Content
- Summery flowers with a touch of nostalgia - the cornflower
- Plant cornflower properly
- care Tips
- Which location is suitable?
- The right planting distance
- Which soil does the plant need?
- What is the best planting time?
- When is flowering time?
- Cut cornflower properly
- Water cornflower
- Fertilize cornflower properly
- Diseases
- overwinter
- Multiply cornflower
- Cornflower in the pot
- Is cornflower poisonous?
- Trivia
- Beautiful varieties
The cornflower is a native in Germany meadow plant with historical significance
Summery flowers with a touch of nostalgia - the cornflower
The cornflower inspires as an exceptional summer flower with a fantastic long-distance effect. Thanks to its natural grace, the bright blue cyan in the country house garden and natural flowerbed is a welcome guest. How to skilfully cultivate the romantic flower beauty in your green kingdom is no longer hidden here. The following answers to frequently asked questions show how to do it.
Plant cornflower properly
From the middle / end of April, plant a Zyane, which has been brought to the window sill or purchased in the garden center, in a sunny, warm location. In order to create a picturesque appearance, we recommend an arrangement in small tuffs with 5-10 young plants. For this purpose, raise at a distance of 20 cm small pits that exceed the diameter of the root ball by half. Instead of compost or another fertilizer, in this case, give some sand or fine gravel for excavation, if the consistency of the garden soil seems too firm. Plant a parched cornflower in each hole and fill the excavation to just below the first pair of leaves. On the day of planting and in the following period, water regularly until the cyanide has established.
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care Tips
In terms of undemanding care, the cyanide among summer flowers is undoubtedly one of the best in the class. This is how it works:
Leave some withered cornflowers in the bed in the late summer, they take care of the propagation by self-sowing. Next spring - as if by magic - the next generation of these atmospheric summer flowers will appear.
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Which location is suitable?
In full sun, warm location shows the cornflower in all its splendor, why it is considered a symbol of a midsummer beauty of flowers. A place in the light shade is tolerated, but results in a less lavish flowering. While the compact wild species Centaurea cyanus can also be arranged with windy layers, the long-stemmed cyane hybrids favor a wind- and rain-protected location.
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The right planting distance
The slim shape of a cyanide requires a planting distance of 15-20 cm. This value is probably valid for the long-stemmed as well as for the compact varieties. With a row spacing of 20 cm you are also well advised. Only under the special conditions in the balcony box, reduce the value by 5 cm, to create the dense and lush appearance.
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Which soil does the plant need?
In thin, sandy-loamy and well-drained soil the cornflower finds ideal conditions. Choose a place in the rock garden, the pebble bed or in the natural wildflowers. For solid, loamy clay soil, you can easily adapt to the requirements of a cyan by incorporating sand, fine gravel or gravel. Too dry soil is optimized using compost, loam soil or bark humus. For cultivating in a pot, this means that a rather lean substrate is useful, such as unit or pikierde.
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What is the best planting time?
Although the seeds of a cyanide are frost-resistant, this does not apply to early seedlings. For the tender summer flowers, the planting time begins only when no more ground frosts are to be feared. Experience has shown that an appointment from the beginning / middle of May can be envisaged, but not without first consulting the weather report.
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When is flowering time?
In April, the blue flowers of the wild cornflower agree with us on a long flowering period, which lasts until October. In May and June, the grafted hybrids follow the example and unfold their colorful, frequently filled flowers as well. Since a single flower will not last for this long period of time, cut off withered stems. Underneath, the next buds are already waiting to open.
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Cut cornflower properly
Cut out withered flower stems consistently, extending the flowering time well into the fall. If you do not want to chase every single, faded cyanide, cut off the entire tuff at the end of the first flowering time down to the basal leaves. Then a lush flowering rises, the pruning of which motivates a vital plant to a third round of flowers.
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Water cornflower
A moderate water supply meets the wishes of a cyan. In concrete terms, this means that you only water the flower when the soil has dried well. If a rain shower does not precede you, pour the water from the jaw spout directly onto the root disk. For a cornflower in the pot, the watering can is used more often because the substrate dries quickly in the sunny spot. A quick thumb test in the morning will make sure there is a need for casting. Please pour a coaster at least 15 minutes to prevent waterlogging.
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Fertilize cornflower properly
The frugal cyanide is not fertilized during its one-year lifetime. This also applies to cornflowers in pots or planters, since commercial substrates are usually sufficiently pre-fertilized. The only exception is a very lean, rocky soil. In June, awaken the floral spirits with a helping of compost and horn shavings.
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Diseases
Under the influence of damp and warm weather, a cyanide can be infested with mildew. The unmistakable symptom of this widespread fungal infection is white deposits on the upper and lower sides of the leaves. In view of the easy sowing and rapid germination of the seeds, extensive control measures make little sense. Dig out the diseased cornflowers and sow again. As a precaution, we recommend that you refrain from overhead irrigation as part of the water supply.
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overwinter
A cyanide thrives as a winter-time or summer-primate flower. Corn seeds sown in autumn overwinter as fruit or young plants in the bed without any special precautions. After flowering and seedling, they die, regardless of whether the sowing took place in autumn or spring.
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Multiply cornflower
The simplest method of propagating cornflowers is by sowing. Since the seeds - in contrast to the flower - are hardy, there is nothing against direct sowing in April / May or in August / September. To do so, apply a fine-grained seedbed to the sunny, warm location in sandy, lean soil. Seed the seeds at 20 cm row spacing and then sift them 0.5 cm high with sand or vermiculite. Moistened with a fine shower and protected with a tight mesh, the germination progresses quickly. At 12-18 degrees Celsius, the first cotyledons peek out after 1-2 weeks. If the bed is in restrained confinement, separate the strongest seedlings to a distance of 15-20 cm as soon as they have at least 2 pairs of leaves.
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Cornflower in the pot
In the pot and balcony box, the intensely shining cornflowers catch the eye from afar. As a substrate, we recommend a potting soil that has been sanded off with sand, standard unit earth or the best suited pique soil. Only fill the substrate into the vessel after draining a pottery shard over each drainage drainage. Sprout the young plants to plant them at a distance of 10-12 cm. After pressing the soil, pour water with a good sip of water. From now on, the care of a cyanane is very easy. Where no rain reaches the ground, pour moderately. Withered flowers should be cut out regularly so that the next buds find their way to the sunlight. After a supplemental nutrient supply, it does not require the modest flower, since the soil is pre-fertilized anyway.
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Is cornflower poisonous?
What lights up so intensely in the garden as a cyan is usually to be treated with caution. In this case, we can of course give the all-clear. The cornflower owes its blue colourfulness to a completely harmless ingredient cyanidin, which is responsible for the striking coloring, for example, in red cabbage or blackberries. The pretty, flaky flowers are even edible. In the light summer kitchen creative chefs use the flowers as decoration for cold and hot dishes.
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Trivia
In search of the origin of their various names, you embark on a journey into the distant past. Thus, the botanical name Centaurea cyanus most likely refers to a centaur from Greek mythology. One of these hybrid beings of man and horse was called Chiron. This half-brother of Zeus knew his way around in the pharmacology and healed a wound at the foot of the legendary Achilles with the cornflower. Furthermore, Ceres, the goddess of the harvest, wore a cornflower in her hair.
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