Hare (Lagurus ovatus) - an elegant cereal plant with spikelets resembling the tails of hares. It is suitable for decorating flower beds and borders, as well as for bouquet compositions and crafts.
Plant description
The coast of the Mediterranean is considered the birthplace of lagurus, so he prefers dry and rocky terrain. In a mild climate, it behaves like a biennial and pleases in the spring with its spikelets, but in colder regions it does not survive the winter. As the annual blooms in July-August, spikelets appear in the warm area in early May.
Under favorable conditions, stalks of cereals grow up to 60 cm in height, and lush slightly elongated spikelets are 2-3 cm in length. The pubescence of the spikelets is long (2.5-4 cm), different in light color. Flat long leaves are attached to the stem at the base, reach 20 cm and are covered with small villi. The color of the foliage is silvery green.
Breeding
Haretail propagates by seed. Seeds are harvested from spikelets in the fall after they have dried and ripened. It is worth noting that in the warm winter you can find new seedlings from crumbled seeds.
Sowing begins in April in a greenhouse or small pots, followed by transplanting to a permanent place. This method allows you to grow more stable shoots or provide ripening in the northern regions. In mid-May, you can sow a hare in open ground.
Seeds are mixed with sand and deepened by 2-3 cm into the soil. They are sown at a distance of 10-15 cm from each other, since several stems form in the plant, with strong density the bunches will have to be thinned out. Shoots appear in 10-12 days. When growing in seedlings 2 weeks after sowing, the sprouts are dived and transplanted.
Cultivation and care
The hare tail is not pretentious to the type of soil and grows well on any soil. The plant is photophilous, but a small shadow is allowed. Suitable for growing in the garden or in pots on the balcony. It is resistant to drought, but in hot weather you need daily watering, especially when grown indoors, where raindrops do not reach.
To achieve the maximum height of the spikelets that will be used in bouquet compositions, lagurus needs to provide optimal development conditions. The land needs fertile, loose, you can add sand. Before flowering, with a periodicity of 10 days, nitrogen fertilizer is applied along with watering. After the formation of spikelets, they are fed twice with complex fertilizer. Mandatory access of light for 12-14 hours.
Spikelets for bouquets are cut before they begin to turn yellow. This will prevent shedding and retain an attractive appearance for a long time. Before cutting, the dew drops wait for drying, that is, they produce it closer to dinner or at the beginning of the evening.
Haretail is resistant to diseases and pests, as well as weather conditions. An excess of nitrogen fertilizers causes breakage of the stems and a more saturated (even dark) color of greenery. To avoid this, but give the cereal enough nutrients, you can replace one of the fertilizer with horn flour.
Use and partners
This medium-sized grass is suitable for framing rocky compositions and borders. To decorate the rock garden, a patchwork way of landing a hare tail, that is, in small groups, is suitable.
With this cereal, you can fill the space between the brighter flowering annuals or shrubs, suitable for use in the rose garden or in front of fruit bushes.
On the site of the hare tail, the neighborhood with unpretentious plants that prefer poor soil is suitable. Bright flowers look great against the background of its pale greenery, revitalizing the composition.
An interesting result of the neighborhood with other herbaceous perennials, which are distinguished by a dark saturated color of foliage. In this case, it is recommended to combine it with Irezine Herbst, Creeping Tender, Coleus Blume.
The use of dried flowers
Spikelets look very impressive in dry bouquets. To do this, they are cut to complete ripening, leaves are removed and collected in small free bundles. Suspend them to dry down with spikelets in a well-ventilated area.
Dried flowers have a gentle creamy tint, but lend themselves well to staining. To do this, you can use:
- special aerosol dyes;
- ordinary water-soluble paints and spray.
After tinting, the spikelets are dried for 1-2 days and used in the compositions.
The hare tailor goes well with any bright colors, but it is also suitable for independent bouquets; it’s enough to pick up spikelets painted in various colors.
