Muscari plants how to care for them. Muscari flowers. Proper care at home. Muscari latifolium latifolium

One of the most beautiful and popular types plants for decoration garden plots is muscari. Planting and caring for this flower do not constitute a lot of work. If you follow certain rules, you can get excellent results both in the garden and at home. Indoor floriculture is popular in many countries around the world. Growing muscari on a windowsill or balcony is not too burdensome. Long flowering will delight you with magnificent flowers and a delicate musky aroma.

Spreading

Muscari (see photo below) has a very wide distribution area throughout the globe. Prefers to grow on mountain slopes, forest edges, and alpine meadows. It can be found in the steppe regions of Europe, Asia, and northern Africa.

There are about 60 types of flower. Based on them, we derived cultivars, widely used in gardening. Didn't ignore them either indoor floriculture. Many varieties grow well at home.

Description

Muscari has several other names: viper onion, mouse hyacinth. It belongs to the hyacinth family, genus bulbous. This is a perennial herbaceous plant. Depending on the variety, the height ranges from 3 to 30 cm. Almost all bred species are decorative.

Basal leaves in the amount of 2 to 6 pieces grow up to 10-15 cm. Flowers are barrel-shaped or tubular, small. Consist of six tightly fused petals. The color varies, from white to deep purple, there are combined colors: dark blue and white.

The flowers are collected in racemes of dense apical inflorescences up to 8 cm long. The number of flowers varies depending on the species: from several pieces to several dozen. The aroma is strong and pleasant, reminiscent of musk, but much more gentle.

The fruit is a winged three-lobed angular capsule. The seeds are wrinkled, small, black, round. They do not lose their ability to germinate throughout the year.

Species

Muscari flowers can have different colors, depending on the plant variety. Let's look at the most popular:

Number of leaves - 3-7;

Height - up to 20 cm;

The color of the buds is deep blue, and the edges are framed with a thin white stripe;

Flowering time is about three weeks, from the end of May.

2. Muscari pale:

Number of leaves - 2-3;

Height - up to 30 cm;

The color of the buds is pale blue;

Flowering time is about three weeks, from mid-May.

3. Muscari grape:

Number of leaves - 2-6;

Height - up to 25 cm;

The color of the buds is dark blue or white;

Flowering time is up to three weeks, in early May.

4. Muscari racemosus:

Number of leaves - 6;

Height - up to 30 cm;

The color of the buds is deep dark blue;

Flowering time is about three weeks, from the first half of May.

5. Muscari latifolia:

Number of leaves - up to 4;

Height - up to 20 cm;

The color of the buds is dark purple, one third at the top has lighter corollas;

Flowering time is about four weeks, from mid-May.

Landing

Muscari bulbs begin to be planted in late August or early September. Choose sunny place, possible with a little shading. It should be elevated to avoid stagnation of water. Excess moisture will cause the bulbs to rot. Gravel is often used as drainage.

The soil should be loose, and in no case clayey. Plants will not take root in such a plant. Before planting, the soil must be fertilized with humus or compost. Feeding will strengthen young shoots and ensure the appearance of large and bright flowers.

Healthy muscari bulbs are pre-selected for planting. Planting and caring for them is simple. Make a trench up to 8 cm deep. Plant bulbs at a distance of 6-10 cm and sprinkle with earth. If the planting material is very small, then the planting depth is reduced to 3 cm, and the distance between the bulbs is reduced to 2 cm.

In order for plants to grow and develop well, at first they will need help. It involves weeding the flower bed to remove weeds.

Muscari can also be propagated by seeds. They ripen only in the lower flowers. They are collected from already faded plant stems. Seeds are sown to a depth of 1-2 cm in autumn. In spring, leaves appear, indicating the birth of a new bulb. Flowering will begin in a couple of years.

But planting bulbs is much easier, and they begin to bloom earlier. In a short period of time there are a lot of children. When to dig up muscari, each gardener decides for himself. They can be replanted at any time, including during the flowering period. This must be done carefully, with a large lump of earth, to avoid damage to the roots.

These plants tend to self-sow. Planting density appears after 3-4 years. Thinning is recommended to be done in August-October.

Care

When planting, no special feeding is required. Fertilizing in the fall, when digging the soil, will be sufficient. Apply about 5 kg of organic fertilizers per square meter.

During the growing season, the plant is watered abundantly with warm rainwater. High humidity at this time has a very good effect on muscari. Planting and subsequent care will not cause much trouble: weeding and shallow loosening (2-3 cm).

After flowering, muscari does not need watering at all. After the flowering period, the clusters are cut off. The leaves are left untouched; they will help the bulbs gain enough strength to bloom next year.

Landscape designers are happy to use the bright and varied shades of plant inflorescences when designing garden plots. Muscari (see photo of a sample flower bed in the text) go well with daffodils and tulips.

