careful rejection of ailing bulbs, change of planting with marigold growing, steaming bulbs three weeks after digging out in hot water (45 degrees) for 2-4 hours as well as treating soil with carbathion will help.

Gardenia plant belongs to the madder family, and comes from Japan and China. Gardenia flower is a very beautiful plant. In natural conditions it grows as brushwood up to a meter and a half in height, one can find gardenia bush growing freely. The leaves are thick, bright-green, shiny, with pointed ends. The leaves are up to 10 cm long. The flowers are mostly snow-white, large, 7-10 cm in diameter. Depending on the type of gardenia flowers can be either double or plain. What a pleasure is to look at this beautiful white gardenia plant!

House gardenia flower is a jasmine-type gardenia or, as it is often called jasmine gardenia (Gardenia Jasminoides). The other common names of this plant are cape jasmine, or Gardenia Augusta, or Gardenia Veitchii – a beautiful white gardenia flower. One more of its names is August Beauty Gardenia. The plant is called jasmine-type because of the delicate fragrance of the flowers. Gardenia care requires many works to do and a lot of patience to have. So before you bring Gardenia Jasminoides home, think over whether you will be able to stand its fragrance in the closed premises. If there is no problem with it, the house plant Gardenia flowers will decorate any interior.

Apart from common gardenia flowers, there are also special cultivated frost proof gardenia plants. Their feature is improved cold resistance. Frost proof gardenia prefers full sun, so you should consider it when planting and growing one.

Another rather well-known gardenia varieties are dwarf gardenia, gardenia thunbergia, daisy gardenia (also referred to as gardenia radicans), and more. All of them can be bushes, shrubs, little trees (besides, gardenia bonsai figures are very popular among those who like this art.

GARDENIA CARE INDOORS. GROWING GARDENIA

Unfortunately, growing gardenia flower cannot be called simple, as it requires special technology. Gardenia fragrance is a common topic for florists to speak of. This flower is rather capricious and demanding for care. Air temperature for gardenia plant should be not lower than 15-18 degrees but not higher than 24-25 degrees above zero. You should be the most careful in winter. Gardenia roots must not be overchilled.  To guarantee this, gardenia flower must not be put on a cold windowsill, you better put the pot on the foam plastic or take some other warming support. Don’t take gardenia augusta to the balcony in summer. Gardenia doesn’t like sharp temperature changes.
Air humidity must be high but you should sprinkle the gardenia bush very carefully especially in the period of buds initiation and blossoming. Drops at sprinkling should be very tiny and not fall onto the buds and flowers, i.e. you should sprinkle only the air around the plant, but not the plant itself. It is easier to put the house plant Gardenia Jasminoides on the pebble in the tray with water or in the damp moss (sand), but in the way that the pot doesn’t touch the water. Thus, water evaporation will create the necessary humidity around the plant but the roots won’t be wet all the time.  

Gardenia Jasminoides requires abundant watering with soft warm water but don’t forget to remove the excess moisture from the tray. You should be especially careful about watering while the plant is blossoming. Don’t let the soil be over-dried or over-wet. The soil must be always damp but never wet. If you violate this rule gardenia can lose the buds. You can also notice your gardenia leaves turning yellow – it can be of the same reason.
Gardenia care involves bright light needed for the plant to grow well. But you should remember that direct sunrays at noon influence jasmine-type gardenia too bad, it is better to shadow the plant at this period.
A short answer to the question: How should gardenia care be performed? The answer is simple: the best care of gardenia jasminoides is moderateness in everything. Even the shift of the pot can influence gardenia flower (especially when it is blossoming), the plant can lose buds as well as in the case with wrong watering.
You should not forget about nourishing when growing gardenia plants. In spring and in summer the plant should be nourished every 7-10 days with special gardenia fertilizer in lessened concentration that include phosphorus and potassium but no calcium. The plant does not need nourishing in autumn and in winter. Gardenia fertilizer is available in common florist shops.
One more fact of gardenia care is that in order to have a beautiful plant gardenia pruning should be done properly. If you want to have a thick gardenia bush you should nip the tops of young plant’s sprouts, but in case of the old gardenia plant weak sprouts must be removed after blossoming and other sprouts must be cut at the necessary length. Usually the one-third of the sprout is cut. In house conditions you can grow a stem tree of gardenia. For this side branches are cut and the top is left. When the plant reaches the necessary height you should nip the top point of growth and cut the other sprouts making a crown.

