The first flowers of spring. Which plants welcome spring first? Apple blossom: timing for different growing regions and important nuances Sage, wild radish, snake knotweed

It's amazing - in winter a person rejoices in the white robe of the earth, fluffy snowflakes falling from the sky, hard frost, but as soon as the first month of spring comes, we suddenly feel how tired of the black and white winter picture! The body craves warmth and light, eyes - bright colors, and every spring the soul seems to get out of the shell towards the renewed world, which is reborn to a new life.

The first flowers of spring in the forest and meadows

The first thawed patches have just appeared in the forest, and life invisible to the eye is already boiling on them - various larvae, insects have awakened in the earth, the earth itself is ready to take into its bosom every living creature, every smallest blade of grass. And now, among the islands of porous snow, the most daring flowers - snowdrops - begin to appear. It is customary for us to call snowdrops all spring primroses, although the true snowdrop - galanthus - is only one of the many types of spring primroses. This is the very first flower in spring, and it does not grow in all regions. The flower looks like a small white flashlight on a thin stem. It can withstand temperatures down to -10 degrees. Only in such a cold it becomes brittle, like thin glass. But as soon as the sun comes out, the galanthus comes to life.

Delicate snowdrops - the awakening of nature

The legend of the Slavs says how once Winter the old woman decided not to let Spring come to the earth. The flowers drooped with fear, one snowdrop was not afraid, opened its petals. The sun saw him, warmed everything on earth with its warmth and made way for the beautiful Spring. Since then, spring and the snowdrop have been inseparable.

The first flowers of spring, which in many areas are also called snowdrops, are nothing more than sleep-grass, corydalis or backache. They say that once the leaves of the lumbago were so large and wide that Satan, who was expelled from paradise, could hide behind them. But the Archangel Michael, having discovered his refuge, threw an arrow at him. And the leaves of sleep-grass remained shot through - dissected into thin slices. The lumbago also blooms even when sub-zero temperature. The whole secret of this, it turns out, is in the cup of the flower. She, like a concave mirror, collects the sun's heat. And the temperature inside the cup is +8 degrees.

What other flowers appear first in spring?

A little later, the snowdrop blooms yellow, like the sun, spring adonis, or adonis. In some regions it is also called the old oak.

In Russian villages, spring is the time when domestic birds begin to hatch their chicks. At this time, it was strictly forbidden to bring home both adonis and sleep-grass, it was believed that these flowers could harm future bird offspring.

Spring is here, it's time to bloom. It's time when the air is filled with spring aromas. Each flower looks at us as if it wants to say something. Perhaps, if you listen carefully, you can understand what the flowers are talking about?

After the frozen soil thaws at the end of winter and begins to pass water and minerals dissolved in it to the roots of plants, stems and trunks receive the necessary organic and nutrients, and the time for flowering comes: spring confidently comes into its own.

The flowering period is the process of sexual reproduction of plants, which begins with the laying of the buds of flowers in the buds, followed by their appearance, pollination and flowering, as a result of which seeds and fruits appear, allowing the plants to continue their genus.

At the same time, the flowering time for different plants occurs in different period their life cycle.

For example, the first flowering annual plants starts early, after the sprout sprouts, strengthens in the ground and releases a couple of leaves. Other plants (this primarily applies to trees) before starting the first flowering, develop root system and accumulate nutrients so that flowers and seeds develop normally.

Annual and biennial plants bloom once in a lifetime, and die, having spent all their strength and energy on this process. True, among such flowers there are also perennial plants, for example, the first flowering of puya raymondia growing in the Andes begins at the age of one hundred and fifty years.

As for perennial herbaceous and woody plants, their first flowering does not begin until they reach a certain age: in herbs, the onset of flowering varies from two to five years, while the flowering of trees begins in the twentieth, and in some species even in the thirtieth year. life.

Unlike annuals and biennials, flowering perennials happens multiple times. Some of them are characterized by periodicity (most fruit trees bloom once every two years, and oak - once every five to seven years), while in others the flowering time is continuous (this is especially true tropical plants e.g. coconut palm).

