On thin leafy stems, brightly colored cup-shaped or saucer-shaped flowers bloom. individual flowers short-lived and may not open in cloudy or damp weather, but new flowers bloom daily, and the bright color of the flax lasts for many weeks. The leaves are usually narrow, rarely more than 3 cm long. Different types flax can be annual, biennial, perennial or short-lived dwarf shrubs. Flax is often used in borders, and low plants are ideal for rocky gardens.

Although flax is hardy, some species growing among rocks do not like prolonged frosty weather or excessive winter moisture. Most flax species prefer alkaline soil, but can grow in any type of soil.

Arboretum (L. arborescens)

At the beginning of summer, bright yellow flowers up to 3 cm across. This compact evergreen shrub, which grows well in rocky gardens, has abundant dark bluish-green foliage. The leaves are elliptical to spoon-shaped. Winter hardiness has been studied enough. The height and diameter of the plant is 30x30 cm.

evergreen shrub

L. flavum (L. yellow)

The plant blooms with bright yellow flowers in mid-summer. This bushy evergreen perennial has elliptical dark green leaves. This species does not like damp cool summers of northern latitudes. The height and diameter of the plant is 25x25 cm.

bright flowers

"Compactum"

A dwarf plant about 15 cm high with pale yellow flowers, ideal for planting in depressions but intolerant of cool, damp weather.

Gemmell's Hybrid

Flowers saturated yellow color, 3 cm in diameter, bloom over tufts of oval grey-green leaves. These hybrids grow well in soil depressions or on high beds. The height and diameter of the plant is 15x20 cm.

Intense yellow flowers

Monogynum (L. single-pistil)

The flowers of this short-lived perennial are white, 2.5 cm across, and bloom in the first half of summer. The leaves are linear or lanceolate, with pointed tips. The height and diameter of the plant is 60x40 cm.

white flowers

Narbonense (L. narbonse)

The flowers are pale to dark azure, about 3 cm in diameter, and bloom from late spring to mid-summer. This herbaceous or semi-evergreen perennial has grey-green narrow or lanceolate leaves. Often propagated by self-seeding. Winter hardiness has not been studied enough. The height and diameter of the plant is 50x30 cm.

Flax (Linum) - perennial or annual herbaceous plant from the Flax family. In nature, the plant can be found in temperate and subtropical latitudes of our planet.

Origin

Flax is native to Northwest Africa. More than 200 species of plants belong to the genus of flax, of which a little more than 40 are cultivated. 25 species of flax are grown as an ornamental crop.

Description

For gardeners, the following types and varieties of flax are of interest.

You can admire the wonderful flowering of flax by looking at the photo of the plant.

Conditions for growing flax

The plant is demanding on lighting, reconciles only with a light lacy shadow. Most best plots for decorative linen - open sunny areas. Flax planted in clearings attracts the eye with the brightness of flowering.

The plant is not demanding on the soil. The main thing is that the soil is well drained and has an alkaline reaction. Perennial flax prefers light sandy soils filled with humus at a dose of 5–7 kg per 1 sq. meter. Heavy clay soils are cultivated by adding sand, wood ash and lime. Annual species grow well on any soil.

Linen care is very simple. Watering plantings is required only in severe drought, usually, natural rainfall is enough for the flower.

Weeds will spoil the look of flower clearings, so you need to carry out weeding in a timely manner.
To avoid uncontrolled spread of the flower by self-sowing, you need to collect seed pods on time. Or take a separate area for flax, away from flower beds and flower beds.

With unfavorable weather conditions, flax can be affected by fusarium, rust. If, at the first signs of the disease, the treatment of plantings with fungicides is not started, there is a risk of losing all the plantings.

Flax propagation

Annual species are easily spread by sowing seeds in the ground, self-seeding is possible. Sowing is carried out in the spring, at the end of April - May, on prepared soil. Seeds are poured into grooves to a depth of 1.5 - 2 cm, the distance between seeds is 3 - 6 cm, between rows is 12 - 20 cm. Flax seedlings are friendly and fast.

Perennial species can be propagated by dividing the bush in early spring. The bush is dug up, and the rhizome is divided into parts. Delenki are planted in a prepared place, in a well-spilled hole. Sowing perennial flax seeds are carried out before winter. In one place, perennial plant species can grow up to 5 years.

Decorative linen in landscape design

Blooming throughout the summer bright flowers, flax is an important component of the Mauritanian lawn. Planted in the company of poppies, cereals, flax will complement a flower garden in a natural or rustic style.