As this plant comes from Japan as well, Gardenia Augusta (or August Beauty Gardenia) is a popular plant to use in the art of bonsai. This art requires knowledge about all the processes of gardenia growth. Gardenia bonsai is frequent guest on various exhibitions, and beautiful decorations of many houses. As for this gardenia pruning done properly is a key to success.

Transplantation of adult gardenia flower is made in spring once in 2-3 years when the roots feel tight in the old pot. The young plant is moved into a bigger pot every year.

Growing gardenia plant needs neutral or weak-acid soil (acidity not more than 5). Of the ready soils sold in the shops the earth for azalea and roses is the most suitable.

As for frost proof gardenia plant mentioned above, it requires at least an inch of rain or similar water per week. However, as it grows up and establishes, frost proof gardenia requires much less water, it becomes drought tolerant. As for light conditions, the best variant for it would be sun in the morning and shade in the afternoon. Enough air circulation is also very important for frost proof gardenia. Well, other gardenia varieties need the same air conditions as well.

GARDENIA REPRODUCTION.

The easiest way of reproducing gardenia bush is through stem cutting. At the beginning of spring the top cuttings 8-10 cm long are cut with a sharp knife under the very node. You should leave 3-4 leaves on the top of the cutting, removing the others. After this it is desirable to plunge the cutting in the phytohormone solution for several seconds and plant it into a sand-and-peat mixture, sprinkle and cover with a film. The best temperature for rootage is 25 degrees above zero. Don’t forget to water and sprinkle and open for airing every day. After the cuttings are rooted and begin to grow they should be planted in the permanent place in the soil consisting of equal parts of peat, sod, coniferous, leaf earth and sand or the soil for azalea (roses).
Besides cutting, gardenia flower can be reproduced by seeds. The quality of gardenia seeds is crucial. Gardenia seeds bought in the shop can be old and their germinating capability can be low, but the plant itself can make you happy with the boll of seeds. Gardenia seeds are better to be sowed in the soil (the same as for cuttings) in spring. The layer of soil above the seeds must be 3-5 mm. the soil after the seeds are sowed should be pressed a bit and damped. The seeds grow in a greenhouse or covered with a film at the temperature of 25 degrees, with regular damping of the soil and sprinkling in about a month, but the plant grown from the seeds will blossom not before 2 years. 

GARDENIA DISEASES AND PESTS. GARDENIA YELLOW LEAVES

As all the plants gardenia flower can be ailing if you pay not enough attention to its needs. One of the most common gardenia diseases is yellow leaves on a plant. For instance, sharp temperature changes, the soil not properly chosen, direct sunrays can be the reasons for the plant not blossoming but becoming yellow. Though gardenia yellow leaves look impressive as well, you shouldn’t let it go.
What to do with yellow leaves on gardenia jasminoides? If the leaves become small and of yellow shade the soil should be acidated a little. It is achieved by adding several drops of lemon juice into the water. If the leaves become very yellow, your care of jasmine-type gardenia should be directed on excluding sharp temperature changes and removing excessive acidity of the soil. In this case the plant is watered by a weak solution of ferrous sulfate. Then you will see complete yellow leaves on gardenia flower wither and fall, and the new ones and leaves which only began to turn yellow will recover their natural color. Gardenia yellow leaves are a common problem of florists, as it requires experience. However, if you do what you read here, it’ll be no problem.
You should be careful when watering and sprinkling the gardenia jasminoides. Gardenia plant care sometimes requires even more patience than care of other house plants. If water falls on the buds the brown spots can appear on the flowers. During blossoming you’d better not change the position of gardenia to the light. Otherwise Gardenia Augusta can lose the buds.
Gardenia plants can be attacked by red spider and armored scales. The easiest way to fight these pests is keeping the plant clean and enough damp, looking it over very often. The affected leaves must be cut off immediately.
Red spider likes dry warm air, that’s why the preventive measures are frequent sprinkling the air around the plant or increasing the air moisture by other means. If the spider has appeared, gardenia bushes should be treated by system insecticides. The treatment must be repeated in a week in order that the pests were destroyed completely.
Armored scales should be washed off by a cotton tampon with a soap solution. After the treatment you should wash the gardenia leaves with clean water. Repeat the procedure after a week. If the pests appear again the treatment will have to be repeated up to the moment of their complete extermination from your gardenia flower.

GARDENIA OIL. MEDICAL PROPERTIES OF GARDENIA PLANT.

