Is there life in plants under the snow?
When asked why the plants do not freeze under snow? You can answer this: most evergreen perennial grasses grown in temperate climates are ground cover plants. They are unpretentious, quickly grow, tightening green all the space provided to them. Thanks to this, the garden is enlivened at the beginning and end of the summer season, first appearing in the spring from under the snow, and in the autumn - pleasing the eyes with fresh leaves against the backdrop of a fading garden.
The best species of non-freezing plants in winter.
Badan from the Kamnelomsky family is a herbaceous plant with thick rhizomes and large leathery leaves collected in basal rosettes. At the end of the summer - in autumn, the curtains of the badana are painted in reddish tones that persist in the old leaves until the spring. Flowers small, pink, red or white, in the corymbose inflorescences, appear in late spring - early summer. Badans are unpretentious and do not need special care. They are shade-tolerant, dry and winter hardy. Excellent grow on the slopes, in rock gardens, on raised beds, forming a closed cover. They can exist for a long time - in one place without transplantation (they are recommended not more often than once in 7-8 years). Quite large sizes allow the use of bananas to create solitary groups along the edge of shrub plantations, in the foreground of mixborders, on rocky areas, slopes and in large rock gardens.
Barvinok from the family of Kutrovs . Periwinkle small - creeping plant with opposite leathery shiny leaves of a deep dark green color. The flowers are single, rather large, sky-blue, located in the axils of the leaves. Appear in late spring - early summer. Barvinok is a small, perhaps the most winter-hardy species of the genus, very unpretentious. He reconciles with shading and trampling, and his long, recumbent shoots quickly take root. It forms such a dense cover that the weeds do not find their place. The plant does not require shelter for the winter, spring "cleansing" - too. It may be necessary to thin out and restrict growth. Suitable as ground cover for lawns, slopes, shaded areas. Beautiful looks among the stones, but for small rock gardens is not suitable because of the rapid growth.
Thyme from the family Gubotsvetnyh - small semishrubs with recumbent or ascending stems. Leaves are very small, whole, rounded. Flowers are small, lilac and pink tones (sometimes white), collected in capitate or spicate inflorescences. Blossom is very plentiful in the middle - second half of summer. They prefer sunny places and light, nutritious, well drained soils with a neutral or alkaline reaction. The rest are unpretentious. Form dense curtains, during flowering, completely covered with flowers. Perfectly propagate vegetatively and seeds, sometimes require control over growth. Look great in rock gardens; as ground cover - on the slopes; between the plates of the tracks; in short wide pots.
Heuher, or Geiger from the Kamnelomkov family . At present, about 70 species of heecher are known to science. common in North America. The leaves of these plants are collected in a basal rosette, the flowers are small, pink, red, white, often unattractive, in the paniculate inflorescence on a fairly high peduncle, appear in the first half of summer. Decorative heuheers exclusively their leaves: lobed, jagged on the edge, and in varietal plants also painted with colorful designs. Currently, there is an active selection of these plants. Modern varieties of variety and beauty of coloring leaves almost inferior to cultural begonias. Fortunately for Russian gardeners, heuchers are much more unpretentious than tropical beauties. They prefer a semi-shady place. They love light, nutritious, cultivated soils with good drainage. In top dressing and special watering do not need, but require an annual hilling and transplanting every 3-5 years, otherwise the rosettes break up into separate short stems and lose decorativeness. In autumn, the leaves of many varieties acquire a reddish hue. For the winter, most heucher varieties are better covered with lapnik.
You can write a lot about unpretentious evergreen herbs. Remember the wonderful shade-loving hoof with its juicy-green shiny leaves and bizarre flowers.
Iberis , able to grow not only among the stones, but also on the walls. A modest inhabitant of the meadows of European Russia - a coin-eaten coin with a skillful approach turns into a spectacular ampel plant.
Yes, and an old friend - a forest witch in recent years, surprising more and more bizarre varieties, whose leaves are as if painted sugar icing.