How plants bloom

Inside each flower is a pistil (the part of the flower where, after fertilization, seeds are formed that begin to grow and turn into fruits) or a stamen (it contains the pollen necessary for fertilization, it is also called the male reproductive organ), or both together.

Seeds in the pistil begin to form no earlier than the pollen from the stamens reaches the stigma of the pistil. But this requires pollination. If it does not happen in time (and it happens during flowering), the pistil will dry out and reproduction will not occur.

Pollen

Interestingly, if a flower has both a pistil and a stamen, it is rarely pollinated by its own pollen: plants almost never allow this. The reason is simple: in order to form a fruit from which strong and strong plants will sprout, pollen must be obtained from a neighboring flower (this process is called cross-pollination).

Therefore, when flowering begins, it is time to avoid the possibility of pollination by its own pollen, the stamens and pistils within one flower ripen into different time flowering. For example, the pistil first ripens, and after it is pollinated by pollen from a neighboring flower, the anthers at the stamen open. It is because of this that we can observe the flowering of perennial plants for about two to three weeks a year.

Wind pollinated flowers

There are plants in which stamens and pistils are not only in different flowers, but also "houses": the flowers of some plants have only pistils, others have stamens. Such plants are called dioecious and include willow, poplar, date palm, hops, hemp, nettle.

This means that in order to pollinate the pistil during flowering, pollen must fly from one flower to another, and desired flower may well be several kilometers away. Dioecious plants have adapted to this quite original way: some use the wind, others use insects.

Plants pollinated by the wind are interesting because they never have bright and fragrant flowers, which, firstly, would interfere with the movement of pollen, and secondly, would attract insects that could well break the thin stamen filaments with anthers.

Therefore, instead of petals, such plants usually have nondescript scales that protect them from negative impacts environment or no petals at all.

Interestingly, the plants even took into account the inconsistency of air currents, so those that are pollinated with the help of the wind usually grow close to each other: birch and pine trees form forests, corn, rye and others cereal crops occupy large fields. All flowers that are pollinated by air masses create a lot of pollen, for example, only one adult corn sprout contains about 50 million pistils.

Therefore, no matter which way the wind blows during flowering, pollen will still find suitable flowers. Moreover, plants do not wait until the pollen is right in the flower, but catch them with long and fluffy stigmas of pistils: when the pollen is between the hairs, it gets tangled in them.

There is one more circumstance that facilitates the work of air currents: plants that use wind for pollination almost always bloom. in early spring, until leaves appear, which, by retaining pollen, could interfere with the process.

insects and pollination

It should be noted that this method of pollination is still not suitable for many plants, so they prefer to deliver their pollen to other flowers with the help of winged insects (bees, bumblebees, butterflies), luring them with honey, bright colors and an incredibly attractive aroma.

Interestingly, plants are quite picky about the choice of an insect suitable for them: some prefer bees, others prefer bumblebees, others prefer butterflies. Therefore, depending on preferences, they not only create the shape of flowers, inside which only a certain type of insect can be, but also open the petals at a time when this insect is awake (for example, all night flowers have a white color, since only this color is visible in darkness).

Plants that are characterized by early spring bloom, due to which pollination occurs with the help of bees, have a white, yellow or blue color - bees see only these colors. Closer to summer, a lot of red flowers appear - this tone is attractive to butterflies, which appear much later than bees. It is worth noting that White color attractive to absolutely all types of insects.

As for the honey that insects hunt for, it is hidden so deep in the flower that the bee, in order to get to it during flowering, needs to make its way between the pistils and stamens, smearing itself with pollen. After that, having flown to another plant, making her way for the next portion of honey, she leaves part of the pollen in the flower.

The time when plants bloom

The timing of flowering primarily depends on the type of plant, the amount of pollen and flowers, climatic conditions and soil quality. For example, poor or too abundant nutrition slows down flowering and reduces the quality of flowers.

It's time for flowering fruit trees in temperate latitudes of the northern hemisphere, it usually begins in mid-April and the flowering season continues until mid-May. If, due to climatic conditions, flowering of plants is observed at the end of summer or early autumn, this does not lead to anything good.