Long early spring flowering (some varieties decorate the flowerbed for about four weeks) gives free rein to the imagination for the design of the site. Experts take into account one more feature different varieties- the beginning of flowering does not coincide with them. With careful selection, you can ensure the beauty of the flowerbed for a long time.

They decorate alpine coaster, borders, wild stone compositions, around small bodies of water. Neighborhood with begonias, tricolor violets, and lobularia will help hide the withering of muscari. Unpretentious flowers can grow in one place for up to 10 years.

Garden on the windowsill

Absence summer cottage will not be an obstacle for an amateur gardener to grow muscari. Planting and care at home will not cause problems even for beginners.

There are several techniques to achieve the desired result:

• “cold preservation” - the bulbs are placed in the refrigerator for 3-4 months before planting in a pot;
• in pots at the bottom they arrange drainage from large pebbles;
• the soil is taken as fertile and oily as possible;
• plants need indirect sunlight;
• provide high air humidity;
• Irrigation of the soil is carried out as the soil dries;
• For a visual effect, you need to occupy as many pots as possible with flowers.

Muscari is also called mouse hyacinth or viper onion. This bulbous perennial belongs to the asparagus family (Asparagaceae), but previously this genus was a member of the lily or hyacinth family. This genus includes approximately 60 species. IN natural conditions such plants can be found on the edges of forests, among bushes, as well as on the mountain slopes of the Caucasus, Crimea, Southern and Central Europe, Asia Minor and the Mediterranean. These plants are among the earliest spring flowers and are often grown as cut flowers. Muscari flowers have a very strong, but quite pleasant smell. Small but very impressive muscari flowers decorate lawns, rock gardens and gardens. These flowers are also used as border plants.

The ovoid muscari bulbs have light-colored outer scales. The bulbs reach 20 mm in diameter and 15–35 mm in length. The length of the basal linear leaf plates reaches 17 centimeters; they grow up to 6 pieces on one specimen. Leaves grow in spring time, however, they can reappear in the fall. Such plants can reach a height of about 0.3 meters. On a leafless peduncle there are flowers, the perianths of which are barrel-shaped, cylindrical or tubular in shape and consist of 6 fused petals, bent along the edge. Color can vary from dark blue to white. The diameter and length of the flowers are 5 mm. Such flowers are part of dense apical or racemose inflorescences, which can reach about 8 centimeters in length. The fruit is a three-lobed winged capsule, heart-shaped or spherical, containing small wrinkled black seeds. The seeds remain viable for 12 months after collection. The advantages of the Muscari genus are that almost all species are highly decorative, and such plants are also distinguished by their unpretentiousness.

Types and varieties of muscari with photos

Armenian Muscari (Muscari armeniacum)

The winter-hardy Armenian (Colchian) muscari is very popular among gardeners. Its flowering begins at the end of spring and lasts about 20 days. This species is called “mouse hyacinth”. The flowers located in the upper part of the inflorescences are sterile, and they are colored light blue color. The dark blue flowers, located in the lower part of the peduncle, have a white border. The flowers have a pleasant smell.

The most popular varieties:

1. Muscari terry Blue Spike. It is very decorative due to the fact that the cluster-shaped inflorescence includes up to 170 flowers. It is unpretentious and is often used for cutting.
2. Christmas Pearl. Has very decorative flowers purple color.
3. Fantasy Creation. Very spectacular variety thanks to the combination of greenish blue and blue colors.

Botryoid muscari (Muscari botryoides)

Under natural conditions, this species can be found in the alpine belt of Central and Southern Europe. It has been considered the most popular among gardeners since 1576. The flowers of this species are somewhat smaller compared to Armenian muscari. Almost all varieties are colored various shades blue, but there are 2 varieties:

1. V album. The cluster-shaped inflorescences consist of white flowers similar to pearls.
2. V carneum. The flowers are pink in color.

The leaf blades of this species are very wide and similar to the foliage of a tulip. The inflorescences are dense, cylindrical in shape and dark blue in color. It stands out among other species in that several flower stalks can grow from one bulb at once.

Pale muscari (Muscari pallens)

In natural conditions it can be found on mountain slopes. The peduncles are low, and small bell-shaped flowers of a light blue color appear on them. The most popular variety is White Rose Beauty: the color of its flowers is light pink.

Muscari crested (Muscari comosum)

Very impressive look. In the wild, it prefers to grow among bushes, on the edges of forests, as well as in dry meadows. On the peduncle there is a pappus, consisting of purple flowers having arched peduncles. This species looks very impressive on lawns or lawns against the background of ground cover grass. The most popular variety is Plumozum: the shoots are highly branched, and they have a large number of sterile flowers of violet-lilac color.

Muscari Oshe, or Tubergen

It can be found in nature in Northwestern Iran. Flowering occurs in mid-spring. Blue flowers have teeth of a lighter color. Good drainage is necessary. The most popular variety among gardeners is Tubergen, which has paler flowers and crescent-shaped leaf blades.

