Decorative garden: spike liater for flower beds and cut flower
Liatra spiked Liatris spicata comes from North America, where it grows in wet meadows. It is a perennial, the underground part of which is a rhizome composed of many tubers.Plants reach a height of 60-120 cm and have narrow butt-leaves and much shorter and narrower stem leaves, densely embedded in the lower part of a stiff and unbranched shoot.Since the liatra belongs to the Asteraceae family, its inflorescence there is a basket, but this plant consists of several dozen gathered in compact, cylindrical spikes, 15-20 cm long.The baskets are small and develop unusually - from the top of the ear downwards.
The flowers can be, depending on the variety: lilac pink, purple, purple and white. Liatra blooms from July to October.It looks beautiful on a bed in the company of a whorl and a woolly scrub.It is also perfect for a cut flower. Plants grow well in any moderately moist soil in a sunny location. They winter here even without any cover. They are multiplied in spring by dividing strongly developed plants.
Balconies and terraces: versatile hydrangeas
The garden hydrangea Hydrangea macrophylla is a popular garden shrub. Its greatest decoration are large spherical inflorescences appearing in June and July. However, thanks to the acceleration of flowering, you can get hydrangeas that bloom in spring, from March, which is used in the production of plants for Easter. As a result, this species is grown more and more often in large pots.
Its white, pink, blue or reddish flowers suit any style - Hydrangeas can be grown in an original bowl, urn or pot, but they also look beautiful in wooden barrels and country-style bulbs.All this makes ornamental hydrangea more and more important as a container plant.
Hydrangea requires an acidic substrate, so heather soil or a substrate for rhododendrons is best for it. Low pH may indirectly affect the color of the inflorescences of some varieties, because the availability of aluminum depends on it.In an acidic environment (i.e. with an intensive uptake of aluminum ions), pink flowers turn blue.This coloration is also favored by a special fertilizer. Hydrangeas grow best in partial shade. They require abundant watering from March to August, necessarily with soft, calcium-free water.It is advisable to remove faded inflorescences.
Trees and shrubs: trifoliate parchment
Creates tall shrubs or small trees with a wide, dense crown. Late trifoliate leaves develop on the shoots, which are dark green on the top and blue-green on the underside with translucent glands. They turn yellow in autumn.The whole plant emits an aromatic fragranceTiny greenish flowers develop in June / July. They are honey-giving - they benefit from nectar and pollen.
Parczelina produces interesting looking fruit - round samaras, 2-2.5 cm in diameter, with two nuts. The fruit stays on the shrubs for a long time.In the garden, it grows well in nutrient-rich soil, in sunny or semi-shaded placesCut branches with fruit are used for various types of flower arrangements. It grows naturally in North America.
Vegetable: summer vegetable harvest
July is the time of harvesting vegetables that create juicy and tasty leaves. We collect the sprouted heads of iceberg lettuce, leaves of romaine and stem lettuce, leaf parsley, leaf beet, garden fennel.As we grow up, we strip off the leaves and tops of New Zealand spinach shoots, and finish harvesting the rhubarb stalks.We collect green pea and broad beans and green beans.
Spring planted leeks, winter garlic and spring onion are ready to eat. July is the beginning of the fruiting of cucurbits grown in the ground. Zucchini, squash and patisson are the tastiest and most tender when harvested young and uneven (15-20 cm long). Pick cucumbers several times a week, because they quickly overgrow, turn yellow, bulky and unpalatable.
Orchard: soil chemical analysis
It is worth examining the soil every few years to find out if fertilization is necessary and if it is necessary to lime the soil.Fruit plants, especially fruit trees, have relatively low nutritional requirements. A well-developed root system draws nutrients not only from the most fertile topsoil, but also from the deepest layers.
A little more attention is required by shallowly rooting berry bushes. If our plants grow and bear fruit well, in good soil they can practically do without additional fertilization.However, if they grow poorly, have small shoot increments, and the yield is low, it means that the tree does not grow in optimal soil conditions.Also when the leaves in summer have discoloration and begin to dry out, but they are not sick, it may indicate a lack of certain nutrients in the soil.
The simplest method of determining the soil fertility is to perform a chemical analysis of the soil. As a rule, such tests are performed by regional chemical and agricultural stations. It is best to collect the soil for testing from mid-July to mid-August, but in other months, analyzes can also be performed.Soil samples should be representative, ie taken from several places. We mix all the samples with each other and separate about 1 kg of soil that will be used for testing. We take the soil from two levels.Separately from the topsoil, usually up to 20 cm from the soil surface, and from the subsoil below.
For fruit plants, the content of phosphorus, potassium and magnesium in the soil is defined as standard.The soil pH is also always determined. This is valuable information, as the soils in Poland are usually too acidic.If the soil is very acidic, plants have difficulty absorbing minerals from the substrate. Most fruit trees grow well at a pH of 6 to 7, while berry bushes can have a pH of 5-6.