It was said above how to grow gardenia jasminoides – a very beautiful and fragrant flower, but in its homeland (China and Japan) they do not only admire gardenia but also use it to cure various diseases. As a rule decoctions from gardenia fruit and roots are made for medical purposes.
Gardenia is efficient when curing different inflammatory processes: injures, sores, stomatitis, tonsillitis, etc. Women use gardenia to get rid of mastitis.
It is used as an antifebrile during the flu and fever.
If there are problems with gastrointestinal tract, biliary tracts, liver and kidneys gardenia also helps.
Gardenia decoctions are considered to help at fatigue, insomnia and headaches.
Gardenia oil is widely used in fragrance industry and cosmetology. Getting gardenia essential oil from the fresh gardenia bushes is quite difficult, and the properties of gardenia oil are so valuable that the price of real gardenia essential oil can reach several hundred dollars per ounce – it’s even more expensive than attar of roses.

DIEFFENBACHIA

Dieffenbachia plant belongs to the Araceae family. Dieffenbachia is a half-shrub with big beautiful oblonged leaves. The homeland of dieffenbachia is American tropics, where several dozens of species of this plant grow. Almost all of them are poisonous. In times of slavery plantation owners punished their slaves by making them eating dieffenbachia stalks that caused swelling of tongue and mouth muscosa. Punished slaves were not able to talk for quite a long time afterwards. For dieffenbachia poison it was often called a dumb cane plant. Dumb cane toxicity was well known among people and remains that as well. So if you are asked — is dumb cane plant poisonous? then you can be certain to answer — yes, it is.

Dieffenbachia plant has been cultivated in European gardens for quite a long time already. The flower is named after Dieffenbach, a gardener of Vienna Botanical Gardens, who lived in XIX century. Sometimes the name of the plant is misspelled — diffenbachia.

DIEFFENBACHIA SPECIES

The majority of dieffenbachia sp growing in rooms have came from spotted dumb cane (also referred to as dieffenbachia picta, or dieffenbachia maculata). These room plants are called so due to their motley leaves.

Most often the leaves of spotted dumb cane are of pure green colour with white or creamy spots. These spots often blend depending on specie, forming light lines on the leaves, or blend into a single spot occupying a better part of a leaf, for instance, Dieffenbachia Camille.

One more specie popular among gardeners is dieffenbachia amoena (or charming dieffenbachia). It has steadier leaves coloration. These species are less whimsical and easier naturalize in indoor conditions. They are ornamental.

Besides, there are many other species of this beautiful plant, among which the following are most well-known — dieffenbachia seguine, dieffenbachia compacta, dieffenbachia exotica and so on. Presence of such variety of species of dieffenbachia house plant can tell us about its big popularity.

DIEFFENBACHIA CARE

Alghough dieffenbachia plant care includes some difficulties, it’s not so capricious as a lot of people used to believe. Dieffenbachia flower cannot withstand sudden fluctuations in temperature. The most suitable temperature for it is +20-25 °C, and +17°C in winter. The best air humidity is 70-80%, so the leaves should be often sprayed and washed once per two weeks.

This plant loves fresh air, but hates drafts. Dieffenbachia plants feel good on a balcony in summer if you find a shady corner for it there, and the rooms where dieffenbachia plants live should be regularly ventilated.

Dieffenbachia maculata loves light but cannot withstand direct sunbeams, so it should be kept under bright light in winter, and in penumbra in summer. Some dieffenbachia species feel quite well in the shade, and it allows you to keep them in poorly enlightened rooms.

The soil in the pot of dumb cane should always be wet but not too watery. Waterlogging is especially dangerous when the surrounding temperature is quite low. It can cause roots and stalks rotting. Warm spaced water is suitable for dieffenbachia watering. During the period of growth, from spring till autumn, diffenbachia care should include feeding with fertilizers, but you should reduce the amount of fertilizers and water in winter. However, you should prevent drying of the soil in the pot.

Some diffenbachia species can reach 2 m high when growing indoors, and in case of lack of watering lower leaves shank off making the plant look like a palm tree. When dieffenbachia plant gets old, its lower leaves shank off too, which is natural and nothing to worry about. If such appearance of a plant doesn’t satisfy you, you can cut the stalk 10 cm higher the ground, dieffenbachia plants will produce new sprouts, and the top cut can be easily implanted.