Good flax planted near large plants with dark textured foliage. Perennial undersized flax is planted on alpine slide, combining with and bells, cereals; along the paths, in the foreground of flower beds. You should not combine linen with exquisite aristocratic flowers - roses, lilies, wild flower too simple for such a neighborhood.

Useful properties of flax

In addition to beautiful flowering, and growing for plant fiber, flax seed has a number of useful properties for the human body. The seed is especially rich in Omega 3, 6 and 9 acids. The product is useful for digestion, improves the condition of the skin, hair and nails. Flax seeds are taken for kidney disease, hormonal disorders, frequent colds, bronchitis, atherosclerosis, diabetes. Mucous flax decoctions and kissels are an excellent medicine for a sick stomach.

Flax seeds are added to cold salads, cereals, jelly is prepared, or simply eaten with water or juice. The combination of flaxseed and kefir will bring particular benefit to the gastrointestinal tract.

Important! More than 2 tbsp. spoons of flax seeds per day should not be consumed. The optimal dose for strengthening immunity is 8-10 g.

In the pharmacy you can buy not only flax seeds, but also linseed oil. It is useful to add it daily to salads without heat treatment.

In cosmetology, flax seeds are used as part of cleansing scrubs, smoothing masks.

See also video

Time to plant. That's right - the next summer season is coming and now is the time, if not to plant, then already have a plan for what should be planted on personal plot. Apart from any edible plants, we also want it to be beautiful. Slides, flower beds, rockeries... so many things you can do with your own hands. Now in garden stores there is a very large selection of various planting material: seedlings, seeds, bulbs, seedlings and what not, and literally everything you want to "drag" to your site. But will everything grow? Through trial and error (and spending money), what becomes the decoration of the garden is selected. My choice is usually based on the fact that the plant is not very demanding to care for; it is desirable that it is not affected by any diseases and pests; was winter-hardy; would not require seasonal digging for winter storage under certain conditions. So I'll try to talk about some of these inhabitants of my garden, maybe this will help someone make their choice.

Linen perennial blue

I'll start with a simple Russian flower - Blue Flax (Latin name Linum perenne). The blue fields of flax are familiar to many who at least once in their childhood traveled to distant Russian or Belarusian villages in the summer. This is the so-called fiber flax, from which linseed oil is made and one of the best and most durable fabrics, linen, is produced. In ornamental gardening, a similar form of plant is used, which is also grown as a perennial.

Flowers of blue perennial flax

Blue flax is a perennial herbaceous plant up to 50-60 cm high. The shoots are woody and thin. Flowers from pale blue to almost blue, collected in brushes, open on sunny days and fall off in the evening, but others open to replace them the next morning. Flowering is almost continuous - in good sunny weather from mid-May to mid-October. The duration of flowering is affected by the sun, regular watering, weed cleaning, removal of formed seed pods. Greatest effect achieved by planting flax in a large group: then a kind of blue bouquet is obtained, which has an unusual decorative effect.

Flax blue at the beginning of flowering

Flax is planted in April-May with seeds in an open sunny place. The soil does not have to be fertile, but it is still better to ennoble it first. Flax is not whimsical and does not require special care. Perennial flax blooms profusely in the second year after sowing, in the first year it also produces flowers, but very few in number. Life span? It all depends on climatic conditions: if it freezes or gets too wet, it will die in the second year, and if everything is fine, it will bloom for five years in one place, renewing itself through self-sowing. Flax bushes in the second year can be divided and seated. Transplant tolerates well, just the first time is needed good watering and some shading. Faded shoots are cut before winter (can be used as decorative bouquet from dried flowers in the presence of seed pods), shelter is not required, but if there is a forecast for a harsh frosty winter, then you can put a few branches of spruce branches on top.

Several red flax flowers in a flower garden

Blue perennial flax planted in rock gardens, on rocky areas among undersized perennials. There are several other types of flax, the seeds of which can now be bought in stores. This is an annual linen of red, pink and white color. There is also a variety of white and red linen. Seeds are also planted in April-May, these varieties bloom in the year of planting, flowering is not as plentiful as that of blue flax, and the whole plant dies in the fall. They also do not require much maintenance and are also decorative. Can be used as bright detail to give the flower garden brightness and color.

Among flower growers, the annual is very popular. flax large-flowered, and it grows on my site flax perennial. There are a lot of varieties of such flax. There are among them flax with red, blue and even yellow flowers. I like blue linen, it is very similar to fiber flax, from which, by the way, linseed oil and linen fabric are made.

The decorative form of flax has albeit thin, but, nevertheless, strong erect stems, narrow leaves and amazing heavenly blue flowers in five petals, which open before lunch and only on a bright sunny day.

The petals fall off so quickly that a blue carpet soon forms under the plant. But every day more and more flowers bloom, so continuous flowering lasts from May to July.