Pretty Muscari (Muscari pulchellum)

This species has a Hebrew name that sounds like kadan nae (beautiful). You can see such flowers in the parks of Ashkelon. They begin to bloom in winter time. The peduncles are low, and on them there are dense, short, ovoid inflorescences with a deep blue color. The teeth of the bend are painted white.

In addition to these species, the following are also very popular among gardeners: muscari long-flowered, changeable, ambrosia, white-fruited, large-fruited, strange, multi-flowered, densely flowered, racemose, etc.

Growing muscari in the garden

These flowers are quite popular in gardening. They look very good in decorative vases and rock gardens, while low-growing varieties used as borders. Muscari also look very impressive in multi-tiered flower beds, in composition with other plants blooming in spring. So, against the backdrop of a dense planting of blue-purple muscari, islands of early-blooming daffodils and tulips, which are slightly taller, look incredibly beautiful. Also, orange grouse look great next to blue muscari.

Like other early-blooming spring flowers, muscari begin to bloom when there are still no leaves on the bushes and trees. In this regard, such plants always have enough sunlight. These flowers can survive without replanting for several years in a row, so experienced gardeners It is advised to plant them in close proximity to a perennial plant that does not require relatively frequent replanting. Loose, nutrient-rich and well-permeable soil is very suitable for planting. Experts advise choosing an elevated area for muscari, and it should be protected from strong gusts of wind.

Planting muscari in open ground

What time to plant

It is recommended to plant in the autumn before last days October. It is best to plant plants in groups, but it should be taken into account that only those muscari bushes that have been grown in the same place for 5 years or longer can be planted. Upon purchase planting material contact a specialist store special attention on the condition of the shoots. They should not show signs of disease. In April, sometimes in nurseries you can see muscari seedlings, which are already in full bloom, while sellers assure that these plants can be immediately transplanted to a permanent place. You can try to follow their advice.

How to plant

Before planting, it is necessary to inspect the bulbs, and remove those that are damaged or darkened. For preventive purposes, planting material must be disinfected; for this, it is placed for 30 minutes. into a solution of karbofos (2%). Then it is taken out and immersed in a solution of potassium manganese (1%) for half an hour. Also, 24 hours before planting the bulbs, it is necessary to prepare the planting holes; they should be watered abundantly so that the entire layer of soil is wet. Before planting, the bottom of the holes is covered with a layer of river sand, which will serve as good drainage. Large size The bulbs are buried 7 centimeters into the soil, while a distance of 5 to 10 centimeters is left between the specimens. Small bulbs need to be buried 3 centimeters into the ground, while leaving 2 to 3 centimeters of empty space between the specimens.

Features of care

Caring for muscari is quite simple, so even a novice gardener can grow this plant. Such a flower should be watered only at the very beginning active growth However, at this time, most often the soil contains a large amount of moisture after the melting of the snow cover or after heavy spring rains. When the plant is at rest, it does not need watering. Systematic watering is needed only if the winter period turned out to be little snow or there was very little rain in the spring.

In the event that the soil on the site contains a small amount nutrients, then there is a need to add organic fertilizer to the soil. So, in the autumn, while digging, you can add compost or humus to the soil, and 5 kg of fertilizer is taken per 1 m2. If such fertilizer is systematically applied to the soil in the autumn, then muscari can be grown in the same area for 10 years. However, in the end, such plants will still have to be replanted.

Bloom

Flowering lasts a little longer than 20 days. At this time, you just need to regularly loosen the soil surface (after watering), and you need to be very careful not to injure the bulb. It is also necessary to carry out timely weeding and, if necessary, pick off fading flowers. If you notice that over time, the flowers of the plant began to lose their former decorative effect, this means that the muscari needs to be replanted.

Transfer

Muscari can be propagated vegetatively using pups separated from the mother bulb. In this way, the plant is propagated in the fall at the same time that the site is being dug up (from the middle to the last days of October). Replanting should only be done on bushes that have been growing in the same place for 5 to 6 years. However, you can understand that muscari needs seating according to its appearance. The bulbs must be dug up and then separated from the mother children (there are up to 30 of them). Then the bulbs will need to be planted in the manner described above.

Reproduction of muscari

The vegetative method of propagation is described above. In addition, muscari reproduces very well by self-sowing. In order to control the number of these flowers after they have faded, it is recommended to remove all flower stalks, leaving a few if necessary. When the seeds are ripe, they will need to be collected. It should be remembered that they remain viable for 12 months. Sowing should be done in open ground in the autumn, and the seeds should be buried 10–20 mm. Shoots will appear in the spring, and they will look like thin threads. Flowering of muscari grown from seed is observed only after 2 or 3 years.