The transplantation of a dumb cane (which is necessary because of growth stopping or dieffenbachia disease), is performed by transplanting it to a new pot with a soil mixture containing turf, peat soil and sand in a proportion 2:4:1. At that the damaged segments are removed or processed with wood charcoal. Dieffenbachia plant care process includes annual transplantation in spring. The size of a pot should be bigger with every transplantation. The bed of a pot should be covered with a drainage of broken bricks etc.

That’s all about plant care as for dieffenbachia, except one more thing: please remember of dieffenbachia toxicity! Don’t forget to wash your hands after caring of a plant.

DIEFFENBACHIA PROPAGATION

Two ways of duplication can be used.

Firstly, duplication can be held by cutting top sprout with leaves and planting it as one more plant.

Secondly, it’s pieces of a stalk about 7 cm long which are used as a stalk rot. Some dieffenbachias produce side sprouts which also can be used for planting. The soil for the rots should be consisting of peat and sand in proportion 1:1. Temperature not lower than +25°C and high humidity are required for good rooting, so the seedlings are covered with a bank or a piece of polyethylene, are well watered and sprayed. When the seedlings get rooted and produce leaves, you can transplant them to a permanent place.

DIEFFENBACHIA CARE IN CASE OF DISEASES AND BLAST

When dieffenbachia plant receives wrong lighting or is not watered properly, it becomes looking worser and gets sick. Thus you can see your dieffenbachia yellow leaves and they can wither, if the temperature is too low, the soil is too dry and if there are cold drafts in the place.

When lighting is too bright or when direct sunbeams reach your dieffenbachia the leaves can change colour, and brown spots can appear on them. In case of it the plant must be brought to a less enlightened and warmer place with no drafts. The plant should be watered in time, and the leaves should be sprayed and washed with warm water.

Despite of dieffenbachia poison is well-known, it can be damaged by blast — parlatoria and red spiders. Rarely it can be damaged by aphides as well.

Red spider is a very small spider. It appears in the bottom side of a leaf and covers it with a thin spider web. It can be eradicated by spraying and washing the leaves, especially their bottom sides with water, mild tobacco extract with soft soap, dusting with young sulfur (outdoors), or with prepared system insecticides. If you decide to wash the leaves with a mixture of tobacco extract and soft soap, you should wash them in 2-3 hours again with clear warm water.

Parlatoria has a sort of wax-like shield that covers the body of a fullmouthed insect. When young, parlatorias are almost unnoticeable, but they reproduce very quickly, covering the stalks and leaves with dark spots. Fullmouthed parlatorias are motionless and are covered with shields, from under which maggots creep through the entire plant.

Exactly this time is the best for eradication. The best way is spraying the plant with a mixture of soap and tobacco, possibly adding a bit kerosene or methylated spirit. The fullmouthed blast is removed by a wet sponge, yet you should treat the plant with an insecticide to remove maggots.

Aphis is a little insect of green, grey or black colour. Aphis is living on a bottom side of a leaf and causes its withering. Their reproductional cycle is very quick. The blast can be eradicated with preparations sold in shops or with a mixture of nicotine sulfate in the soapy water in the following proportion — 1 gramme of nicotine sulfate to 1 litre of soapy water.

In a day after this procedure dumb cane should be well-washed. And do not forget to cover the soil with polyethylene while washing. Then insecticide treatment is repeated if necessary. It’s a pity that dieffenbachia poisoning has no effect on these insects, but even nature has not forseen everything.

Hyacinth plant (also referred to as Hyacinthus or jacinth) belongs to lily family. Wild hyacinth came from Asia Minor, and Mediterranean. Flowers hyacinths grow from perennial hyacinth bulbs. The flowers gather into a cop that forms on a peduncle 15-30 cm tall, the shape of a flower is bell-like, the petals are lily-like with sharpened edges, up to eight petals per flower. In the early XVIII century Dutch became interested in hyacinths, and they have bred a great hyacinth plant variety with both double-flowering and non-double-flowering, and manifold colors — white hyacinth, purple, red and blue hyacinth. The Dutch hyacinth, or the common hyacinth has a thick peduncle, where there are multiple flowers 2-5 cm long. The sorts bred by the Dutch from Hyacinthus Orientalis exactly are usually used as indoor hyacinth now, apart from wild hyacinth growing in the area where it has came from.

Hyacinth plants bring most delight to florists in winter and early spring. By no means all plants flower like hyacinths. The way they achieve hyacinth flowers in inopportune time is called hyacinth forcing. To make the process of growing hyacinths at home easier, we should discuss several questions:

How to plant hyacinths? How to grow hyacinth at home? How to water hyacinths flowers? How to care of hyacinth during its growth and flowering period? How to care about hyacinth after it has withered?

