Flowers at home: winter begonia
Winter-flowering begonias are plants with raised, densely branched shoots, small shiny leaves and numerous flowers.White, yellow, red or pink flowers appear in short-day conditions, from fall to spring. They can be single or full.Two-color varieties are particularly appreciated, e.g. first prize winner at this year's Horti Fair in Amsterdam, Begonia 'Binos Pinky White' with white, pale pink tinted flowers, white-pink 'Borias' or white-edged begonia 'Borias Dark'.
Winter begonias Begonia x elatior or garden begonias Begonia x hybrida of the Glorie de Lorraine type are most often grown. Begonias grow and bloom best at 15-20°C and in a bright but not directly sunlit position. They like humus, constantly moist soil. They are watered with calcium-free water with a pH of 4.5-5.
Decorative garden: snowball in early spring
The genus Chionodoxa snowman includes 8 species of plants found in the wild in the mountains of Crete, Cyprus and Turkey. The name chionodoxa was created from the combination of the Greek words chion - snow and doxa - glory, which is associated with their early flowering, because flowers can appear in February, although they bloom more often in March and April.
Snowballs grow to a height of 10-15 cm. Only Siehe's snowman Chionodoxa siehei is taller.Plants form small bulbs, from which grow a pair of narrow leaves and a leafless shoot, ending in an inflorescence composed of several open star-shaped flowers. In gardens, the Chionodoxa luciliae shining snowball is most often cultivated, which has bluish-violet flowers with a characteristic light center, and its varieties with white flowers - 'Alba', large lilac-pink - 'Pink Giant' and purple-pink - 'Rosea'.
There is also a common, similar to the previous species, Forbes snowman Chionodoxa forbesii and Sardinian snowman Chionodoxa sardensis with blue flowers with indistinct white eye.Snowballs are planted in shaded parts of rockeries, on the edges of perennial beds, on lawns.They have the same cultivation requirements as snowdrops.
Trees and shrubs: pines in a small garden
There are 3 pines in Poland: limba pine, mountain pine and Scots pine.The most popular is the common two-needle pine, which in Poland is the basic forest-forming species in the lowlands, where it forms forests.Spherical varieties are worth cultivating weakly growing, such as: 'Beuvronensis', which forms nice hemispheres, 10 years, reaches 50 cm in height; 'Globosa Viridis' with a very dense growth and egg-shaped habit; 'Juto' with a nice spherical growth.
The cultivars with a conical habit are cultivated: 'Watereri', broadly conical or ovate shrubs with blue-colored needles, 'Aurea' with yellow-green needles, 'Wintergold', which stains the needles yellow in autumn and winter. For small gardens, the 'Fastigiata' variety with a columnar shape is recommended.
Orchard: why do the trees freeze?
The size and type of frost damage largely depends on how quickly the temperature drops.
If the temperature drops slowly, the plant will get used to the low temperatures. However, if it falls rapidly, within a few or several hours, frost damage is usually more visible.The time with critical temperatures is also important. If it lasts too long, frost damage can also be significant.A drop in temperature causes many changes in plant tissues.
The direct cause of cell death is the formation of ice crystals and their dehydration.The water freezes first in the intercellular spaces, which is usually not harmful.However, if ice begins to form in the cell itself, irreversible changes occur and the cells die.
