The Use Of Decorative Bows In Landscape Design. Part 1

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Types of bows, their use in landscape design

Bows in composition

The main “demand” for the bulbs of these ornamental plants arose in the 17th century, when collections of botanical gardens began to grow in European countries. Original and spectacularly flowering bows, which amazed the imagination of flower growers, were quickly introduced into culture. As a result, decorative onion species have been grown in gardens and parks in Europe for over 300 years!

Using bows

These magnificent flowering plants are indispensable in microlandscapes that combine elements of inanimate and living nature, such as rock gardens, rockeries and rocky gardens, which are gradually becoming fashionable in Russia. At first glance, bows seem inconspicuous among the bright flowers in flower beds, but they are increasingly used in decorative compositions in the form of islands against a background of sand, broken bricks, pebbles, etc.

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But despite all their splendor, the use of bows in landscaping is still limited. The reason for this lies in the short flowering period of the onions and the rapid yellowing of their leaves, which invariably leads to a loss of decorative effect. Therefore, onions should be planted between other plants with large foliage, which will then cover their dried leaves. And planting bulbs at different depths will also help to slightly extend their flowering period.

In addition, the use of onions in floriculture is also limited by the lack of information about flowering species, in particular, about the latest varieties. However, thanks to the importation of planting material of bulbous plants from abroad, mainly Dutch varieties, bulbs and their seeds have appeared on sale, which will certainly enrich the range of perennial crops.

Surprisingly, among the decorative types of onions there are many that are suitable for cutting, making bouquets and compositions. The main criteria in this case are the length of the peduncle not less than 60 centimeters and the preservation of decorativeness in a cut form for about ten days. The addition of a pinch of salt or any antiseptic to the water, as well as cutting off a part of the stem under water, can extend the life of bouquets.

Modern florists can't do without bows, they pick up vases of original shapes and colors, hollowed-out pumpkins look very interesting. Old bottles and wicker baskets are also beautiful. The onion inflorescences dry well and are arranged in a wide variety of compositions. They are used both in their natural form and after dyeing, spraying or aging in a solution of sodium chloride.

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Chives

Edible onions, such as chives, are often used as decoration of the garden. It is readily used for borders, in the design of paths, areas. This plant grows very quickly and forms a dense turf that helps to get rid of weeds. Chives, Ledebour onions, angular onions and other low-growing species can create bright spots on lawns and lawns. Slime onions and branched onions look good in group plantings and against a background of dark greenery.

These species are good because they have a long period of leaf formation and flowering. The branchy onion is also distinguished by its remontability, it blooms from mid-July to the very frost. The leaves of these species do not coarse and almost do not turn yellow throughout the season. In branchy onions, flowers are fragrant, with a very pleasant aroma, usually this is a rare phenomenon among onions. They bloom for more than 20 days and for a long time, up to 7 days, stand in the cut.

At the end of June, the onion blooms beautifully - with fluffy bright yellow balls of inflorescences. In early spring, wild garlic is very decorative - this is the collective name of the edible species of victory and bear onions. In the garden, these shade-tolerant forest plants are grown under lilac, jasmine, berry bushes, where the land is usually not used.

Blooming all season

The variety of decorative types of onions allows you to choose them so as to create a garden of continuous beautiful flowering from spring to late autumn. In the spring, earlier than others, you can see the inflorescences of a strange onion - a low, beautiful plant with broadly bell-shaped white flowers resembling lily of the valley flowers, as well as Zebdan onion - with openwork hemispherical inflorescences consisting of large white star-shaped flowers. This onion is unpretentious, grows well even in the shade of trees and is quite widely used in group plantings, as well as for cutting, since its height exceeds 50 centimeters.

In late May or early June, most of the ephemeral species of the Mohum section bloom, they can be distinguished by wide and flat leaves, which are collected in a ground rosette, and very large globular inflorescences with flowers of various colors, ranging from white to dark purple. The height of the peduncles is different for different species. It depends on the age of the plants and the mass of the bulb itself; the larger it is, the larger the plant habit itself and the longer the peduncles.

Ephemeroid types of onions are very widely used in ornamental gardening - in flower beds they are combined quite successfully, filling the interval between the spring colors of May and the lush summer bloom, blooming precisely when there are few flowering plants in the temperate climate zone.

Giant bow

Aflatunsky onions, stalked onions, giant onions, high onions, Suvorov's onions are united under one common name for them - "Anzur onion" or mountain onion. The homeland of all these bows is the mountainous regions of Central Asia. These species are very attractive for their high (reaching one and a half meters) peduncles and large spherical inflorescences, which are used for cutting, drying and forcing. Anzura bows are very beautiful in group plantings during the flowering period, when they are called purple or green fire. Unfortunately, this burning lasts no more than 10 days.

Among the ephemeral bows, there are quite a few decorative species with medium-height peduncles. These are, for example, Trautfetter's onions, which are characterized by smooth lanceolate leaves, Barshchevsky's onions, Rosenbach's onions with openwork spherical umbrellas. There is also a variety of onions, in which the perianth leaves are purple on the inside, and on the outside they are bright purple with a light border. These are the varieties of Rosenbach onions - Colanda. It is simply impossible to pass by flowering plants without admiring the pulsating purple waves.

And, finally, ephemeral bows, which are distinguished by short peduncles (since the stem is deeply buried in the ground). These plants are truly an adornment for any rock garden. However, these bows are difficult to grow and reproduce, and are also quite thermophilic, it is better to cover them for the winter.