Let us try to answer these questions.

HYACINTH FORCING

Hyacinth flower refers to bulbous garden plants that usually grow on flower beds in spring; however you can try growing hyacinths at home. Growing hyacinth in home conditions does not really differ from growing any other bulbous plants, but nevertheless it has some specific features. Firstly, you should examine hyacinths bulbs (or hyacinth beans) you want to use to grow it in a pot. You should better use a hyacinth bulb not less 5 cm in diameter (weighting approximately 2,8 ounces), tight by touch, not rotting or sick or damaged by pests, without mechanical damages. By the way, for growing hyacinth in the garden you should better plant lesser hyacinth bulbs.

The second important term to get a healthy hyacinth flower at home is preparing proper conditions for bulbs ripening. To let hyacinth flower with a healthy and beautiful flower, the bulb must pass several stages of development before planting hyacinth. After hyacinth bulbs are dag out (usually in June), they are kept under high temperature (up to 30 degrees centigrade) and high air humidity for two weeks. Then, hyacinths bulbs are kept under the temperature of +25 °C for two weeks, and then — under the temperature not less than +17°C up to the moment of planting. Hyacinth bulb prepared in such a way is then planted to a pot. If you buy hyacinth bulbs in a shop, then it means that these stages are already passed, so you just need to keep it until it’s planted. You can also buy hyacinth seeds to begin from the very beginning. However, for a young florist it will be much easier to buy prepared hyacinth beans. The time of planting is selected in dependence on when you want to get a flowering hyacinth. If you manage to get it on the New Year’s Day or Christmas, you should plant hyacinth bulbs before mid-September, and if you want it in early March, then plant it in October.

PLANTING HYACINTHS

The bed of a pot should be drained, and then covered with a layer of soil (not acidic). The mixture of turf, leaf and compost soil will match, as well as a prepared soil mixture from a shop. Further, a layer of sand is put there. There hyacinths bulbs are planted. Sand doesn’t allow hyacinth roots rot. The hyacinth bulbs should be planted tightly, thought they shouldn’t touch each other and the pot. Hyacinth bulbs are lightly pushed to the soil, but not screwed, and covered with soil to leave the edges of bulbs uncovered. Getting a flowering hyacinth is possible not only in such a “cake” of sand and soil, but also in sand or in the water. Further we’ll explain how to grow water hyacinth plants.

After the bulbs are planted, they need a period of rest. At this time the pots with hyacinth plants should be kept in complete darkness under the temperature of +5°C (maximum +7°C). Looking after humidity of the soil in the pot is very important — it should not dry up. This period covers 2—2.5 months. During this period the bulbs take roots. These conditions are achieved in various ways. Some florists cover the pots with dark paper and replace to garages, cold loggia or to refrigerator, some put the pots to basement. No matter which way you choose, but “cold” period is vital in hyacinth forcing. It is all needed to get a wonderful hyacinth bouquet in future.

HYACINTH CARE DURING THE PERIOD OF GROWTH

When hyacinth bean takes roots and produce sprouts 2-2.5cm tall, it’s a sign to replace the hyacinth flower to a cool and well enlightened place in the house. Better if hyacinth grew under the temperature not more that +15°C during the following month. It’s even better to provide the temperature within +10-12°C. When buds appear, the flower is replaced to its permanent place, which needs to be well enlightened and be safe from drafts and heat from radiators. The best temperature is not more than +20°C. Further, hyacinth care includes only in-time watering. The soil in the pot must be always wet, however you should water hyacinth plants accurately not to allow water find the bulbs. You should water at the side of the pot. Sometimes you should turn the hyacinthus flower to let it grow straightly. Hyacinth flower likes feeding and additional light in evening.

We should mention that these conditions are ideal to grow hyacinth at home,

and if your real conditions differ, it doesn’t mean hyacinth won’t flower, it only means the plant will grow slower, the flowers will be weaker and the term of flowering will be shorter. The only really required period is a “cold” period, as without it hyacinth growing may be unsuccessful.

During hyacinth forcing in the water all the stages before planting are the same. Further, to get water hyacinth plants, the bulbs are placed to a vessel with water. As for hyacinth water should better be filtered, or you can use rainwater as well. The vessel should be not too deep not to let the bulb float in the water, but the way it touched the bottom a little. A narrow glass or a glass with a bell is perfect for this purpose. Hyacinth plants in the water, prepared in such a way, are then swathed with dark paper, and finally left in peace the same way as the plans in the pots. You should look after the level of water in the glass and fill it in time. When the roots develop and the bulb produces sprouts, you should gradually add fertilizers. Then, water hyacinth care doesn’t differ from one in the pot.

