According to the belief, bell flowers ring once a year - on the night of Ivan Kupala, at the same time when the fern blooms. Their distinctive feature can be called a bell-shaped or tubular five-parted rim, often with a deeply cut upper edge. Flowers in this case can be either collected in inflorescences or separate.
The size of the buds and the length of the stem vary considerably depending on the species. In nature, there are both fairly tall varieties (up to 100 cm) and dwarf ones (10-25 cm). There are 1,100 species of bluebells known, but recently it is rather difficult to see this plant in the fields and in the forests. Many varieties are listed in the Red Book.
In apartments and private houses, you can often find bells. Indoor flowers are represented for the most part by an equal-leaved species (C. isophylla), originating from Italy. The buds of this plant can be either white or blue. People often refer to them as "bride" and "groom" respectively.
This plant is grown and manysummer residents on their plots. Bluebell flowers are quite unpretentious in care and are easily propagated both by cuttings and root processes, and by ordinary sowing seeds in the ground.
The vegetative method is used mostly for double and semi-double varieties, since they often do not have seeds at all. This method allows you to get plants that exactly repeat the external signs of the mother plant.
But still, most often, bluebell flowers are propagated through seeds. Since they are very small in this plant, they are first mixed with sand. The latter must be steamed or calcined before use. Sowing is usually done before winter in boxes or any other container. Light fertile soil is considered the most suitable for bluebells. It is not recommended to deepen the seeds too much. You can plant bluebells even just in a superficial way.
Boxes are dug into the ground on the site and covered with foil. In this form, they are left until spring. In May, young plants in sunny weather must be shaded, otherwise they will get burned. Watering is carried out carefully - best through a strainer.
In June, the seedlings obtained in this way dive into shady beds. Bluebell flowers can be transferred to a permanent place of growth only next spring. Caring for mature plants is not difficult. It is enough to feed them in the spring after germination with any nitrogen fertilizer, periodically weed and loosen. Watering requiredmoderate enough.
Flowering begins in June and, subject to the timely removal of faded buds, can continue all summer. Many believe that these are unusually aesthetic flowers. White bells "bride" (Alba) will decorate any, even the most sophisticated flower bed. Blue - "groom" (Maji) - are distinguished by an unusually delicate shade. These two varieties can be considered the main ones most often used in the landscape design of country houses. They both belong to the bellflower species. In addition, sometimes flower beds and lawns are decorated with peach-leaved bell and milk-flowered bell.
