Chionodox

Chionodoxa: variety description and characteristics

Chionodoxa: photo of flowers

This perennial plant really resembles radiant snow. Chionodox belongs to the lily family. And in translation, the name of this culture means glorious, proud snow. The flowers of this amazing plant have an incredibly beautiful color, usually they are snow-white in the middle, and pale blue at the edges. The snowman blooms early enough, this beauty is also called the snow queen. The plant of chionodox grows in height by several centimeters, usually the height of an adult plant of chionodox is about 10-15 cm. The foliage of this culture is dark green, broad-lanceolate. Leaves are formed in early spring, early buds begin to appear in the root part. And the leaves are also small in length, they reach 12 centimeters. The flowers are beautifully colored, usually they either gather in inflorescences or grow singly. The perianth resembles a bell, with six petals. The flowers are usually blue, blue, pink, or white. After the plant has faded, instead of buds, a box is formed, where large seeds ripen. They develop a fleshy appendage, which insects such as ants enjoy with pleasure. It is they who distribute the planting material throughout the surrounding space. If we talk about chionodox bulbs, then they have an ovoid shape, the scales are light, usually 1 chionodox bulb lives for two years, but the roots themselves are considered annual. This culture grows normally, both in sunny areas and in the shade. It is better to plant Chionodox where the snow melts first. If you plant this crop in partial shade, then the plant will bloom too late. It is better to choose a site with fertile and well-drained soil for planting chionodox. This plant is considered to be quite frost-resistant, therefore, it is not necessary to cover it in late autumn. Rest assured, cheonodoxa will surely delight you in March.

Chionodoxa: planting and care in the open field

Chionodox flowers: photo

As we noted earlier, Chionodoxa is considered winter-hardy, so there is no need to cover a snowman for wintering. It is recommended to plant this culture in well-lit areas, as well as in places where the lighting is diffused. A snowman grows well in partial shade. If you want to enjoy the beautiful Chionodox flowers as early as possible, then it is advisable to plant this culture where the snow melts early. It is in this case that the chionodoxa will bloom at about the same time as the snowdrops. If you plant this culture in partial shade, then the flowering of chionodoxa will be later, but the culture will delight you with beautiful flowers a little longer. But this plant should not be planted in full shade, therefore, a snowman should not be planted next to trees or bushy perennial plants. However, it is still possible to plant this culture near deciduous trees, since they have a different development cycle. Usually, during the flowering of chionodox, foliage is not yet formed on the trees, so at this time they will not harm the development of the plant in any way. Designers often plant these magnificent plants in group compositions; this culture looks great on an alpine slide. When it comes to soil, it is best to choose a well-drained soil, loose and fertile soil.

It is not difficult to care for this crop, but you still need to follow certain rules of agricultural technology.In early spring, you will need to very carefully carry out garden work next to these plants, because young shoots are already forming in the soft earth, so if you walk over them, you will damage the plant. So be very careful. This bulbous culture blooms very early, so flower shoots form even in late autumn. During the autumn-winter period, they manage to grow, reach the ground surface. Therefore, if the snow melts early in March, the earth warms up well, then in a few days young shoots will appear on the surface of the earth. At this time, plants need a lot of nutrients, so it is advisable to feed the crop in early spring with fertilizers containing nitrogen. To do this, you will need to scatter the top dressing in the spring of Chionodox near the bush, and then loosen the soil a little. Make sure that fertilizers do not fall on foliage and flower shoots, with direct contact of the green parts of the plant with top dressing in spring, Chionodox often gets burns. They loosen the soil in order to improve air and water permeability. Thus, nutrients are absorbed faster by plants, which means that the culture grows and develops more intensively.

Reproduction of the Chionodox plant

Chionodoxa: photo

Chionodox is usually propagated using bulbs, as well as the usual method, seeds. On each bulb in 1 season, several shares of baby bulbs appear, which can be separated and planted in a new area in the fall. Quite often, contractile roots form on the bulb, which grow on the sides, penetrate deeply into the ground. But for us young small bulbs, such roots are also quite often formed. The root system usually has a pivotal appearance, when the growing season ends, the ground part of the plant dies off, turning into a watery "root crop". But the root begins to develop quite intensively, but over time it also begins to dry out. Therefore, in the ground during this period you can see a kind of hole. The bulb falls through there, so the planting material of this culture is distributed in depth and does not prevent the plants from developing separately from each other. It will be necessary to dig out the bulbs very carefully and slowly, due to the fact that the size of this planting material is small, you will not be able to mechanize the process. That is why it is generally not recommended to dig a snowman, it is best to plant crops during the flowering of chionodoxa. Digging up chionodox bulbs in the summer will not harm the plant in any way. However, make sure that the thin and delicate root system does not dry out. Every year, several baby bulbs are formed on each bulb, over time this system turns into real bulb nests. If you dig the nests of the plant ahead of time, they will not decay, so you can untangle this ball and separate the chionodox bulbs from each other with your own hands. It is best to dig up this crop in the middle of summer, when the foliage begins to turn yellow and dry. It is recommended to store planting material in dry, dark places where the air temperature does not exceed 16 -17 degrees above zero. If you plant seeds, then these plants will begin to bloom at the age of three. Sometimes a snowman reproduces by self-seeding, as we noted earlier, ants perfectly tolerate planting material, so very often unplanned plantings appear in the garden, in places completely unexpected for you. If you do not transplant Chionodox, then the plant will develop and grow for a long time.

