Ammobium winged

The currently very popular group of dried flowers has long included flowering letniki, suitable for cutting into live bouquets and for drying. Their properly processed and dried inflorescences, remaining open, do not lose their beautiful shape and color.

A feature of such dried flowers are somewhat harsh flowers. Their petals have a hard straw structure, which ensures the long-term preservation of the flower, its shape and color when dried.

Most of these dried flowers are representatives of the large Aster family. It is to them that the winged ammobium (from the Greek words “sand” and “live”) belongs to the homeland from distant Australia.

Ammobium winged is a perennial spreading plant, but in garden culture it is grown as an annual. All forms of ammobium are rather unpretentious, warm and light-loving and drought-resistant plants, so they grow in open areas with plenty of sunlight.

When choosing soil for growing ammobium, they prefer loose, sandy and quite nutritious soils, but they easily tolerate not very nutritious soils. It easily tolerates poor loam, but grows better on loose, well-cultivated soils.

Over the summer, the ammobium forms a rather powerful and very beautiful bush with a basal rosette of leaves and numerous flower stalks growing from the center of the rosette.

The stem of the ammobium is high, tetrahedral, branched in the upper part, straight, reaches 60-70 cm in height. The whole plant is whitish-pubescent, the inflorescences are white with a yellow center, 1.5-2 cm in diameter. They are located in several pieces at the ends of a branched peduncle.

Ammobium breeds seed-winged. In central Russia, it is grown mainly in seedlings.

Sowing seeds in open ground can be done in spring and autumn, but when growing seedlings, sowing seeds is done in early April. Shoots appear in 8-10 days. After the seedlings have 1-2 true leaves, the seedlings dive into boxes or in a greenhouse directly into the ground in increments of 6-7 cm, but best of all in pots.

Planting seedlings in open ground should be carried out in the second half of May, planting plants at a distance of 20-25 cm from each other. Although the plants tolerate transplanting well, seedlings must be watered beforehand, especially when growing seedlings in boxes or greenhouses.

12-15 days after planting, the plants should be fed with nitrophoska or mullein infusion, and it should be watered only with a long absence of precipitation.

Plants bloom 60-65 days after sowing seeds in the ground and bloom until frost. Seeds ripen 40-50 days after the start of flowering.

Ammobium is widely used for both landscaping and cutting. From its low grades, you can make an excellent discount or use it in rock gardens. He is beautiful in live bouquets.

However, the main scope of its use in the cut is in dried form as a dried flower, because. its inflorescences do not lose their shape and color when dried. They are cut for drying in the half-opened bud stage, when the central tubular flowers are still covered with reed flowers.

Then the cut shoots are tied into small bunches of 5-7 branches and hung up to dry with the inflorescences down in a dry, shaded place.

The time for collection and drying is determined purely individually, depending on personal preferences. To obtain pure white flowers, the collection must be carried out when a yellow center appears on the first inflorescence. If you need to get larger flowers with a yellow center, they are collected later, when a disc of yellow tubular flowers appears on 4-5 inflorescences.

Later collection is undesirable, because the leaves of the wrapper near the central inflorescences will be unnecessarily bent to the bottom, which will lead to the loss of their beauty by the flowers.

In winter, when fresh flowers are not enough, and not every gardener or pensioner can afford them, these dried flowers serve as an excellent material for dry bouquets and a wide variety of flower arrangements.

D. D. Chernyaeva

Ammobium: cultivation and care

Ammobium is a thermophilic perennial. In the Russian climate, it is grown exclusively as an annual plant.

Description of ammobium

Ornamental grass includes several subspecies. Distribution and fame gained only winged ammobium. It owes its name to the leaves located at the stem of the plant. They are shaped like wings. The photo of the ammobium shows that the flower itself consists of a yellow basket and a white wrapper. The wrapper may have a yellowish tint, its leaves are arranged in several rows.

Source: Depositphotos

Ammobium: a delicate wrapper flower

The height of the plant does not exceed 0.6 m. The stem is covered with a small pile, resembling felt in appearance. The dried flower acquires a special charm at the end of flowering, when small inflorescences darken. The contrast with the silvery stems creates an unusual effect.

The flower has found application in the following industries:

• floristics;
• garden decoration.

For landscape design it is not suitable due to the lack of a presentable appearance. In floristry, bouquets of dried flowers are made with it. With its appearance, the plant perfectly sets off other types of herbs.

Growing ammobium

Ammobium is grown from seeds that are purchased at a specialized store. Sowing decorative flower occurs closer to the second month of spring, if weather conditions allow it. After 7 days, the first shoots appear. After 2 weeks, the seedlings are seated, maintaining a distance between them of about 7 cm.

In open ground, the plant is planted at the end of May or at the very beginning of summer. The soil needs to be abundantly irrigated with water before planting. In order for the flower to grow and bloom well, you need to follow the rules of cultivation. They are as follows:

• Choice of landing site. This should be an open place where the flower can enjoy the sun's rays;
• Top dressing. To have flowers large size and did not turn black at the end of flowering, you need to feed the plant with mineral and complex fertilizers;
• Minimum watering. Ammobium is a drought-resistant plant that does not require artificial soil moisture. It should be watered only during a period of prolonged absence of precipitation and during transplantation.

After placing the flower on the garden bed and adapting it, it should take about 2 months before it blooms. Flowering occurs for a long time. Inflorescences adorn the garden right up to the first frost.

The original dried flower fell in love with florists due to the length of the rod and the ability to tint the wrapper. Plant connoisseurs appreciated it for its unpretentiousness, and the minimum attention required.

