Working conditions of the flower clock, the choice of plants according to the daily cycle and color, instructions for creating a flower bed on the site. A flower clock is an unusual flower bed at a summer cottage, created from carefully selected herbaceous plants that dissolve and close inflorescences at a certain time. Compositions with original functionality are called Flora Clocks. We learn about the rules for creating such a garden flower garden from this article.
Features of the formation of a flower clock
For a flower bed, you will need flowers that open and close the inflorescences at a certain time. By the state of the buds, you can determine the time of day. The composition always acts as the center of everyone's attention and is considered the most spectacular place in the country.
For the first time the Swedish scientist Karl Linnaeus created the original flower bed in the 18th century. He planted the plants in a circular area in sectors, and next to them he set up signs with numbers indicating the time. The flower clock of Carl Linnaeus shows the exact time only in his homeland in the Swedish city of Uppsala. In other places, the buds open and close with a large margin of error.
The main conditions for the functioning of the clock are a sunny day and the absence of a number of tall objects that create shade. The lack of direct rays of the sun knocks down the biorhythms of flowers, the buds may not open, which affects the accuracy of the readings. For the same reason, the watch is useless in cloudy weather.
Taking into account all the nuances, the error will be no more than 30 minutes. To reduce the error, a flower garden is sometimes made with a shadow arrow, which increases the accuracy to 10 minutes.
Despite the original appearance, few gardeners decide to create such a flower bed. This is due to the difficulty of maintaining its functionality. Flowers often dry out and create gaps in the composition that need to be filled with plants of the same species. It is also difficult to find flowers for a given area that bloom at a certain time and combine with each other.
Recommendations for choosing plants
To create a decorative flower garden project, you need to understand the daily biorhythms of different colors. Each species has its own. Plants dissolve and close the inflorescences and change the position of the leaves so that the sun's rays illuminate them longer.
Phytochrome pigments are responsible for the process. There are only two of them. During the day, they periodically turn into one, and then into the second. Initially, the reaction occurs under the influence of sunlight, and at night the pigment turns into its original state. Thus, the flower "remembers" what time of day it is on the street, and creates its own order of life. In a darkened place, the plants will not change the established routine for some time. But if they are in an unfamiliar place long enough, the biorhythms will be disrupted and they will adapt to new living conditions.
The reaction of colors to light depends on many factors, but circadian rhythms associated with the climatic zone and geographical latitude are considered the main ones. In different areas, the difference between the opening and closing of the buds of the same species can reach 1.5-2 hours.
Making a watch out of flowers is not easy, but fun. To get what you want, you need two types of plants. Some create the shape of a flower garden, others really show the time. The flower bed is unlikely to turn out too beautiful, because wild species, mostly unattractive, are used to create it. But they have an individual "schedule" of opening and closing the buds, which is appreciated by gardeners.
In order not to carry out lengthy experiments, you can use the tables compiled by experienced gardeners, which indicate the opening and closing times of the buds for your area.
Flowers are selected in such a way that they match in color. At the same time, the main rule for the formation of the composition must be observed: the plants bloom continuously, ensuring the functioning of the clock from May to late autumn.
For central Russia, you can use the information from the lists below.
Flowers that open in the morning:
- Meadow goatbeard - 3.00-4.00;
- Daylily brown-yellow - 5.00;
- Sowing flax - 6.00-6.30;
- Kulbaba rough - 7.00;
- Nettle bellflower - 8.00;
- Calendula officinalis - 9.00-10.00;
- Red torus - 10.00-11.00;
- Abutilon megapotamskiy - 11.00-12.30.
In the afternoon, the buds of these flowers are closed:
- Field sow thistle - 12.00;
- Rooting trap - 13.00-14.30;
- Bittersweet nightshade - 14.00-15.00;
- Perennial flax - 15.00;
- Calendula officinalis - 16.00;
- Yellow capsule - 17.00;
- Buttercup long-leaved - 18.00;
- Holosteel poppy - 19.00;
- White water lily - 19.00-20.00;
- The drooping smole - 21.00-22.00.
All of the listed plants are selected according to the color scheme. They are not demanding and take root well. If these species are rare in the area, use others, choosing such that they do not spoil the overall composition. Here is an alternative list to help gardeners.
Inflorescence opening time:
- Chicory, bitterness, rosehip - 4.00-5.00;
- Poppy, garden sow thistle, locust lily - 5.00;
- Medicinal dandelion, roofing skerda - 5.00-6.00;
- Periwinkle, field carnation - 6.00;
- Hairy hawk - 6.00-7.00;
- White water lily, tricolor violet, field bindweed - 7.00-8.00;
- Mother and stepmother - 9.00-10.00;
- Purslane, sowing lettuce - 10.00;
- Adonis, vegetable salad - 11.00-12.00.
Closing time of buds:
- Field flower - 10.00-11.00;
- Garden sow thist - 11.00-12.00;
- Umbrella hawk - 13.00;
- Medicinal dandelion - 14.00;
- Calendula, hairy hawk - 15.00-16.00;
- Marigolds - 16.00-17.00;
- Common oxalis, tricolor violet - 18.00;
- Rosehip - 19.00-20.00;
- Sticky tar - 20.00.
To create a clock from flowers with your own hands, reminiscent of breakfast, lunch and dinner, plant the following plants:
- Violets, calendula and coltsfoot bloom between 7:00 and 10:00;
- Bells and poppy flowers bloom between 1pm and 3pm;
- Between 20.00 and 21.00, the buds of scented tobacco open.
Ornamental shrubs and climbing species can be used instead of flowers. In this case, place the plants so that they do not interfere with each other. Plant high varieties around the perimeter of the flower garden, undersized ones inside the flower bed.