Flax perennial - landing

I bought seeds of perennial flax of the variety "Sky Blue" a few years ago just out of curiosity: I wanted to add a little blueness to my many flower beds. I chose the brightest places for planting, because I read that flax loves the sun.

Digging up the soil in spring, I introduced about 3-4 kg of compost, 1 tbsp. a spoonful of potassium sulfate, superphosphate and Agricola fertilizer (for flowering plants). I leveled the ground with a rake and spilled it well. As soon as the soil warmed up to 20 ° C, I made small holes, put a few seeds in each, covered it with garden soil and spilled it again with water. Two weeks later, the first shoots appeared. Seedlings grew by leaps and bounds, and very soon I was thinning them out. She left a distance of 20 cm between the seedlings. The extra seedlings were planted in a tighter group so that the bushes did not lean to the side.

Perennial flax: care

Flax perennial prefers moist soil, so I watered the plants regularly. And one early summer morning, making the usual round of her flower kingdom, I was happy to notice that my flax had blossomed. It was a wonderful sight: beautiful blue flowers, collected in forked inflorescences, warmed sunbeams and caressed by the warm breeze, swayed slightly, as if greeting me. It seemed as if the sky itself had descended to earth to draw rapturous attention to itself.

Now flax grows everywhere with me, because it reproduces well by dividing the bush.

Perennial flax also propagates by self-sowing. It happens that the place that the sprouted seed has chosen is prepared for completely different plants, and then I boldly transplant flax. He tolerates the transplant perfectly, and there is practically no care for him. It is not even necessary to tie it up, although it grows up to 60 cm in height.

The main thing is that the soil is fertile, watering regularly, and after flowering, do not forget to remove the inflorescences. In autumn, I cut the plants completely, I don’t cover them with anything, because flax is a cold-resistant crop. But still every year it becomes more and more. So far, this does not really bother me, because there are plenty of people who want to have a piece of heaven on the site.

And I am happy to share the grown self-seeding with all relatives, friends and neighbors.

On a note:

If the summer is not too dry, flax can be watered about once a week. In autumn, the plant does not need watering at all, it should dry naturally. It is enough just to cut flower shoots. Fertilizing is very important for flax, you can use liquid forms, enriching the soil with them when watering. The total number of nutritional procedures is 2-3 times during the season. Mandatory requirement is weeding, because weeds do not have the best effect on flax cultivation.

Pests, such as the flax flea, are also dangerous. Folk methods control is not always effective, but chemicals successfully cope with the problem. Unfortunately, charming linen is not very durable, however, this does not prevent him from remaining a favorite in modern flower beds. Perennial species are quite moisture-loving, but tolerate cold well. Flax in ornamental gardening is beautifully combined with other annuals in group compositions, rock gardens, flower walls, and mixed borders. » An ideal choice for decorating Moorish lawns with cornflowers, daisies, marigolds and meadow clover.

Flax is a bright, tender, unpretentious plant. As an ornamental plant, annual large-flowered flax and several perennial species.

Linen - ornamental plant for garden

Flax is a genus of perennial and annual plants flax family. The number of species is about 230. Gardeners grow several decorative types- annual and several perennial species among which the most common -, coarse flax and .

1. Large-flowered flax - an annual very tender, beautifully and continuously flowering plant, low up to 50 cm in height. Large-flowered flax flowers have a diameter of up to 4 cm and a variety of colors - white, red, pink, blue, some varieties have darker eyes in the center of the flower. The flowers open only in sunny weather. Large-flowered flax is beautiful, looks especially impressive large groups, is part of , suitable for cutting into . Large-flowered flax - plant, seeds can be sown directly in open ground May or winter. Blooms from June to September.

2. Linen perennial - perennial up to 50 cm tall with blue or white flowers up to 2 cm in diameter. Blooms in June-July.

3. Linen yellow - a perennial plant from 20 to 40 cm tall with bright yellow flowers up to 3 cm in diameter. Blooms in June-July.

4. Flax Austrian - perennial up to 50 cm in height, blue five-petal flowers. Blooms in May-June.

5. Flax Tauride - yellow flowers are collected on a pedicel about 50 cm long in umbellate inflorescences of 10-20 pieces.

Linen in garden design

Linen. Growing, planting and care

Flax is a photophilous plant that grows in sunny open places. Prefers lungs fertile soils with a neutral response.

Flax is propagated by seeds; in perennial species, except for seed propagation reproduction is possible by dividing the bush and cuttings. When propagated by seeds, flowering in perennial flax species begins from the second year. When planting, observe the distance between plants of about 15-20 cm.