The sunflower belongs to the Ladannikov family, and is also known by the names Tender, heliantemum, stone flower, sun rose. It is distributed throughout the world, from northern Africa to the Arctic regions of Russia. Some subspecies are cultivated by gardeners and are popular due to their unpretentiousness in content and picturesque flowering.
Sunflower description
The Latin name helianthemum is due to the fact that it opens the buds at sunrise, and in the evening the petals crumble. It is a perennial or annual shrub with a straight or creeping stalk 10-30 cm long. Green oval-shaped leaves are arranged in pairs opposite each other.
Flowers can be single, although in most cases they are collected in brushes or panicles. They consist of 5 petals, and in the center have many yellow stamens. Their color is most often yellow, but it is white, pink or purple. Fruits are seed boxes consisting of one or three nests. 
Arctic
Types and varieties of sunflower
The genus heliantemum has about 70 subspecies, of which only some are grown by gardeners for decorative purposes. Outwardly, they differ in size, shape and shade of leaves and buds.
| View | Features | Leaves / Flowers | Height (cm) |
| Monolithic (Nummularium) | From the Mediterranean and southern Europe. Creeping, rising or outstretched, evergreen. | Elongated-oval, green, felt-gray inside out. Cup-shaped, yellow, in hybrids of pink shades, form curls up to 25 mm. | 30-40. |
| Alpine (oelandicum) | Grows in the mountains and foothills. Ground cover, winter hardy. | Thick, elongated, pubescent. Five-petalled, bright yellow. | 10-15. |
| Large flowered (grandiflorum) | It occurs in the mountains in the Crimea. Creeping shoots. | Oval, light green. Large, up to 40 mm in diameter, rich yellow. | Up to 30. |
| Apennine (apenninum) | Shrub native to Asia Minor and the mountains of Europe. Erect stems. | Elongated, with a silver edge on the inside. White-pink with a yellow middle, with a diameter of up to 20-30 mm, in inflorescences of 3-10 pcs. | 20-25. |
| Gray-haired (canum) | It grows in the rocky areas of Europe, northern Africa. | Velvety gray-green. Lemon five-petalled. | 10-30. |
| Mutable | Rising above the ground. | Lanceolate, pubescent from below. Pinkish-white, 20 mm, collected in curls. | Up to 25. |
| Arctic (arcticum) | An endangered species from the Murmansk region of the Russian Federation. It grows with a shrub. | Elongated, green or brownish tint. Bright yellow, up to 25 mm across, in inflorescences of 3-6 pieces. | 10-40. |
Heliantemum obtained by crossing natural species is called hybrid. It has many upright, creeping and other varieties. Their leaves have approximately the same shape and color, and the buds differ mainly.
| Grade | Flowers |
| Pink lawrence | Light pink with an orange eye. |
| The Fire Dragon | Bright red, brightening towards the center. |
| Red Dragon | Uniform red color. |
| Bride, snow queen | Beige with a yellow middle. |
| Anniversary, Golden Queen | Lemon yellow with a terry rim. |
| Cherry Queen, Ruby | Saturated red with full buds. |
| Polar bear | Snow-white with a yellow center. |
| Cornish cream | Cream, light orange in the center. |
| Bronze carpet | Orange with pointed petals. |
| Cheviot | Gentle apricot hue. |
The stems and leaves of all these varieties are painted in different shades of green, have a similar shape and a silver edge down.
Growing a sunflower from seeds
Heliantemum is a grassy plant for open ground, which is capable of propagating by seeds, cuttings and division of the bush. So that it is better rooted in the ground, ripened seeds need to be sown for seedlings.
Seeding for seedlings
It is better to sow tender wood in the first days of spring in a peat mix. Transplanting, picking and dividing weaken the root system of young shoots, but pots of peat solve this problem. The substrate in them is pre-moistened and 2-3 seeds are laid on top. Then they are sprinkled with a thin layer of fine sand and wrapped in cellophane.
When growing from seeds, seedlings are provided with a temperature not lower than + 18 ... +25 ° C and the influx of scattered sunlight. Shoots can appear no earlier than a week, or even a month later. This should be monitored in order to remove the film in time and transfer the containers to cool at + 15 ... +16 ° C.
Growing plants thin out, cutting off the weakest of them and leaving one the strongest in each pot. And then periodically watered and carefully loosened.
Heliantemum planting in open ground
Seedlings are planted in the soil in the second half of May or the first days of June. Their hardening is preliminarily necessary for 1.5-2 weeks. To do this, they are taken out into the open in a calm place. The length of stay increases daily from several hours until the plants can not be on the street around the clock.
For direct planting, you should choose sunlit areas on neutral or alkaline soil mixed with sand or crushed crushed stone. Holes should be located at a distance of 0.3 m from each other, which will provide free growth of bushes. Peat pots with seedlings are placed in them, slightly dug into the ground and watered from above.
Sunflower care
Heliantemum is a fairly unpretentious evergreen perennial. It needs to be watered from time to time, fertilized, weed and clean the soil of weeds, cut off faded shoots and cover for winter.
Watering
Under normal conditions, in the spring and autumn the gentleman does not need to be watered, at this time he has enough natural rainfall. Humidification of the soil may be needed only in the summer, in arid sultry weather.
Water for this is pre-sedimented and heated in the sun.
Fertilizer
The ground near each plant should be weeded, saturated with oxygen and cleared of weeds. Heliantemum receives all mineral substances from the soil, but as necessary, additional nutrition from liquid organic matter is added. This is done before the buds appear. It is worth remembering that an excess of fertilizers, especially nitrogen fertilizers, will lead to abundant growth of greenery and rare flowering.
Pruning
To improve the appearance of perennial tenderness need to regularly trim. In most cases, he drives out the first buds in June-July. They fade in about a month, and then a third of the length of the shoots with wilted flowers must be cut off. This will give accuracy to the bushes and will allow to drive out a new color.
In addition, plants older than 5 years are rejuvenated by dividing into several bushes.
Wintering
In general, the sunflower has a high winter hardiness, but some species do not tolerate wintering. Protection will not be needed for the Apennine and monolithic representatives and others, in particular with yellow or orange flowers. Whereas alpine and many hybrid varieties, especially with red color and silver leaves, need to be covered for the winter. For this, dry foliage, spruce branches, hay or agrofibre can serve.
Pests and diseases
The main danger to the gentleman is the following problems:
- Rot due to excess moisture during heavy rains and snowmelt. Affected plants are removed from the site, which is then watered with a fungicide solution such as Fundazole.
- Powdery mildew manifests itself in the form of white plaque on leaves that fade over time. This usually occurs with excessive humidity, improper pruning, thickening of plantings, or a sharp change in temperature. It is eliminated by fungicidal preparations.
- Aphids and thrips suck out cellular juice from the leaves, weakening them and leading to death. The biological effect will be given by biological insecticides, such as Fitoverm, Trichopolum, Actofit.
Mr. Summer resident advises: the use of sunflowers in the landscape
The stone flower is a groundcover plant covering a piece of land with a flowering coverlet. In landscape design, it is used to create complex combined and multi-tiered flower beds, artificial stone gardens. It is able to grow even on infertile and rocky ground, fixing and decorating walls, slopes, garden paths and borders.
It is best to plant a sunflower in the soap dish, Veronica, dolphin, Iberis, armeria and other creeping perennials.
In addition, he will make a good contrast composition with bells, sedum and many erect garden plants. Moreover, they can be selected so that flowering begins at one or different time, creating patterns from flowers.