The secondary appearance of flowers on trees will deprive the gardener of next year harvest, since flowers will not appear in this place after winter: the plant will spend additional nutrients on the flowering of trees, the formation of seeds or seeds, which will make it less winter-hardy and endure winter harder. Since to prevent this phenomenon on this moment it is impossible to preserve nutrients in the tree, gardeners are advised to pick flowers and buds from it.

Watch for flowering plants possible during the warm season. To this end, many gardeners, when planning the landscape of their suburban area, take into account the flowering season and strive to make the gardens bloom for as long as possible. To do this, they use specially compiled calendars for the flowering of tuberous and bulbous plants, where the period and time of flowering of a particular species is indicated.

Flowers will definitely appear, just for someone earlier, for someone later, it’s like with vegetables, a neighbor’s tomatoes began to grow earlier, and mine later, and it all depends on the land and bait.

Petunia blooms 2.5 - 3 months after sowing the seeds, which is why it is recommended to plant petunia seeds no later than February.

What would a petunia form beautiful bush and began to bloom earlier, do not forget to pinch the flower, just do not forget that the petunia loves fertilizer.

Did you happen to buy Fortunia? It seemed to me that this variety blooms a little later than the others. He goes all in growth, in the stems, and then dates many, many flowers at once. I bought one two years ago, I was attracted by the picture on the packaging from the seeds, and the saleswoman said that these bloom with just an incredible number of flowers. Only now she forgot to tell me when these flowers will appear! I had a similar situation, they bloomed about 3.5 months after planting. I looked perplexed - either I did something wrong, or something was wrong with the seeds. The leaves are normal, green, in principle, not sick, the stems are good, and the buds were not tied. But then, somehow abruptly, the buds went and the flowers.

Depending on the variety, petunia blooms 2.5-3 months after sowing the seeds. But there are varieties that are not very willing to bush, then at first they try to form a lush bush, pinching young plants. In this case, the flowering of petunias is shifted by 2-3 weeks, but you will get a beautiful blooming bouquet.

To make flowering more abundant and long-lasting, petunia should be regularly fed with any complex fertilizer with a predominance of phosphorus, and cut off fading flowers.

In mid-July, when the first wave of flowering ends, it is advisable to prune, shortening the stems by 1/3. This technique stimulates the formation of new shoots and a second wave of flowering, which will last until frost.

Adult petunia - perfect unpretentious plant, which is practically not damaged by pests, the main thing is not to forget to water and feed. Appearance flowers can spoil heavy rain, but this applies more to large-flowered petunias. Of course, if the summer is rainy and cold, then flowering may be less abundant, but in warm sunny weather, petunia always pleases with abundant flowering.

Cultivation feature petunias is her unpretentiousness. It is not very demanding on growing conditions, has an amazing ability to adapt to different conditions, soils and weather changes.

Petunia usually begins to bloom 70-75 days after sowing. And blooms all summer until frost.

Here is your long-suffering Petunia still will definitely bloom and will delight with its beauty.

Usually petunia begins to bloom 2-2.5 months after planting the seeds. Yours is most likely damaged due to adverse conditions, you need to cut it and feed it. If the flowers are hybrid, double, then they bloom later and not as profusely as a simple petunia, it blooms better, although the flowers are not as beautiful.

Petunia seeds begin to be planted early so that the seedlings have time to gain strength and be ready for flowering. On average, you can wait for petunias to bloom in about three months, maybe a little earlier. If the seedlings were damaged, then measures must be taken to restore the flowers.

We are just starting to bloom (early June). I got seedlings from a friend, she said that she planted seeds at the end of February. Lived they are on the windowsills own house, gas heating).

On the balcony moved seedlings in early May. A friend warned me that petunia loves fertilizer, feed it is necessary weekly, but I have never fed anything, the plants are already developing beautifully, the first flowers have already appeared.

Our balcony is sunny, in the morning the sun shines directly on the flowers, but then turns and, thanks to the blackout, arranged from a piece of fabric hung on the frame sash, from noon until evening the flowers are in the shade.

Here are our flowers:





And a holiday will come on your balcony, since the petunia has recovered, there will be flowers.

Last year and the year before last, petunias bloomed with us all summer, right up to the beginning of September (although I brought them then a month later, in early June, and not in May, as this year).

