Even humble grass has great value, so give it a round of applause

Applause for the Little Grass

My favorite thing is growing beautiful big flower balls, yet I always feel the flower balls are missing something. Why is it that even when they are grown more beautifully than the overseas promotional photos, the pictures still feel like they lack something? Later I realized it was because the background when photographing the flower balls was too casual.

Speaking of this, what I most want to thank are my gardening friends, who always reminded me that my garden is a nursery, which made me think of creating backgrounds for the flower balls, such as dichondra, ferns, foxtail grass, ornamental sweet potato, ornamental begonia, strawflower, cordyline, and so on. These green plants combined with the flower balls look absolutely stunning.

Below are my planting notes for adding little grasses to the garden:

Pots: Dichondra is trailing and suits hanging pots and wall-mounted pots. Foxtail grass, fountain grass, ornamental sweet potato, coleus, and ferns suit deep, large pots. Ornamental begonia and strawflower are fine in medium pots.

Substrate: Peat plus perlite at 4 to 1, with organic base fertilizer and slow-release fertilizer added (use half the amount according to the instructions). It is not picky about soil; old soil and garden soil are both fine.

Fertilizer: Miracle-Gro general-purpose water-soluble fertilizer during the seedling stage

Pests: Occasionally red spider mites and small green caterpillars; use abamectin and Huhuashen. For red spider mites, available pesticides: Aikaman, abamectin.

Temperature: Dichondra, strawflower, cordyline, ornamental sweet potato, coleus, foxtail grass, and ferns are heat-tolerant and cold-tolerant, but their most beautiful state is from spring to early summer, at a temperature of 20-30°C.

Light: Likes plenty of sunlight, at least 4 hours of light.

Propagation: Dichondra by cuttings or sowing. For dichondra, strawflower, ornamental sweet potato, and coleus cuttings: at a temperature above 20°C, take healthy young branches 8 cm long and insert them into planting soil, keeping them moist; they can be placed directly in the sun. The survival rate is high and growth is fast, rooting in about half a month.

Pruning: Over time, when the leaves turn dry and yellow, or when the shape looks bad, you can prune it. Cut it flat across the top, then wait for it to sprout again and grow full.

What I like most are the trailing dichondra 'Silver Falls' and 'Green Falls', as well as this variegated-leaf variety. In spring, dichondra grows very quickly.

'Silver Falls' on April 9, 2017 (Figure 1);

The variegated variety on April 9, 2017 (Figure 2);

April 11, 2017 (Figure 3);

On April 15, 2017, dichondra paired with petunia flower balls is super beautiful, all kinds of cascades. (Figure 4)

On April 19, 2017, the trailing branches of 'Silver Falls' had grown much longer (Figure 5);

'Silver Falls' on April 25, 2017 (Figure 6), and the variegated variety (Figure 7).

May 16, 2017 (Figure 8)

On May 16, 2017, ornamental begonia (Figures 9 and 10), as well as the Suisui Hong shared by my good friend Sister Wuyou (Figure 11), and the fern I pulled up from the roadside and planted (Figure 12).

On May 22, 2017, 'Silver Falls' had trailed down very long (Figure 13).

Coleus on May 25, 2017 (Figure 14).

On May 30, 2017, fern (Figure 15) and 'Silver Falls' (Figure 16).

On June 2, 2017, photographed with chrysanthemums (Figure 17).

On June 6, 2017, photographed with the flower balls. Thanks to the little grasses, the flower ball group no longer looks too showy and gains a touch of delicate beauty (Figure

18)。

On June 10, 2017, photographed with tomatoes (Figure 19). In the picture are cordyline, dichondra, horsetail grass, fern, ornamental begonia, and strawflower. Doesn't this look like a giant grass making its entrance under the gaze of ten thousand grasses?

June 17, 2017 (Figure 20).

On June 21, 2017, Suisui Hong had grown a bit bigger (Figure 21), and Green Falls had also filled its pot (Figure 22).

On July 5, 2017, in the photo with the Catharanthus roseus 'Cora Cascade' are ornamental sweet potato, ornamental begonia, horsetail grass, coleus, and fern. (Figure 23)

On July 15, 2017, a quiet corner (Figure 24).

On July 20, 2017, the foxtail grass I pulled up from the roadside and planted in the lower left corner bloomed. The Silver Falls in the upper right corner is very beautiful. (Figure 25)

On July 23, 2017, Suisui Hong bloomed (Figure 26).

On July 26, 2017, the foxtail grass in the lower right had more flowers, and the pennata grass beside the chair had also grown a big black tail (Figure 27).

On August 4, 2017, the pennata grass beside the chair grew even more tails (Figure 28).

On August 6, 2017, the foxtail grass became even more beautiful (Figure 29).

Looking at the flowers through the gaps of the foxtail grass, isn't it interesting? (Figure 30)

This year is bound to see many famous flower balls take the stage. Dear little grasses, please keep up the good work and do well in the greening work of the showground. Thanks also to my gardening friends for reading; if you like it, give the little grasses a like.