Flower clock on the plot

23-07-2018

Tips and ideas

Thousands of years ago, the ancient Greeks noticed that the life of flowers is subject to its laws, they bloom and close the petals every day at the same time. For each of them this time is individual. This principle was laid down in the original landscape design by the inhabitants of ancient Hellas, and behind them the Romans, decorating the flowerbeds with original clock plants.

Discovery of the great nerd

He described the principle of work and created the first floral clock by the famous Swedish botanist Karl Linney, who lived and worked in Uppsala more than two and a half centuries ago.

One can only guess how the idea of this wonderful creation came into his head.

Most likely, this industrious and inquisitive Swede, collecting plants and flowers for their further description, did not have time to do everything at once. He had to create herbariums, put flowers in numerous vases.

Being very observant, the scientist noticed that fresh flowers standing in vases behave almost the same way as their fellows growing in the ground. They are characterized by high sensitivity to time - a kind of clock. Having done a great job and thoroughly studied the movements of plants associated with the level of illumination (photo-motion movements of colors) Linnae created a unique watch. They consisted of fifty kinds of flowers, arranged so that they could determine the time of day.

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They did not work up to a minute, they “strayed” into cloudy and rainy time, but this was an unprecedented masterpiece of the great master.

Flower clock in park complexes

Many people tried to repeat the creation of Linnaeus, but only a few of the most successful experiments.

Nearly six decades ago, a five-meter second-hand flower watch with a second hand was launched in Geneva. Taking into account the Linnean rules for the formation of flower beds, the Swiss planted flowers on it according to the order of their blooming, focusing on individual bio-clocks of plants. Similar watches, but smaller in size, exist in Japan.

In Moscow, there is a flower bed-clock the size of twice the size of a Geneva one. Here the dial is perilla and kohii, and the numbers are bright maroon-red begonias, characterized in that they do not cover the flowers even at night. In Cairo, a copy of a Swiss watch has recently appeared, adjusted for local climate and weather. Swiss flower growers selected the most suitable plants for this hot country.

The tireless Swiss also presented a splendid flower and watch composition to the city on the Neva River for its 300th anniversary.

Trimming the clock with flowers is a curious procedure. It consists in the following:

vertically mounted on a flower bed is a movable board for a flower "hairdresser";
in the work of a specialist help a few people, cutting with the help of special tools that resemble a chainsaw with the function of suction;
the quality of work is constantly monitored by various measuring instruments, up to the astrolabe.

Yet with the scale, grandeur and undeniable beauty of these flower arrangements, they all have a clockwork, decorated with flowers. Fully masterpiece Linnaeus has not yet been repeated by anyone.

Flower clock in Anapa (video)

Flower clock do it yourself

You can create a unique flower composition with your own hands. Considering the fact that it is difficult to keep up with Linnaeus, and in different geographical conditions the plants differ in the specificity of their behavior, we should not pursue the goal of creating an absolutely accurate flower clock. To do this, you need a long time to study the behavior of plants of your land. However, landscape composition, including a flower-hour pattern, created by himself, will not lose due to minor time errors. Everything will be redeemed by its beauty and originality.

Location selection

The landing site is, at times, crucial. Flower garden is better to break on a brightly lit slope, where it will look especially impressive. It is desirable that this area is never shaded, i.e. was away from tall trees and buildings.

It is good if this place is visible from a distance, or often visited garden paths will run nearby.

Flower bed options

A flower bed consisting of patches or sectors, in each of which identical flowers are planted, will look picturesque. To simplify the task, it is better not to deviate from the often used, round-shaped clock, placing inside 12 segments corresponding to 12 hours. To do this, you can use the finished table with the corresponding indicators of the biorhythms of flowering plants in your area. It does not matter if the exact data for a particular option does not exist. After all, the wonder-clock plays, rather, the role of beautiful scenery. But it should be remembered that such clocks work only in sunny weather.

A worthy alternative to the first flowerbed will be the following variation. In this case, a flower bed is placed on the lawn, the green of which perfectly emphasizes the variety and brightness of the colors that serve as numbers. It is not necessary that they bloom strictly by the hour. Time will be indicated by the usual hands of a large mechanical watch.

Another option may be the use of a sundial. Flowers here will serve as a dial. Their biorhythms in this case play no role. A temporary guideline in this case is the shadow of a high rack, column or something like that.

Such a guide (gnomon) is placed in the center of the dial, slightly tilting it to the north, orienting with the direction of the compass. And the best time for this is noon. At this time, the shadow cast by the arrow should be on the number "12".

The markings of the remaining numbers are carried out according to the indication of the shadow, determined by the hour.

Then all the plants are planted. Flowers, you can choose any. It is convenient to use containers with flowers for this, having slightly buried them, as is done in parks. When the planted flower plants fade away, you can simply remove the container with them, replacing it with another. For example, it is good to replace primroses with petunias, and then with other autumn flowers. Figures lay out stones or other materials insensitive to moisture. To delineate them, on the contours of the numbers it is desirable to place a stonecrop or other low, contrasting, non-flowering plants.

Flower clock fits perfectly into any compositional design of the garden plot. There are many options for their execution. The choice of each of them depends on the wishes and possibilities of the owner and his household. The main thing is that you can create all this magnificence yourself. Such a flower bed will be the pride of the whole family, it will help to raise the mood, will revive the garden with its many colors.