FLOWER HYACINTHS CULTIVATION

Hyacinth has withered. You are free to choose what to do with it further. You can throw it away and buy hyacinth blooming already or have just produced peduncle without wasting time on growing hyacinth flower from a bulb. However, true florists don’t do so. They will surely try growing new plants. Furthermore, hyacinths growing is not difficult at all.

If you want to get a new hyacinth plant in the future, then cut off the flowers and continue watering hyacinth and feeding it after the plant withers until the leaves wilt. At this time mother bulb gains weight and power, and can produce daughter bulbs as well. Then take the bulb off the soil, tear wilted leaves and dry it. If daughter bulbs can be easily separated, then separate them. If the bulbs are small and cannot be easily split off, you’d better leave them. They can be separated the following year when they grow up. Withered bulbs cannot be used for hyacinth forcing, but they are planted in the place in the garden protected from the wind and direct sunbeams in autumn, and in a year they will flower again. The hyacinth bulb lives and produces flowers for more than a year, it produces new bulbs which give new beautiful flowers.

Growing hyacinths flowers in the garden is a separate topic. We’ll only mention that to get bulbs for forcing they are not allowed to flower on the garden bed. The flowers are torn when the bulb gains enough weight, and in autumn the bulb is dug out, dried up and passes through all stages preceding forcing, and afterwards is planted to a pot.

DISEASES. PROBLEMS OF HYACINTH PLANT CARE

Hyacinth flower is not a capricious plant, and if you give it all it needs doesn’t disturb you.

On the first stage you should carefully choose proper bulbs. They must be big and strong. If the bulb is too small, hyacinth plant may not produce flowers, only leaves. Bulbs planted to one pot should be of equal size, otherwise the plants will flower not simultaneously. When selecting bulbs, you should examine them carefully if they are not rotting. Affected bulbs must be rejected and utilized. Before planting hyacinth bulbs should be treated with disinfectants.

If you don’t wait till the end of the cold period and take jacinth to a warm light place before it produces sprouts, the plant will grow slower and flower badly. If you keep it in the dark too long, then as soon as it is brought to light the leaves will begin to grow like mad, but flowering will slow down. You should necessarily endure the cold period. Under the temperatures higher then +5°C (maximum +7°C) flowering may not start at all, or the hyacinths flowers will be strained and ugly.

Lack of watering and bad lighting during the period of hyacinth growth may cause leaves yellowing, delay in growth and blossom. If you water hyacinth flowers too hard or if water reaches the bulb, bud or leaves axis, if you leave too much water in the pallet, you may cause rotting and withering of a flower.

BAMBUSA (CLUMPING BAMBOO).

Bambusa is perhaps the tallest and the most amazing grass in the world. Bambusa (a sort of clumping bamboo) is referred to grass family, it’s an immediate relative to wheat, oats, corn and other grass cultures. Bamboo plant is widespread in the world, mostly in tropics and subtropics, but it sometimes grows high in the mountains, where bambusa is able to withstand the temperature up to -20 centigrade degrees. Bamboo plant numbers 1500 types. It is also widespread in the USA (both wild and decorative types, there is also an American bamboo society caring about bamboo plants and monitoring the development of this plant in future.

Bamboo tube (or bamboo body) looks like straw, and consists of nodes and internodes. The plant is growing because of these internodes. It’s pretty interesting that the rudiments of nodes are located in the buds of the sprouts of bambusa. Depending on a type bamboo can be grass-like or tree-like. The thickness of bamboo body can also vary from 2-3 cm to 30 cm in diameter. Bamboo tube is able to branch out, and it makes this grass tree-like. At the beginning of its growth the tissues of the tube are soft (young bamboo sprouts are edible), in 2-3 years the tube solidifies and becomes very strong and steady (stearier than oak wood). In appropriate conditions bamboo grass is growing quite fast and may reach 100 ft tall. The speed of bamboo growth can reach up to 3 ft a day. Bamboos reach their maximum height during 1.5-2 months, and afterwards their growth is over. Among all known species of bamboo only one is considered to be poisonous — Bambúsa arundinácea.

Counting all bamboo species makes no sence, as they are too numerous. If you think about growing bamboo in your garden, you should look for a specie able to grow in your climat conditions. The main criteria is the lowest temperature in winter which your bamboo can withstand.