Very often this plant suffers from mosaic disease, and it occurs due to the onion yellow dwarf virus. In an infected specimen, a green mosaic can be seen on the surface of the leaf blades, and they themselves become narrowed, the flower arrow is shortened, and the growth of the plant itself is inhibited. In some cases, muscari becomes infected with the usual cucumber mosaic; in this case, the leaves become deformed, and light green streaks and spots appear on their surface. The carriers of these viruses are aphids, and if it ends up in the bulb, it will remain there. In this regard, all diseased plants must be dug up and destroyed to stop the spread of the virus. For prevention purposes, it is recommended to promptly destroy aphids on the site. To do this, you can use a soap solution. To prepare it, 2 large spoons of soap (Fairy, Gala) need to be mixed with 0.5 liters of water. When spider mites appear, plants should be treated with products of the avermectin group (Aktofit, Vertimek, Fitoverm); spraying should be carried out at a temperature of 18 degrees, while strictly adhering to the instructions.

Muscari after flowering

At the end of flowering, it is necessary to carefully cut off all flower stalks and fertilize with liquid phosphorus-potassium fertilizer to prepare the bulbs for wintering. Muscari needs to be watered less and less. When the leaves on the bushes are completely dry, you need to stop watering them completely. In autumn, you need to dig up the area and plant five-year-old bushes. Old leaf blades must be removed from bushes that are not being replanted this year. Plants that have been transplanted or seeded should be sprinkled with a layer of mulch (peat).

It is not at all necessary to dig up bulbs for the winter, but it is quite possible. But in order to preserve planting material until spring, you need to know a few rules:

1. After the muscari leaves begin to dry out, you need to start digging up the bulbs.
2. The bulbs are dried for several days, then they are placed in moistened clean sand or peat.
3. Once every 7 days it is necessary to inspect the planting material, and rotten, injured or soft bulbs should be rejected.
4. It is recommended to store the bulbs at an air humidity of 70 percent and at a temperature of 17 degrees.

However, it should be remembered that it is recommended to plant such a plant in the autumn, so there is no particular need to preserve the bulbs until spring.

– bulbous plant, the inflorescence of which leads an ephemeral life: it takes 9 months to form in the bulb, and only appears above the ground for about a month. After flowering, the aboveground part of the plant and roots die off, and the bulb enters a dormant period, having accumulated resources for next bloom. In autumn, at soil temperatures close to +10 o C, the bulb takes root and overwinters. And in the spring, in May, muscari blooms for two weeks, filling the flower beds with blue streams of inflorescences.

This plant is excellent for winter and spring forcing from January to April; you just need to “deceive” the plant by creating development conditions similar to natural development cycles. The most important stage Preparation for forcing is the cooling of the bulbs, which is necessary for the formation of flower buds of the stem inside the bulb. Without this period there will be no flowering, only leaves will grow.

Planting material

Now more than 30 species and varieties of muscari have been registered. All of them are suitable for forcing, without exception. Most often kicked out:

• Armenian muscari (Muscari armeniacum) and its varieties “Blue Pearl”, “Saffier”, “Alba” terry “Blue Spike”, the hybrid terry “Fantasy Creation” obtained from Armenian muscari;
• muscari latifolia (Muscari latifolium);
• muscari grapevine (Muscari botryoides) and its varieties with white (var. album) and pink (var. carneum) flowers;
• Muscari Osha (Muscari aucheri) and its varieties “Blue Magic”, “White Magic”, “Ocean Magic”;
• crested muscari (Muscari comosum), variety with fancy inflorescences “Plumosum”.

Due to insufficient lighting, the color of flowers in forcing is always not as bright as in open ground. When choosing varieties, you should not chase rare ones - for example, grape-shaped muscari with a pink color (Muscari botryoides var. carneum) in forcing it will be paler, almost white, the Armenian muscari “Blue Spike” with complex tassels “filled” with double flowers will turn out to be more loose than in open ground, just like the varieties “Fantasy Creation” and “Saffier”, which can still and disappoint with the pallor of the bluish-green color. It is best to force the brightest varieties, blue or white, although Muscari Oshe “Ocean Magic” with light blue inflorescences looks very lush and delicate when forced.

Planting material for forcing can be used purchased or from your own garden. But it must be properly prepared and properly stored before planting for forcing.

Grown in our own garden Muscari requires more complex preparation. They are dug up in July, after the above-ground part has died, and the largest bulbs are selected. It is noted that the bulbs of Armenian muscari, 9-10 cm in circumference, produce 2-3 peduncles when forced, and Oshe muscari, 9 cm in circumference, produce as many as 5-7. Broad-leaved, cluster-shaped, and crested muscari have smaller bulbs; selected ones with a circumference of more than 7 cm produce 1-2 peduncles.

The prepared bulbs are disinfected with a fungicide, dried at +22+24 o C for 1-2 weeks under a canopy or in another ventilated place (at this time they ripen). Store at +20 o C, and from September reduce the storage temperature to +17 o C.

If you don’t have your own bulbs, purchase material for forcing best in the summer, in August (at this time the range is wider, and there is time to ensure the necessary temperature conditions). The bulbs are also stored at +20 o C in a ventilated place until September, and then the temperature is reduced to +17 o C. During storage, high air humidity is unacceptable - the bulbs have thin outer covers that can rot and be affected by penicillosis, rhizoctonia, gray rot. Bulbs that go on sale are already treated with a fungicide.

