"Lily of the valleys" - this is the name of the new plant of Carl Linnaeus, which we know as lily of the valley. This is one of the first colors of spring, but from the earliest times the lily of the valley is associated not with joy from the warm days that have come, but with sadness and sadness, because our ancestors made legends about the magical power of this plant. If you do not belong to fans of ancient mythology and legends, planting, growing and caring for lilies of the valley in the garden is the perfect solution for creating a beautiful landscape design of a small plot . On how to plant this beautiful flower on your site, and how to take care of it in the future, we'll tell you in more detail.
Brief description of the plant
In the genus of lilies of the valley scientists include a single species, but, according to some botanists, this species is a composite. If we consider the area of lily-of-the-valley settlement, we can distinguish several local subspecies. Some of them are described in some textbooks as independent species, but in reality there are very few differences from the European ones.
The most common in our latitudes are lilies of the species "Maisky". The most popular form is lily of the valley pink, planting and caring for which are very simple. You can also see lily of the valley type "Keizke" with large bell-shaped flowers, a lily of the valley mountain, which grows mainly in the mid-mountain belt of southeastern US territories, the Transcaucasian lily of the valley, which is a rarer species.
To which subspecies the plant belongs, it is distinguished by its extreme unpretentiousness. Lilies of the valley feel wonderful, both among dense thickets of bushes, and in open glades. But when planting and caring for a garden lily of the valley at the dacha, you should consider that with strong shading, the flowers will be small, and the flowering period will be short.
Rules for planting lilies of the valley
The first thing that needs to be paid attention is the soil composition. If it is dry, then the lily-of-the-valley melts. The best for the plant is a well-treated, organic soil primer. On such soil the lily of the valley can grow up to ten years.
Preparation of the soil should begin a year before you land the lily of the valley. Recycling is subject to a layer of soil in 25-30 centimeters. Neutral soil for the plant is acceptable, but on drained, medium loamy, moist and slightly acidic lilies of the valley will grow better. If the soil is weakly acidic on the site, it should be well- known beforehand (up to 300 grams of lime per square meter). You can also make manure, peat compost, humus. From fertilizers, simple superphosphate and potassium sulfate can be used. During the summer period, the site where you plan to land lilies of the valley should be held under steam so that the weeds do not take a liking to it. With the same task cope with legumes, which should be removed in early autumn, leaving in the ground their roots.
In the beginning of spring, loosen the soil, make fifteen centimeters grooves in it and plant the shoots of lilies of the valley, on which there are pieces of rhizomes and lobules of roots. If the sprout diameter exceeds 0.6 centimeters and the top is rounded, it will bloom for the first year. The remaining shoots will please only with young leaves,
Young plants do not need thorough care. You can overlay the lily of the valley with rotted manure, and at the end of the summer, feed with mineral or liquid organic fertilizer. If the summer turned out to be arid, it is required to water lilies of the valley up to two times a week. Weeding from weeds is a prerequisite, if you want the lily of the valley to please large inflorescences. For the winter, the plant does not need shelter.