“Black bamboo” is considered to be the most decorative. This specie of bambusa comes from China. Young sprouts of this specie are green. In a year or two after it is planted the bamboo body bacomes dark, almost black colour, while the leaves remain bright green. The lowest temperature black bamboo is able to withstand is -20 centigrade degrees.

Bamboo in blossom is a very rare event. Tree-like bamboo plants bloom only

once. It happens in 30-60-120 year age depending on the specie. The bamboo flowers look like oat brushes. Blossoming happens on the whole plantation simultaneously, and after it all the plantation perishes.

Bambusa is the most fast-growing grass on Earth. In a short time it covers large areas creating large groves, and such vitality is used for shipping for various purposes.

Mature bambusa is stronger and steadier than oak tree. Whatever has been made from bamboo plant in the areas of its natural growing. By splitting a bamboo tube along, they got thin sticks used for writing. Bamboo slivers can be so thin that even needles were made of them. By smashing a tip of a bamboo stick they got paintbrushes. And the paper for such painting was also made of bamboo grass. Bamboo plant is used for paper manufacturing nowadays as well. Thin bamboo tubes are used for making flutes, and big diameter bamboos are used for making wonderful sounding drums.

Buildings made of bamboo have been dwell for centuries. Rafts and boats made of bamboo tubes feature durability and excellent floatation ability. In the ancient times bamboo plants were used for producing tubes for water transporting, and philistines used dishes of bamboo, and knitted floor mats of bamboo grass as well.

Furniture made of bamboo is lightweight and solid, construction and decorative materials are beautiful and durable, mats and various fabrics made of bamboo are very popular among the devotees of ecological housing. Bamboo in the interior as a house plant, as furniture or as different decorations brings an element of orient in design, reminding of China or Japan. Besides, bamboo flooring is very popular too. Flooring bamboo home can guarantee very long period of exploitation and pleasant impressions.

Bamboo is an excellent plant for creativity both when it grows and as a construction material, and as an element of decoration. You can make loads of beautiful and useful things of bamboo plant. Green bambusa is a very useful plant. Bamboo forest produces 35% more oxygen than any other forest with an equal square.

Bamboo grass is not just a basic material for dozens of useful products, it’s also used for food, and nowadays it’svery popular to grow ornamental bamboo at home. Young sprouts of bamboo are edible uncooked, boiled, fried, marinated, and even produce alcoholic beverages. In many countries where bamboo grows in natural conditions, it’s a widespread and beloved foodstuff.

Bamboo plant is also not underestimated by feng shui adepts. Bamboo is a symbol of longevity, health, vital energy and strength of spirit, wealth and luck; they believe bamboo plant is an essential element of home beautification. From this point of view, the best place for bamboo is an eastern part of a house.

The healthing properties of bamboo plant are widespread in medicine and cosmetics. Bamboo is a basic material for massage sticks, brooms, and accessories for baths and saunas. The leaves of bamboo are used as medicines — antipyretics, extract from bamboo pulp is an excellent alleviating and expectorant drugs in case of upper airways diceases; bamboo juice is considered an excellent abluent and renewing agent.

BAMBOO CARE. GROWING BAMBOO

Very rearly we can meet real bambusa at home. And it\s not because growing bamboo at home is something too gard to do. There are two main reasons why bamboo for home is so rear in our gardens and apartments.

The first reason is quite cold winters. The sprouts frostproof bamboos without covering are able to withstand frost up to -18-20 Celsius degrees, therefore very often the parts of the sprouts above the level of snow cover freeze. In spring young sprouts arise, but getting a bamboo grove of full value is very uneasy, as without proper care bamboo plants will soon be unable to grow further. You may either cover the plantation with a shroud of fallen leaves and fir twigs, or grow bamboo in containers with moving them indoor during the winter. Such a way of bamboo growing is acceptable for plants from tropic and subtropic climate where average temperature doesn’t vary too much. For bamboos that come from areas with more severe climate moving bamboo plants to a room with dry and warm air leaves the plant without its essential cold period of life, and the leaves of such a room bamboo can wilt. The leaves of a bambusa plant are an indicator of correct clumping bamboo care. If bambusa turns yellow, the leaves began curling, it indicates lack of moisture for bamboos from tropics or overflow with moisture at low temperatures for the plants from the temperate climate.