You should not plant mixtures of varieties for forcing; the technology of forcing and the timing of their flowering are somewhat different, and you will not get a colorful “bouquet” of simultaneously flowering plants. It is better to drive each variety in a separate container, and then arrange them together at the stage of mature buds. Muscari tolerate replanting with a lump well, they can be placed in a more spacious pot or basket not only with varieties that harmonize with each other that have arrived at the same time, but also with other forcing bulbs (tulips, daffodils, snowdrops, crocuses, poultry plants), add the missing soil and decorate its surface with sphagnum moss, pine bark, lichen, marble glass beads or decorative marble chips. But we are getting ahead of ourselves a little.

Cooling period

Muscari can easily be made to bloom at inopportune times. The total cooling period required for the ripening of flower buds for most muscari is 14-16 weeks, for Oshe and crested muscari it is slightly less - 13 weeks. Based on this, planting dates are calculated, depending on the desired flowering period.

• For distillation in January (for the New Year, Tatiana's Day), muscari begins to be cooled at +9 o C from September 1. It is best to use Oshe muscari for such early distillation, which has a shorter cooling period.
• For forcing in February-March (for Valentine's Day, February 23 or March 8, the bulbs are cooled from October 1).

You need to add another 2 weeks to the cooling period for the forcing process itself (Oshe muscari is forced a week longer), so you will get an almost exact flowering date. In order for the muscari to arrive by March 8, the last date for the start of cooling may be November 10. During this period, you can still purchase bulbs that have been delayed for sale, provided that they have been stored in a cool place. trading floor or storage (not higher than +17 o C).

The cooling period consists of two stages - dry and wet. Cooling mode for different groups slightly different:

• for Armenian, cluster-shaped and broad-leaved muscari: 5 weeks at +9 o C, then 11 weeks at +5 o C (16 weeks in total). Of these, 15 weeks are dry storage before planting, then at least 1-2 weeks of wet storage after planting in the ground.
• for other types of muscari (Oshe, broadleaf, crested) - 5 weeks at +9 o C, then 9 weeks at +5 o C (13 weeks in total). Of these, 6 weeks are dry storage.

To reduce the growth rate, it is necessary to last stage cooling, reduce the temperature to +1+2 o C and reduce watering. The same technique allows you to delay forcing for more late dates, extending the cooling period. However, you shouldn’t increase it too much - long-term cold storage promotes the production more growth hormones - gibberellins, which are responsible for increasing plant height and leaf length. Such plants will turn out less compact, the leaves will begin to fall.

Planting for forcing

Priming for planting muscari, light and simplest composition is used - peat or compost with the addition of sand, deoxidized to a neutral reaction (pH 7.0) dolomite flour or charcoal.

Capacities for planting, take ones that are not very tall, always with drainage holes, pour 1-2 cm of sand on the bottom for drainage, then fill 2/3 with moist soil. Plant 5-9 bulbs (at least) in each - muscari inflorescences look better in mass planting. The distance between the bulbs is 0.5-1 cm, i.e., you can plant almost closely. For example, 6-8 bulbs with a circumference of 9-10 cm, or up to 10 pieces, are placed in a pot with a diameter of 12 cm. 7-8 cm in circumference.

Many of you probably purchased Dutch forcing and saw that the bulbs were almost on the surface, only rooted in the ground. Industrial forcing is carried out in conditions of high humidity and using a slightly different technology aimed at maximizing the use of greenhouse space. When forcing at home, the bulbs still need to be buried 1-2 cm into the soil, leaving only the tops outside, otherwise when rooting they are pushed to the surface by their roots.

After planting, the bulbs are watered again with water or a 0.2% solution of calcium nitrate (the second is more desirable, as it makes the stems and leaves stronger).

Installation in a greenhouse or on a windowsill

At the end of the cooling period, containers with muscari are transferred to a greenhouse or other room for forcing (10-12 days before the scheduled flowering date). First, water and place the pots in a cooler but bright place (+10+12 o C), after a day they are moved to warmer conditions (+12 + 15 o C) with good lighting. It is advisable to provide additional illumination with special phytolamps or at least fluorescent lamps power 100 W/sq.m 10 hours a day. The lamps are hung at a height of 30-50 cm above the sprouts and raised as the plants grow. The lights should turn on and off at the same time. For example, from 8 am to 6 pm - this time can be conveniently set using a household timer that is plugged into an outlet.

You can do without additional lighting by placing the muscari on the lightest windowsill. To create the desired temperature, place the pot in a large transparent plastic container, turning it with its bottom towards the room and leaning its open side against the cold glass - it will limit the access of warm room air and keep the coolness coming from the window. But the quality of such forcing is often lower due to fluctuations in temperature and light.