Such beautiful flower how the petunia begins to bloom about two and a half months after sowing the seeds depends on the variety of the petunia. That is why it is usually planted for seedlings in March, so it begins to bloom in late spring and early summer. Petunia blooms for a long time, until frost, even after the first snow appears, these flowers can be seen in the flower bed.

Your petunia will definitely bloom, it still has enough time!

Of course, the petunia did not bloom only because of these adventures. I don’t know for sure in terms of timing, but you can see from the plant: it begins to stretch and literally immediately throws out buds. In any case, if she releases green shoots from the roots, then flowering will come, you will give her a good drink and do not allow such torment anymore.

But with the fact that this flower is absolutely unpretentious, I would not agree: what does it cost to grow it from seeds, and then do not water it for several days - it will dry out! Good luck to you!

Usually, if you do not additionally stimulate flowering, which many sellers of the flower market sin, who are engaged in forced forcing of the bud, to better sell their seedlings, the petunia blooms in 2.5 months - these are simple inflorescences. Terry specimens in three. But, one should not rejoice at one bud. After all, all the forces go to the formation of this particular first flower, when the seedling itself has not yet grown enough. Therefore, when the first bud fades, and we naturally cut it off, we have to wait a long time for new shoots from the petunia and the setting of other flowers. Therefore, it is better to immediately pinch the seedlings so that a more bushy formation of the bush takes place. Let flowering be delayed for a couple of weeks, but patiently waiting for a lush bouquet will please more than a single primrose. In your case, it was precisely the forced pinching as the leaf part of the petunia was spoiled, so the flowering period shifted a little. It's not scary, the flowers will definitely, I will say more, they will bloom even longer in flowerpots, because of this unforeseen shift. In the fall, you will admire your potted petunias a little more than the rest of the neighbors-)

P.S. Regardless of whether you plant petunia seeds for seedlings in March or February, flowering begins in the first decade of June. From personal experience, I plant lately in mid-March, because. sunlight stimulates growth, and the petunia planted in March overtakes and overtakes seedlings planted in February-)

It has long ceased to be exotic, but the secret of its flowering still not everyone owns.

Most main delusion blocking the path to success is the desire to "re-educate" the plant, to force it to adapt to the conditions of the apartment.

You should do the right thing the other way around: in order for the orchid in the room to bloom as regularly as in your homeland, you need to take into account the needs of the pet and create an atmosphere for her close to natural.

Cyclic flowering

Under natural conditions

The life of an orchid is from alternating stages growth, rest. Most often, the resting stage of most of them falls on a tropical winter - a time of heavy rains, high humidity.

In nature, an orchid is surrounded by an aggressive environment than at home.

With the onset of a dry clear summer are laid and an army of insects awakens, ready for them.

At home

Providing your pets with content close to natural climate, you can get lush, long-lasting flowers. To begin with, about the acquired plant important to find out:

1. Which one refers to;
2. What are the growing conditions at home;
3. What should be emphasized during the dormant period: a decrease in temperature, humidity, or a decrease in light?

Homes for orchids need to create more tropical conditions.

The information obtained will be the main guideline for the development of a content plan, variants of which may be:

• Maximum use natural conditions apartments: placement on sunny windowsills, or vice versa: in the back of the room or on north windows, the use of winter cool content and dry home air for hibernation. Wherein growing season will be natural. Buds, as a rule, will bloom in spring - summer;
• artificial creation atmospheric indicators: additional illumination with special lamps, compliance with temperature fluctuations, an additional increase or decrease in humidity - a method that can ensure flowering in right time e.g. for a specific holiday. This will require discipline, a certain experience.

Important! Some varieties may bloom twice a year. To restore the strength of the plant, you must definitely pick up correct mode top dressing and organize the conditions for his rest!

When do they bloom?

Various types of orchids

When orchids begin to bloom, they need good care. Nuances of preparation each species has to bloom.

A question that flower growers often ask: when do orchids bloom at home? We provide information for different types orchids:

After the orchid blooms, a dormant period begins.

kids

– tiny copies mother plant, appear on its stems, or roots for different reasons:

Babies must be separated from the peduncle to give the mother the freedom to bloom.