Chionodox in landscape design

This ornamental plant has an attractive appearance. The culture is considered unpretentious, the plant blooms for a long time, so very often the flowers of the bulbous chionodoxa are planted on alpine hills.Many designers use the snowman in different floral arrangements. In early spring, the alpine slide is usually buried in flowers, it is at this time that most plants form beautiful buds, so such a small oasis will always give your backyard an unrivaled appearance and sophistication. Liliaceous cultures fit perfectly into such landscape compositions. Chionodox is often planted under deciduous trees. It is not necessary to cover these plants for the winter, when the culture grows, it occupies the surrounding space quite intensively, therefore, the most real bright beautiful spot can be grown under the fruit trees. Sometimes with the help of this culture, flower beds, flower arrangements are framed. It is a herbaceous perennial, so it is suitable for many other crops. This plant feels great next to other frost-resistant crops. Chionodox can be grown in containers, pots, and other containers. This plant is remarkably combined with daffodils, as well as with other flowering crops. This plant is even able to revive the green lawn, so that everything is harmoniously combined on your personal plot, use the plantings from chionodox not only to decorate the flower bed, but also to create bright accents. Along with other early flowering crops, this plant also looks great. You can plant a snowman next to a snowdrop, proleskaya. Then your spring blooming lawn will look more picturesque, while the overall greenery will not be lost, and everything will be combined quite harmoniously. However, this culture is very rarely used for distillation, but this is in vain. Next to other small-bulbous crops, for example, with a bright crocus, these plants look very attractive. You can plant the largest bulbs in pots in late fall, and then dig in some corner of your plot. There, these plants will look pretty beautiful. But do not forget to dig up containers for the winter and put them in a cool place. Usually, after a couple of months, the containers with the bulbs will need to be exposed to light. So the foliage will develop more intensively, the spring sun has a beneficial effect on the formation of flower arrows. When the culture fades, the irrigation regime will need to be adjusted, the soil will need to be moistened gradually and will need to be stopped altogether. The foliage should dry. It is recommended to store the bulbs in cool and dry places until the next season. These flowers of the bulbous chionodoxa are perfectly combined with many other crops, for example, with daffodils, as well as with snowdrops.

Varieties

This culture has a variety of subspecies. Today we will meet with you some of them.

• The first subspecies is Chionodox blue Giant. These flowers of the bulbous chionodoxa are very beautiful, quite voluminous, the diameter of the inflorescence can reach 4 cm. Usually the flowers are bright, pale blue, the color of the throat is lighter. Inflorescences of Chionodox blue Giant are collected on long peduncles. The foliage has a beautiful decorative shape, the leaves are linear in appearance. They are usually tapered at the tips. In length, the leaves reach 10-12 cm. However, the peduncles are much shorter than the foliage. The bulbs of Chionodox blue Gigant are also small, ovoid, with light scales. Chionodox blue Giant blooms for a long time, almost a month. The first buds are formed in April, and in the southern regions even in March. Chionodox blue Giant blooms quite abundantly; gardeners have known this variety since the 19th century.
• Chionodoxa lucilia (Chionodoxa luciliae) has smaller flowers. They are no more than 3 centimeters in diameter. In the middle of each flower, a white spot is formed, along the edges of the flowers are blue. The foliage of Chionodox Lucilia is also quite short, linear. Peduncles are no more than 20 cm long, inflorescences are loose, in each brush no more than 6 flowers are usually formed.Chionodox Lucilia also begins to bloom in April, however, compared to the giant variety, these plants usually bloom for a short time, no more than 3 weeks. The bulbs are also oval and ovoid, small in diameter. The scales are light. In its natural habitat, this culture grows in the mountains of Asia Minor. Chionodox Lucilia has been known to gardeners since the 18th century. This variety also has its own special subspecies.

Chionodox Lucilia: video of Chionodox luciliae

• The Sardinian chionodoxa (chionodoxa sardensis) also has beautiful inflorescences, but this variety blooms earlier than the previous subspecies, usually the first inflorescences are formed in March. Chionodoxa sardensis usually blooms for no more than 3 weeks. The flowers are bright, bluish, white spots are usually not formed, the cluster of the inflorescence is dense, and the peduncles themselves are quite elastic, long. Chionodoxa sardensis bulbs are also ovoid, slightly oval. The outer scales are brown in color. This culture has varieties with pink and white flowers.

Chionodox sardensis: photo of sardensis

• In the Dwarf Chionodoxa, the flowers are also quite small, but the peduncles are quite tall. In the whitish variety of this culture, the flowers are light pink in color, with a noticeable purple tint.

As you can imagine, this crop has many varieties, so you can always find your ideal variety for your ideal garden. It is quite easy to take care of the plants; the chionodox flower will delight its owners for a long time. With the first rays of the spring sun, flower stalks begin to break through from the depths of the earth, their delicate green foliage is always beautifully located on the surface of the ground. Chionodox will not give you unnecessary trouble, these flowers will certainly delight you with their beautiful appearance and unsurpassed aroma.