Forcing lasts 10-12 days. Development occurs from the reserves of bulbs so quickly that the plants do not need to be fed. You just need to water, avoiding stagnation of water. But if you want to save the bulbs for later growing, then at the beginning of planting, feed once with a fertilizer solution for bulbous plants or a 0.1% solution of calcium nitrate.

The most important thing at this stage is good lighting and coolness, otherwise the leaves stretch out, droop and lose their decorative effect, and the flower stalks turn out weak, with loose inflorescences. The temperature neither day nor night should exceed +15+16 o C. The lower the temperature, the longer the forcing period. At +15 o C it can last only 10-12 days. The closer spring comes, the shorter the forcing period becomes.

If muscari are ready to flower earlier than the intended date, they can be stored in a cold dark place(at +2 o C) for 3-4 days. But even in such conditions they do not stop growing and need to be looked after. On the eve of the intended date, the muscari with buds are again placed in a warm, bright place, watered with lukewarm water, and the flowers begin to bloom.

Flowering of muscari in indoor conditions lasts 7-10 days. The cooler the room, the longer the flowering.

Ice method of distilling muscari

If you need to drive out muscari at a later date (for example, by Easter, before the May exhibition), when it is already difficult to keep the plants from overgrowing (at this time they already bloom in open ground), you can use a special, “ice” technique, which has been tested only for Armenian muscari (which has the longest cooling period). To do this, the bulbs are stored in the fall at +23 o C until October 1, then at +20 o C until mid-November-early December. Root at +9 o C (at least 1.5 months) and, making sure that root system has developed well, freeze at -1.5-2 o C until the required period. During the freezing process, the temperature must be as stable as possible, without any fluctuations, so this method is most suitable for industrial controlled conditions. Defrost, gradually increasing the temperature, and place on the stand, the duration of which increases slightly. Freezing allows you to shift the timing of forcing, stimulates more uniform flowering, but reduces the quality of flowers. In amateur conditions, this method is sometimes used to adjust flowering plants for any exhibition.

Growing bulbs after forcing

It is quite reasonable to want to preserve the bulbs after forcing. To get larger replacement bulbs, after flowering has ended, when the flowers have withered, you need to remove them from the peduncles and fertilize them with a fertilizer solution for bulbous plants. For some time, until the foliage turns yellow, leave them in the same conditions in which the forcing was carried out - with good lighting and a temperature of +15+16 o C. With the beginning of yellowing of the foliage and peduncles, the additional lighting is turned off, the temperature is raised to room temperature, watering is stopped and wait for the foliage to dry. After this, the bulbs are selected from the soil, dried and stored in dry peat at +17 o C until autumn planting to the garden in September. The bulbs are not suitable for repeated forcing, although they grow quite large. Only the best children are selected for rearing - the small ones will produce a bad breed. After 2-3 years, you can again select bulbs for forcing from these plantings.

Photo: Maxim Minin, Rita Brilliantova

Many gardeners are sure that muscari does not need any care at all: they tolerate winter and heat well, reproduce on their own, and get sick extremely rarely... Muscari are truly resistant to diseases and pests, and the secret of such a strong plant immunity is... its toxicity! Only aphids rarely manage to overcome this protective barrier.
So, the beautiful flower still needs our attention. And this is even pleasing, because who wouldn’t want to feel involved in this piercing blue beauty?

• Should you prune muscari after flowering?
• How and when should I feed the plant so that its bulbs overwinter well?
• When should you stop watering muscari?

Let's figure it out together.

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Planting and caring for muscari

• Landing: in autumn, in October.
• Bloom: spring.
• Lighting: bright sunlight, partial shade.
• Soil: any.
• Watering: if the winter was snowy or the spring was wet, then watering is not needed at all.
• Feeding: When digging the area, add humus or compost at the rate of 5 kg per m².
• Reproduction: self-seeding and vegetative: separating the children from the mother bulb and planting them in the ground.
• Pests: aphids, spider mites.
• Diseases: Onion yellow dwarf and cucumber mosaic viruses.

Read more about growing muscari below.

Muscari (lat. Muscari), or viper bow, or mouse hyacinth is a genus of bulbous perennial plants of the Asparagaceae family, although previously it was classified as a member of the Hyacinth or Liliaceae family. There are about 60 species, naturally growing among shrubs, on forest edges and on the slopes of mountains in Central and Southern Europe, the Caucasus, Asia Minor, Crimea and the Mediterranean. Muscari flowers are one of the earliest spring flowers, often grown as cut flowers. The muscari plant has a pleasant and quite strong aroma. Garden muscari flowers, miniature and graceful, decorate lawns; they are used in ridges and rock gardens, and also as border plants.