• The plant is unhealthy, struggling to continue existing in young shoots;
• Feels great, excess strength gives impetus to;
• The flower grower created special conditions for the education of children.

Unseparated

Sometimes a baby who didn't get kicked out successfully developing and forms its own peduncle! Often, cases of simultaneous flowering of an adult and an unseparated young plant are described!

This probably happens when the mother is strong enough to "feed" themselves and the new creation. Care for the "blooming family" is normal, in accordance with the species characteristics.

set aside

The main question is when will the transplanted baby bloom? The separated baby needs to develop into mature plant capable of independently in sufficient quantity accumulate nutrients.

Before secession she is given grow your own roots. This will take up to six months. Then rooting and growth will follow. At this different varieties may take up to three years.

IMPORTANT! In order for the acquired plants to justify the hopes, systematic competent care is needed!

invaluable help in this will render:

• Observation diary. It will help to analyze actions, correct them;
• pre-composed calendar plan . It will not allow you to miss the start date of increasing the backlight, lowering the temperature of the content or changing the humidity of the air.

Understanding and providing for the needs of the orchid is the key her beautiful bloom at the right time.

Useful video

Watch the video of how the orchid baby blooms:

Find out in the video how many phalaenopsis bloom and what to do if they do not bloom:

Interesting facts on the video, what to do with the orchid after it:

Video instruction on how to separate an orchid baby from a peduncle:

Understanding and providing for the needs of an orchid is the key to its beautiful flowering at the right time.

In contact with

The flowering of apple orchards is one of best jewelry our spring. In addition, it is during flowering that the foundation for the future harvest of apples is laid.

How and when apple trees bloom

Abundantly and regularly, apple trees bloom only in well-lit places. In a deaf shade, flowering may never occur, or there will be the first single flowers closer to 20 years of the tree's life.

Apple trees bloom profusely only in places well lit by the sun.

The usual average dates for the beginning of flowering and fruiting of apple trees in good conditions (table)

Apple trees are quite durable and favorable conditions can bloom and bear fruit for up to 100 years or more.

The apple tree blooms simultaneously with the blooming of the leaves or a little after it. It usually takes about two weeks from the beginning of buds to bloom in hot weather and up to three to four weeks in cool weather.

Timing of bud break and apple blossom in different growing regions (table)

Region	bud break	Bloom
Black Sea coast of the Caucasus, Crimea, south of Ukraine	end of March - beginning of April
Saratov, Volgograd, center of Ukraine	second - third decade of April	end of April - beginning of May
South and West middle lane Russia (Tula, Orel, Bryansk), Chernozem region, Belarus, northern Ukraine	second half of April	first - second decade of May
The center of central Russia (Moscow, Moscow region, Nizhny Novgorod), Kazan, Ulyanovsk, Samara, Ufa, Orenburg	end of April - beginning of May	second - third decade of May
North-West of Russia (St. Petersburg, Leningrad region, Karelia), Kirov region, Middle Urals (Perm, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk), Novosibirsk	first half of May	end of May - beginning of June

The timing of the start of flowering is very dependent on local conditions:

• apple trees bloom earlier in the city than outside the city limits;
• on the plains earlier than high in the mountains;
• on the southern slope earlier than on the northern;
• outdoor sunny place earlier than in the shade.

The average duration of apple blossom is about 10 days. In hot sunny weather, flowering begins earlier and lasts only 5–6 days. In cool cloudy weather, flowering is delayed and can stretch for 2-3 weeks.

Small-fruited apple trees (ranetki, chinese), genetically related to the Siberian berry apple tree (Sibirka), usually bloom a few days earlier than European large-fruited varieties.

The Siberian apple tree and its descendants (ranetki, Chinese) are easily identified by their characteristic long pedicels

We have the following flowering order in the Middle Volga:

1. The first decade of May - small-fruited (wild or semi-wild, with long pedicels, obvious descendants of Siberian) apple trees on city streets.
2. The second decade of May - ordinary domestic apple trees in the city, ranetki and Chinese trees in country gardens, individual trees wild apple trees on the open southern slopes along the high bank of the Volga.
3. The third decade of May - the bulk of cultivated apple trees in country gardens, wild apple trees on forest edges, random seedlings in the dense shade of city courtyards.