The second reason is aggression of a bamboo plant. Each spring bamboo grass releases new side sprouts, and new plants grow from them. If this growth is not stopped, bambusa will take all the surrounding area. There are some methods of reducing this aggression. To do it, you should limit the growth of side roots which give birth to these new sprouts, or disallowing these young branches to grow. Most often the ditch 1.5 ft is digged on the perimeter of the area where bamboo grows, and the walls of the ditch are strengthened with a solid plastic which can resist significant temperature difference. This barrier doesn’t allow roots to grow sideways. Root sprouts of bamboo growing above the barriers are cut. If you won’t place plastic to the walls of the ditch, you should watch the roots appearing in the ditch. These roots should be regularly cut. In countries where bamboo plant originally grows they mow bamboo sprouts like grass while they are not yet too solid. In such a way, the vital cycle of the plant is interrupted, and the territory of its growth is limited. You can also limit the activity of bamboo plant growing tempo by breaking young “shooting” sprouts with a chopper or even by a shoe.

You can buy bamboo plant in a container, as it’s easier because bambusa’s way of reproduction is vegetative or scissiparity, or you can buy seed of bambusa, however, its germinating capability is about 40%, so growing bamboo from seed is rather more difficult.

Selecting proper place for the plantation is very important. Water here must not stagnate. Bamboo grass likes to drink, but doesn’t like to be wet. The diameter and depth of a pit must be twice as big as the retaining cone. The floor of the pit must be drained, and you should place a mixture of soil and rotten manure there if the soil is not fertile enough. You shouldn’t do too deep when planting. The retaining cone is covered by a mixture of soil and compost from the sides, and after it is watered a lot. It will be very good to powder all it with mulch then. It protects the roots from drying and eases the adaptation period of the bamboo plant.

If you plant bamboo to a pot, you should use a wide container (not a deep one) with a diameter twice as big as a clod with the plant. If you plant seed, you should plant them to a single place at once without transplanting it in the future.

How to care of the “home bamboo”? Providing enough soil moisture and avoiding water stagnation near the roots; the first condition is resolved by in-time watering, the second — by choosing a proper place for the plantation (marsh land is not the right choice) and organizing a good drain in a pit or a container.

During the first year after planting there is no need in fertilize the soil, further bambusa is nourished with a complex fertile containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in equal proportion; in summer — twice per month, in other seasons — once per three months.

Good illumination and enough amount of direct sunbeams are very important for the health of a bamboo plant.

You can design your bamboo plantation’s look whatever you like. It is achieved by cutting. If you cut the top of a plant, it won’t grow any higher then, but the amount of leaves will grow slightly, thus you can get a plant of a very original shape. Bambusa should be cut 2 inches higher the selected node. There are some bamboo species with a lot of side branches. These branches also should be cut so that they won’t grow further. In such a way, you can make your bambusa looking tree-like.

If you allow bambusa to grow free, it is able to create solid green fences, and if you thin the plantation out, you can get a grove where you can feel free to walk among the “trees”.

HOME BAMBOO

Most often you can see dracaena Sanderiana sold in flower shops as room bamboo, decorative bamboo for home, dracaena lucky bamboo and so on. This original decorative plant and bambusa have nothing in common. Only a nodose body of dracaena, which is often screwed to a spiral, looks like ornamental bamboo. Such decorative bamboo can be grown both in the water and in the soil. You’d better search for how to grow dracaena lucky bamboo, or how to care of a house bamboo on the specific sites dedicated to dracaena.

If your aim is growing bamboo (the real bambusa) as a house plant, you should better buy bamboo from tropical or subtropical climate, where the average annual temperature doesn’t vary a lot. Creating appropriate conditions for sych a decorative bamboo is much easier in the apartments with central heating. However, without proper care bamboo won’t live long.

The planting container should be wide (twice as wide as the clod with the roots of a plant). The floor of the container must be drained. You can use common garden soil with adding some compost. Decorative bamboo will grow well in such a container, till it occupies all free space, and after it you should transplant it to a more spacious container. If its further growth is undesirable, room bamboo is drawn from the container, a third part of its roots is cut, the soil is replaced with the new one, and the bamboo plant is put to the same container. If it isn’t done, decorative bamboo turns yellow, loses its leaves, and then withers.

The place where you want to grow bamboo at home must be well illuminated, with enough amount of direct sunbeams, and without drafts.

House bamboo is watered as far as the soil gets dry, sometimes splashing bambusa is useful. In summer house bamboo is growing better outdoors: on a balcony, terrace or in the garden.