Muscari flowers - description

Muscari bulbs are ovoid, with light outer scales, 1.5-3.5 cm long and up to 2 cm in diameter. Leaves - basal, linear, up to 17 cm long and up to six pieces - appear in the spring, but can appear again in the fall . Muscari grows up to 30 cm in height. Their peduncle is leafless; the flowers have cylindrical, barrel-shaped or tubular perianths, consisting of six fused petals, bent at the edge. Color - from white to dark blue, length - about 0.5 cm and the same in diameter. The flowers are collected in dense inflorescences, racemose or apical, up to 8 cm long. The fruit is a winged, three-locular capsule, spherical or heart-shaped, with small wrinkled black seeds, the germination of which persists only for a year. This genus has two significant advantages: Almost all types are decorative and, in addition, muscari are completely unpretentious.

Growing muscari in the garden

Muscari is in great demand in floriculture. They look great both in rock gardens and in decorative garden vases, and low-growing varieties are successfully used for borders. Muscari are very beautiful in multi-tiered flower beds, in composition with other spring flowers: against the background of densely growing lilac-blue muscari, islands of taller, early-blooming tulips or daffodils look very impressive. The combination of blue muscari and orange hazel grouse is excellent.

In the photo: Pink muscari

Like all early spring flowers, muscari bloom when there are no leaves on the trees and bushes, so they will have enough light in any case. Muscari grow in one place for several years, so plant them next to perennials, which you also will not replant every year. The soil is best loose, fertile and permeable. It is advisable that the site is located on a hill and protected from strong winds.

Planting muscari

When to plant muscari

Planting muscari better in autumn, until the end of October. They are planted in groups as soon as the muscari bulbs, which have been growing in one place for five years or more, are dug up. If you buy them in a store, carefully inspect the shoots: they must be healthy. Sometimes in April, nurseries sell seedlings of already flowering muscari in boxes, and sellers claim that they can be immediately planted in the ground. Give it a try.

How to plant muscari

Before planting, inspect the bulbs and remove any darkened or damaged ones. Disinfect the bulbs for prevention: first pickle them for half an hour in a two percent solution of Karbofos, then the same amount in a one percent solution of potassium permanganate. A day before planting muscari, water the prepared holes well, soaking through the entire layer of soil. Before planting, add river sand to each hole for drainage. If the bulbs are large, they are buried 7 cm in the ground, and the distance between them is 5-10 cm. Small bulbs are buried 3 cm, and the gap between the bulbs is 2-3 cm.

How to care for muscari in the garden

Caring for muscari is not difficult: it is a training plant for the novice gardener. IN watering Muscari need only at the very beginning of the growing season, but, as a rule, at this time the soil is still moist after melting snow or spring rains. And the dormant period does not require soil moisture. If there was no snow in winter and the spring turned out to be dry, then there is a need for regular watering.

In the photo: Dense plantings of muscari

If the soil on the site is not very fertile, this can be corrected by fertilizing organic fertilizers. You can fertilize the soil with humus or compost in the fall when digging: 5 kilograms of fertilizer are consumed for every square meter. Provided that such autumn digging with organic matter is carried out regularly, muscari can grow in one area for up to ten years. But then you still have to seat them.

Muscari flowering

Muscari blooms for a little longer than three weeks, and does not require special care during this time, just loosen the soil slightly after watering, trying not to damage the bulb, remove weeds and remove wilted flowers if they spoil the appearance of your flowerbed. If the quality of the flowers has deteriorated over the years, then it is time to replant the muscari.

We grow hyacinths in the garden - do not confuse these flowers

Muscari transplant

Vegetative propagation of muscari by separating the children from the mother bulb is carried out, as a rule, during autumn digging, somewhere from mid to late October. We have already written about when to replant muscari - after 5-6 years of growing in one area, although when it’s really time to dig up muscari, the type of your flowerbed will tell you. Muscari bulbs are removed from the ground, the children are separated from the mother bulb (there can be many of them, up to 30 pieces) and planted in the manner described above.

Reproduction of muscari

In addition to the vegetative method, muscari reproduce well by self-seeding, therefore, in order to prevent uncontrolled growth of the area, you need to cut off the flower stalks after flowering, leaving only a few for the seeds to ripen. The collected ripe seeds, capable of sprouting only within a year, are sown in the ground in the fall to a depth of 1-2 cm. Next spring thin threads of seedlings will let you know that the process of bulb formation has begun. Such a plant will bloom in 2-3 years.

In the photo: Blue Muscari

Pests and diseases of muscari

Most often, muscari suffer from mosaic, which is caused by the onion yellow dwarf virus. Symptoms: green mosaic on the leaves, shortened flower arrow, narrowed leaves and suppressed growth of the diseased specimen. Sometimes the plant becomes infected with common cucumber mosaic, which appears as pale green streaks and spots on deformed leaves. These viruses are transmitted by aphids and, once they enter the bulb, are stored there. Therefore, diseased specimens must be dug up and burned so that the infection does not spread to other plants.

Treatments for viral diseases not yet, so fight the carrier - aphids, destroy them as soon as they appear on the plants. The method is simple and has long been known: dilute 2 teaspoons of liquid soap (Gala, Fairy) in two glasses of water and spray the plants with the solution.

