One of the first flowers that delight the eye in the month of May are lilies of the valley. Traditionally, they are considered forest plants, but many gardeners plant garden varieties of lily of the valley in their flower beds. It turns out that the flower has several species, which differ in habitat (from both slopes of the Caucasus to the Far East), the size and structure of the leaves, the shape of the flowers and, no less surprising, the color. Lily of the valley bells can be not only the usual white color. There are varieties - mainly breeding ones - that have delicate pink flowers, with or without double edges.
As a garden plant, lilies of the valley are not capricious and require little maintenance. It happens even on the contrary, if you give him a lot of freedom, the flower will easily win back a significant section of the flower bed and "swing" at others. Lily of the valley blooms very beautifully, exuding a delicate aroma, but alas, not for long. But he has one feature that many plant lovers liked so much - garden lily of the valley can be grown indoors, and admire it in winter, like crocuses, tulips, hyacinths... Let's talk about this process in more detail.
Lily of the valley flower: planting, care and cultivation
Usually, garden varieties are taken for growing at home, but you can experiment with forest brethren. Although often the forest lily of the valley, when distilled, gives small flowers or does not bloom at all. The variety is considered the best for forcing “Berolinensis". The plant has large flowers of a snow-white shade.
To get a high-quality flower, you need to choose the rhizome correctly in the fall. Take it from the dacha or buy it, it doesn't matter. Regardless, carefully examine the flower buds. They should be well developed: plump, blunt-pointed and directed upwards. Having selected the rhizomes, put them in a box, shifting them with moss or peat, water and determine in a shady place in the fresh air. In this form, future lilies of the valley should be stored until the onset of cold weather. Here is an interesting point! When it gets colder, do not rush to carry the box in the warmth. To facilitate forcing and achieve abundant flowering, the rhizomes of lilies of the valley need to be slightly frozen at a temperature of 5-6 ° C for about a week. It is optimal to store lilies of the valley in the basement, but when it is not there, you can simply keep the flower cool and damp before forcing. If there are few rhizomes, a refrigerator is a great place. No need for watering during storage.
You can start the planting process at the end of November-December. Forcing lilies of the valley takes about a month, depending on the conditions. Therefore, a bouquet of delicate spring flowers on the New Year's table can become very real. Before planting, the root shoots are cut to 12 cm, and the rhizomes are dipped in slightly warmed water (32-35 ° C) for 13-15 hours. This will help speed up bud formation by a week.
The flowers can now be planted. To do this, you can take any suitable container: baskets, small bowls, pots, original painted pots. Plants need to be distributed so that they do not crowded, but look like a beautiful bouquet. For example, 5-6 pieces are placed in a flowerpot with a diameter of 12 cm. The soil composition for lilies of the valley can be different. They will feel good both in ordinary leafy soil and in a mixture of turf, moss and peat.Lilies of the valley grow well in sphagnum moss... The first condition is that the soil must be wet. Therefore, using leafy soil, cover it with moss.
After planting, transfer the pots with lilies of the valley to a warm room (25-30 ° C) and be sure to darken them. A paper cap, inverted opaque containers, and a regular jar covered with a dark cloth are suitable for this. Another important condition. In order for the lily of the valley to form buds, it is necessary to maintain a constant level of humidity. The amount of moisture in the room is not enough. Therefore, the planted plants need to be sprayed daily. Do this before the appearance of peduncle stalks. When the buds have formed, the containers with the plants are transferred to the light to provide normal conditions for flowering. If the lilies of the valley are provided with a cool and humid environment, the flowers will last much longer.
It is much easier to drive out lilies of the valley after the New Year - somewhere in the third decade of January. It is no longer necessary to pre-soak in water, and the temperature regime of distillation can be reduced. The period of bud formation and flowering in such plants comes faster, after three weeks.
The healing properties of lily of the valley
Modern medicine and pharmacology widely use May lily of the valley. After all, this plant has many medicinal properties. But remember! All parts of this beautiful flower, so pleasing to the eye and soul, are poisonous! They contain a very toxic substance - convallatoxin. That is why do not place lilies of the valley in places where children can reach them. And, of course, do not assign him to permanent residence in children's room.