Origin:

east australia

Development cycle:

Development cycle:

annual plant

The soil:

pH:

5,5-6,5

mechanical composition of the soil:

light soils, sandy soils

Planting and breeding:

breeding methods:

seeds

seed planting method:

seedling, reckless

sowing seeds for seedlings:

March-early April

sowing seeds in open ground:

early May for flowering in July

features of seed reproduction:

• seeds are sprinkled only lightly and germinated at + 15 + 20 degrees;
• seedlings appear after 6-8 days;
• after the appearance of seedlings, the temperature of the content is reduced to + 10 + 15 degrees;
• dive 3 pieces into pots with a diameter of 9 cm;
• planted in late May-early June, when frosts have passed

spacing between plants:

Cold resistance:

cold hardy, frost tolerant

Decorative properties:

Height:

Color spectrum:

Flowering time:

June-July (60-65 days after sowing)

Inflorescences:

• small yellow tubular flowers are collected in baskets with a diameter of 1.5 cm and are surrounded by white membranous petal-like scales of the wrapper arranged tiled in several rows;
• after flowering yellow flowers turn brown, and the petals of the wrapper are bent down

Leaf shape and color:

leaves simple, in basal rosette, stem - alternate

Fruit color and size:

the fruit is an achene with a membranous saucer-shaped pod

plant form:

upright strongly branched plant with strong ribbed stems, covered with gray felt

Usage:

• for solar mixborders of stony gardens;
• cut for live bouquets;
• in dried form - for compositions of dried flowers, floristic panels (cut in buds and dried, hanging with inflorescences down)

• perennial plant grown as an annual;
• drought-resistant, needs watering only during prolonged drought;
• there is a large-flowered form (var. grandiflorum) with flowers up to 2 cm in diameter and a compact Bikini variety (Bikini) of a smaller height, 30-40 cm

Being a perennial in its homeland in Australia, it easily takes root in our climate, but only as an annual. On average, it can grow up to 60 cm, but some specimens can stretch up to a meter. The stems are erect, strongly branched in the upper part, covered with a delicate, whitish fluff. The inflorescence looks like a small yellow basket about 2 cm in diameter. It is surrounded by petal-shaped dry white scales, giving a decorative effect to the inflorescence.

Cultivated species

On the territory of Russia, of all types of ammobium, only one is cultivated - winged, grown as an annual plant.

In decorative floriculture, 2 forms are most widely used:

• Large-flowered. The main difference from the main species: a more powerful stem, reaching 60-80 cm in height. The size of the inflorescence is about 2 cm in diameter. This form can look quite interesting in mixborders or rather large flower beds.
• Bikini. The main difference: medium-sized form 30-40 cm tall. The same size and shape of flowers are of particular value to florists, thanks to which the variety has won many honorary awards, including a gold medal at the European exhibition "Fleuroselect".

These varieties of ammobium please abundant flowering throughout almost the entire summer season: from the second decade of June to the first cold weather. The flower is ideal for cutting as an excellent dried flower for bouquets and wreaths. It is extremely rarely used as a regular flower bed plant.

The subtleties of landing

Ammobium winged herbaceous plants for open ground

Preference should be given to loose, sandy soils, but ammobium is unpretentious - to put up with poor, low content nutrients, and with loamy soils. All forms of the plant are photophilous and thermophilic, therefore they prefer a sunny location in an open area. Reproduction occurs by seeds.

Video about growing ammobium from seeds:

Ammobium takes root well with any method of planting.

• Reckless. Suitable for the southern regions of Russia with a warm climate. In late April - early May, the seeds are planted immediately in the ground on permanent place. When they sprout, they must be thinned out, keeping the distance between flowers 20-25 cm. The beginning of flowering will begin 2 months after germination and will last until frost.
• Rassadny. Suitable for central Russia with a temperate climate zone. This method will speed up the appearance of flowers. It is necessary to sow the seeds in mid-spring, no later than the end of March. After 7-10 days shoots appear, and after 2 weeks - the first full-fledged leaves. At this moment, ammobium seedlings dive into pots or a greenhouse, keeping a distance of 6-7 cm between them. The grown seedlings should be planted outdoors in May, watering the soil abundantly in advance and adhering to a distance of 30-35 cm between plants.

Ease of maintenance

Ammobium winged photo

Ammobium is quite unpretentious in care. Only seedlings will need attention: a week after planting, it is necessary to fertilize with nitrogen fertilizers, and after 2 weeks - with mullein infusion (its advantage in naturalness and efficiency) or any other mineral, organic complex fertilizer.

As for watering, everything is simple here. it is drought-resistant - watering is necessary only during the period of engraftment of seedlings or during prolonged drought. It practically does not overgrow with weeds, is resistant to diseases and pests.

Cutoff periods

Ammobium growing from seeds

There are no special rules for the cutoff period: the phase is selected based on one's own preference. If you cut the stem while the yellow center is forming on the ammobium inflorescences, you will get snow-white flowers. To obtain larger flowers with characteristic yellow centers, the cut is carried out later. It should be noted that pruning several peduncles on a bush (especially the central one) activates the intensive growth of new inflorescences, making the plant bloom as much as possible.

Actual: It is not worth tightening with cutting the ammobium - otherwise, the leaflets of the wrapper will bend down at the central flowers and decorative look will be lost.

Drying Features

The length of the stems for drying is about 25 cm. They are tied into bundles consisting of 5-7 branches, suspended with inflorescences down in a dark, dry, well-ventilated room. For beginners, it may come as an unpleasant surprise that the attractive light yellow color of the ammobium center loses its brightness after drying - it becomes a grayish-brown, brown hue. This can be avoided by subjecting the dried stems to a special procedure - bleaching (exposure to sulfur vapor). If bunches of plants are kept in these pairs for a day, then the middle of the inflorescence will restore its yellow color, and the edges of the ammobium flower baskets will become stunningly snow-white.

Video about the rules for growing dahlia chamomile:

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