Sometimes spider mites cause trouble for muscari. To combat it, use drugs of the avermectin group (Vertimek, Actofit, Fitoverm) strictly according to the instructions at an air temperature of 18 ºC.

Muscari after flowering

Many flower growers believe that there is no need to care for muscari at all: they do not get sick, reproduce on their own, and are quite winter-hardy. But experience teaches that a good result always requires effort. As soon as the muscari fade, you need to carefully remove the flower stalks and feed them with liquid potassium-phosphorus fertilizer, which will help the bulbs to overwinter well. Gradually reduce watering as the plant's leaves turn yellow and wilt, and once this process is complete, do not water the plant again.

How best to plant daffodils - in detail

Autumn is the time to dig up the site and replant muscari that have reached the age of five. If your muscari are too young to divide and replant, simply remove any yellowed leaves from the area. Young plantings of muscari, especially if they grow on it next to other bulbous plants, must be mulched with peat for the winter.

In the photo: Pink muscari

Storing muscari bulbs

Muscari – perennials Moreover, they can grow in one place for up to ten years in a row. But if for some reason you decide to dig up the bulbs and store them indoors, then remember the following rules:

• You need to dig up the bulbs only when the leaves of the plants begin to dry;
• the dug up bulbs need to be dried for several days, then placed in peat or wet, clean sand;
• Once a week, inspect and feel the bulbs and immediately remove any rotten, damaged or soft bulbs;
• The air humidity in the storage is preferably 70%, temperature – 17 ºC.

But let us remind you once again: it is best to plant muscari in the fall, during the digging of the site, then it is convenient to separate the children from the mother bulbs and then plant them, so it makes no sense to store the muscari bulbs indoors until spring.

Types and varieties of muscari

Among the species most often cultivated is the winter-hardy Armenian or Colchian muscari, which blooms in late spring for three weeks. This is what is called “mouse hyacinth”. The upper flowers in its inflorescences are sterile and have a lighter shade than the lower ones, dark blue with a white border. Armenian muscari exudes a pleasant aroma. The most popular varieties are:

• Muscari terry Blue Spike– exceptionally beautiful due to its multi-flowered nature (up to 170 flowers in a cluster-shaped inflorescence), unpretentious, can be used for cutting.
• Christmas Pearl– with very beautiful purple flowers;
• Fantasy Creation– very beautiful due to the combination of blue and blue-green shades.

In the photo: Armenian Muscari (Muscari armeniacum)

Botryoid muscari (Muscari botryoides)

The type of muscari grape-shaped is found in the alpine belt of Southern and Central Europe, and is one of the most popular, in culture since 1576. The flowers of the cluster-shaped one are smaller than those of the Armenian one. In addition to the usual varieties blue tint, There is

Muscari is a bulbous plant. Its delicate flowers, similar to small blue bells, rise above the thin leaves in very decorative spikes. This firstborn of warm days really looks like a miniature hyacinth. Even the aroma of its flowers is reminiscent of hyacinth, only softer and not as strong.

Muscari means "muse"

Muscari flower - outdoor plant. It grows and develops better in the garden, on fresh air. But it can be successfully grown on a windowsill. In today's article, I cover caring for muscari at home.

Do you want your apartment to smell like mouse hyacinth? Provide him with the following:

1. Sunlight . This blue-eyed wizard adores him. Of course, straight sun rays can burn the tender leaves of such a plant in flowerpots. But this applies, rather, to the light that is on the street. In an apartment, such a flower should be kept in the brightest place. True, on a southern window sill it is worth shading it a little during the midday hours.

Mouse hyacinth grows well in a group

3. Air temperature. This green friend does not favor high temperatures. You need to find a cool room for it - and in winter it can even be cold (10 degrees Celsius) - room. As a last resort, keep at room temperature, maintaining good humidity around the plant.

4. Humidity. High. Increase it in every available way.

Muscari in nature

The soil for the plant should be as rich and fertile as possible. This phyto-resident looks very decorative in a group. And he is, in general, a sociable flower - he easily tolerates the proximity of his brothers and sisters. Therefore, for beauty, several bulbs can and should be planted in one flowerpot.

Under such conditions, this gentle comrade will delight you with flowering for a long time..

But what to do when the mouse hyacinth fades? No need to throw it away. It should be prepared for further forcing in the apartment.

Distilling muscari at home:

1. After flowering, it is necessary to cut off the entire above-ground part and pull the bulbs out of the ground.

2. Dry the bulbs and place them in a cool place with a slightly above-zero temperature (in the refrigerator on the side shelf). Cold content - prerequisite germination of bulbs for viper onions. They must remain in this state for at least 4 months.

4. Around January you need to get the bulbs and plant them in fertile soil. Place the flowerpot in a bright place and water as needed.

5. After germination, care for the plant as described in the article. And wait for the buds to appear.

Important to know. All parts of the plant are poisonous. But this does not prevent us from admiring its wonderful flowering ears and thin graceful leaves.