Peculiarities of growing peonies and irises in the home garden

A plant of the Ranunculaceae family with very beautiful flowers. Several species of peony are known, of which the most common are the medicinal peony and the Chinese peony.

Medicinal peony. It is a bush up to 80 cm tall with strong flowering stems and large lanceolate-dissected leaves. It has single, large flowers of various colors. Cultivars such as Nemesis, Rosea Plena, and Rubra Plena can be grown.

Chinese peony. A plant with strong, upright stems up to 1 m tall, with large, long-petiolate, dark green, shiny leaves. Flowers are double or single, of various shapes and colors. The best cultivars for breeding are Duchesse de Nemours, Kelway's Glorious, Avalanche, etc.

Peonies of all types are attractive even without flowers — with their lush, intricately laced foliage. The peony is an undemanding plant that prefers soil well fertilized with humus and mineral fertilizers. Before planting, dig the soil well and apply 8 kg of rotted manure, 50—60 g of superphosphate, the same amount of nitrophoska, and 600 g of wood ash per 1 m². Dig again and then you can plant.

Tree peonies are propagated by cuttings, and herbaceous ones by seed. But in any case, the planting depth is always the same (5 cm). After planting, water the beds and mulch with a 1.5-2 cm thick layer of humus.

Care for seedlings consists of weeding, loosening the soil, and irrigation. As soon as the plants start to grow, carry out 1—2 top dressings per month alternately with chicken manure infusion (1:15) and mineral fertilizers. Top dressing should be in the form of a liquid solution. Also, add 200 g of wood ash to 10 l of top dressing and water the plants at a rate of 0.5 l each. After each top dressing, be sure to water the plantings abundantly with clean water.

Iris

A herbaceous plant of the Iridaceae family, having a stem on which straight, sword-shaped, green or bluish-green leaves are located. Large flowers are gathered in inflorescences, with the three inner petals arranged in an arch and the three outer ones curved outward. Inflorescences are located on a long peduncle.

Experts have divided irises into three groups: tall, medium, and short.

Tall irises. This group includes the Siberian iris and the golden iris. These irises grow up to 100—125 cm in height, have a branched stem and wide linear leaves.

Medium irises. This group includes Albert's iris, Bohemian iris, garden iris, and Russian iris. Their stem grows up to 70-80 cm in length, and the flowers are usually light blue or blue.

Short irises. This group includes the dwarf iris and low iris. They reach a height of 15—20 cm, have wide-linear leaves, and orange-yellow and blue flowers. Irises are propagated by cuttings and rhizome division. They can also be propagated by seed, but in that case, flowering is delayed. The cultivation technique is almost the same as for gladioli.

Lilies

The lily is a perennial plant of the Liliaceae family. Several species of lily are cultivated: Daurian, tiger, royal, and bulbiferous.

Daurian lily. It has a long, ribbed stem up to 1 m long with narrow, lanceolate leaves on it. Its flowers are upright, red with brown speckles on the petals. After flowering, bulbils form in the leaf axils.

Tiger lily. It is a plant with a dark, hard, and tall (100—110 cm) stem, with dark green lanceolate leaves located on it. The flowers are drooping, red-orange with dark speckles on the petals. Bulbils form in the leaf axils.

Royal lily. It has a long (up to 1.5 m), strong, stiff stem and narrow, dark green leaves. The flowers are large, long, funnel-shaped, and gathered in a large inflorescence. The inner part of the flower corolla is colored yellow-green, and the outer part is pinkish-purple.

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Bulbiferous lily. This is a tall plant having a straight stem up to 120 cm long, on which many narrow, linear, dark green leaves are located. The flowers are upright, wide-open, dark red with orange spots and dots on the petals. Bulbils form in the leaf axils.

Lilies of all types are propagated by division of bulbs. They are not propagated by seed due to the low efficiency of such a process.

The plant prefers moist, well-drained, and fertilized soil.

Plant the bulbs to a depth of 15—20 cm according to a 25x35 cm scheme.

During the period of flower bud formation, plants should be fed with a solution of liquid manure (1:8) or poultry manure (1:20).

Irrigation should be systematic and abundant. During the growing period, carry out 2—3 weedings and perform constant loosening of the soil.