You can plant plants that predict the weather. For example, in anticipation of the heat, the fern twirls the leaves. Exotic monstera, before the rain, emits droplets of moisture that flow down the leaves. The marigolds and mallow cover the buds, the honeysuckle begins to smell strong, and the clover shrivels.
How to make a watch out of flowers
The formation of a flower bed is carried out in several stages. First, the issues of the location of the decorative composition on the site are resolved, and then more complex tasks are the selection of flowers according to the time of blooming of the buds. Details about each stage are below.
Step-by-step instructions for creating a flower bed in the form of a clock
Before making a flower clock, walk all over the site and choose the sunniest place that can be seen from afar. Make sure it is away from tall trees and buildings blocking the sun. This will ensure that the clock functions. The flower bed should be located at a distance of at least 1 m from the paths, so the whole composition is better visible.
Consider the instructions for creating a flower clock:
- Draw a circle that is the border of the flower garden. Divide it into 12 sectors, like on a mechanical watch.
- Plant contrasting plants or rubble around the circumference and borders of the inner areas.
- Choose species with well-defined daily biorhythms and plant them in sectors, taking into account the opening and closing times of the buds. If you can't find flowers for a period of time, plant lawn grass.
- You can make another one inside the main circle. The inner sectors are for planting plants that open flowers at a specific hour, the outer sectors are for those closing at the same time.
- Cut out plaques from plywood and stamp the time numbers 1 through 12 on them. The size of the numbers should be such that they can be seen from a distance.
- Place the signs in front of the relevant sector, near the border of the site.
- To enhance the effect, flower clocks require a background against which the plants will stand out. To do this, plant shrubs or trees with dark foliage or needles on the back of the flower garden. Hawthorn, cotoneaster, etc. are also suitable.
- To make the flower bed look attractive at night, when the buds are closed, add beautiful flowers to the sectors - petunia, cinenarraria, coleus, etc.
- Observe the clock for several days and determine the error in opening and closing the buds. If it is longer than 30 minutes, plant other varieties.
When planting plants, consider the characteristics of each species:
- Keep dandelions and coltsfoot in containers because of their aggressiveness.
- For water lilies, dig a pit 50 cm deep. Fill the bottom with sand with a layer of 5-10 cm, cover the top with non-woven material and PVC film, which must be fixed with stones so as not to be blown away by the wind. Mark the borders of the pit with stones. Plant the water lilies in containers with soil and place them in a pond. Fill the well with water.
- Next to the bindweed, make a support with wooden slats.
- If you are going to plant a morning glory, carefully consider how it will grow. From it you can get a column or a pyramid. 2-3 columns from different varieties of morning glory look good.
In the hot season, the plants must be constantly watered. The procedure is recommended to be carried out early in the morning, when it is not hot, so that sunburns do not occur on the leaves. Pour water directly under the root.
DIY flower clock with shadow arrow
Often, a clock made of flowers is complemented by a shadow hand, which is created by a column in the middle of the flower bed - a gnomon. It is installed at the very beginning of work, in the center of the flower garden. Time is determined by the shadow from it falling into sectors with open or closed flowers. Then perform the following operations:
- Determine on the compass where north is, and slightly tilt the gnomon towards it.
- Exactly at noon at the point of intersection of the shadow from the post with the border of the flower bed (circle), drive in the post. Repeat the operation at the beginning of the next hour, marking the intersection points of the shadow and the circle.
- Draw lines from the pegs to the gnomon, dividing the circle into sectors. Highlight the borders in any way you like.
- Plant flowers in sectors, taking into account their biorhythms. It is allowed to plant one or several species, everything is determined by the combination of plants.
- Make 12 tablets with numbers from 1 to 12 or place them on the ground with pebbles. Highlight them around the perimeter with low and ground cover plants - stonecrops, rejuvenates or other herbaceous species. Choose a color so that they stand out against the background of the flower bed. To maintain shape, trim them periodically.
How to make a clock from potted flowers
This option is considered the easiest to perform. To create it, you will need containers where the selected flowers are grown. Subsequently, it is allowed not to plant flowers in open ground.
The use of containers allows you to quickly remove faded plants. For example, a pot of spring primroses in the summer is changed to petunias. In the fall, instead of summer varieties, display decorative ones - asters or chrysanthemums.
To create a flower bed-clock from flowers, select 1.5 m2 in a sunny open meadow. Prepare the following accessories: flower pots: 6-10 pcs. small, 5 large and 1 medium; axis 90 cm long; paint with a brush; stone or paving slabs to create a level surface.
Perform the following operations:
- Paint the numbers 3, 6, 9, 12 on large containers. Number small pots starting with 7 (morning) and ending with 8 (evening) or more, it all depends on the daylight hours of the day and the plants used. When marking, keep in mind that small containers will be upside down.
- Plant light-loving species with beautiful inflorescences in large flowerpots. In this case, the flowering time is not taken into account. To make your flower bed look colorful, choose plants of the same height.
- Pave the clearing with tiles, stone or cement, controlling the levelness of the surface.
- Place a medium-sized pot in the middle and fill with rubble.
- Fix the axle in the container. The shadow from it should fall on the pots with numbers and show the time.
- Hourly mark the location of the shade on the site and place a pot on it with numbers corresponding to the time of the procedure. The watch is now ready for use.
The time is determined by the number on the pot, on which the shadow from the axis fell. After a few weeks, the position of the flowers in the composition must be corrected, because the sun will change its position above the horizon.
How to make a clock from flowers - watch the video:
To create a functioning clock, be sure to consider the biological criteria for plant life, which depend on the coordinates of the terrain. The study of such properties and the choice of flowers according to the data obtained takes a long time, therefore the most successful flower beds are obtained from people who have a lot of free time and are not limited in funds.