Photo gallery of blooming apple trees

Ornamental apple trees with bright pink flowers are often planted to decorate city parks.

All decorative apple trees (with red flowers, terry, weeping, and so on) have edible fruits, but their apples are most often small, sour and tart, like wild birds, and are suitable only for processing and canning.

The fruits of ornamental apple trees are usually small, sour and tart.

The frequency of flowering apple trees

Some old varieties of apple trees bloom and bear fruit in a year:

• First year abundant flowering and fruiting;
• next year the trees rest - no flowers, no fruits;
• in the third year again abundant flowering and a good harvest.

Majority modern varieties bloom and bear fruit every year.

Many old varieties (for example, Antonovka, Shtreifling, Anisy) have a weakly pronounced periodicity: flowering occurs annually, but the number of flowers is greater or less, depending on the year. You can even out the fruiting of such varieties with the help of good care:

• timely anti-aging pruning, providing annual strong growths of branches;
• annual application of a sufficient amount of fertilizer;
• maintaining optimal soil moisture (the apple tree is moisture-loving, and in arid areas needs watering).

At small trees with periodic fruiting, it is also sometimes advised to cut off some of the flowers and extra ovaries in order to reduce the load and ensure the laying of flower buds for the next year.

Only a few old varieties bear fruit strictly after a year, and nothing can be done about it. For the northern and central regions, this is primarily characteristic of Grushovka; in the southern horticultural zone, Kandil-synap behaves in a similar way.

Moscow Grushovka - an old Russian apple variety with sharply periodic fruiting that cannot be corrected

In my garden there are two huge old Pear trees (conditionally called "yellow" and "red", their fruits are slightly different in color and taste) with a pronounced periodic fruiting. Once upon a time in my childhood, they fruited in turn (year one, year two), and this was very convenient. Then, after several unsuccessful years in a row (either frosts, or weevil, or something else), the schedule went wrong, and both Pears began to bloom and bear fruit at the same time. Nothing could be done about it. So we live: one year from summer apples nowhere to step - the second year not an apple until September, when autumn varieties will begin to ripen.

Protective measures associated with apple blossom

Apple orchards are very vulnerable during flowering. If the weather is cloudy, cold and rainy, and also when strong wind, domestic bees almost do not fly out of their hives, and many flowers remain unpollinated. IN bad weather only bumblebees and wild bees fly, which is why it is so important to protect these wild pollinating insects, and for this, first of all, maintain a healthy ecological situation on the site and not abuse pesticides.

Bumblebees are the most valuable wild pollinating insects that regularly visit flowers even in bad weather.

Frosts are very dangerous during flowering, damaging buds, flowers and young ovaries. The only one for real reliable protection against frost, only the shelter of dwarf trees with protective agrofibre can be considered for the time when the air temperature drops.

The recommendations reprinted from book to book on protecting gardens from frost with the help of smoke piles seem to me personally very doubtful. At least, in the Middle Volga, absolutely all classic frosts (short-term sharp drops in air temperature at night and early morning hours) occur exclusively in clear calm weather, when any smoke rises vertically in a narrow column. And from the long-term cooling caused by Arctic cyclones with a strong gusty wind, all the more no smoke will save.

Apple orchards suffer greatly from the weevil flower beetle, capable of destroying almost all buds on apple trees during the years of its mass appearance.

Apple flower beetle weevil and damage to buds caused by it (photo gallery)

Therefore, from the moment the buds open until the beginning of flowering, the gardener should regularly inspect the trees in his garden in order to detect the pest in a timely manner and take action. IN small garden you can simply shake off the beetles in the early cool morning, when they are inactive, on a tarpaulin spread under the trees and destroy them. Large gardens are sprayed with pyrethroid insecticides no later than 5 days before bud opening. Immediately after the flowering of the trees, repeated spraying with pyrethroid preparations is carried out to protect the crop from the codling moth and fruit sawfly.

Any chemical treatments directly during flowering are strictly prohibited: pesticides kill not only pests, but also beneficial insects including bees and bumblebees.

The flowering period is a very important and crucial stage in life. apple orchard requiring attention from the gardener. Trees will surely thank a caring owner with a plentiful harvest of delicious apples.