Henan flower farmers have been breeding peonies for 20 years to help sheep city people enjoy the "flower king" at the doorstep of the people

China News Network Guangzhou, January 20 Title: Henan flower farmers breed peonies for 20 years, let the Yangcheng people appreciate the "flower king" at the doorstep of the people's homes

Author Wang Jian Li Biqiu

"Only peonies are really national colors, and the flowers move the capital during the blossoming season." Peony, one of the top ten famous flowers in China, is known as "the national color of heavenly fragrance, the king of flowers", and has been loved by the public since ancient times. But in the past, the characteristics of liking cold and afraid of heat determined that peonies could only grow in the northern part of the mainland, and the southernmost place of growth could only go to Anhui, and the people in the Lingnan area had no chance to enjoy the style of "Kao" at their doorstep. Letting peonies cross the region to bloom in Guangzhou has always been the wish of Henan flower farmers and wei.

Wei Zhuxin grew up in the peony field in Luoyang, Henan Province, and grew up with his elders to plant peonies in the fields, and also mastered some anti-seasonal flowering techniques handed down from ancient times to the present. In 1993, he and his master came to the South China Botanical Garden for the first time to hold a peony flower exhibition, when there were few varieties of flower exhibitions, the plants were bare and only bloomed without long leaves, and the flowering period was short. Since then, he has been associated with the South China Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The natural flowering period of peonies is from April to May in the spring, and if the flowering period is advanced to the Spring Festival, the citizens of Yangcheng City can see the graceful posture of the "Flower King" at their doorstep, and this good wish has contributed to the beautiful cause of Wei Zhuxin.

Wei Zhuxin's horticultural company cooperates with scientists from scientific research institutes and universities of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to conduct research, from the amount of cold required for plant vernalization to the heat required for flower blooming, from the drugs needed to enter sleep to the hormones needed to break sleep, etc., practice again and again, failure after failure, year after year groping, but also year by year to improve.

After ten years of painstaking research by Wei Zhu, the time came to 2013, when the first peony flower exhibition of south China Botanical Garden was held during the Spring Festival, the number of peony varieties on display had reached 60, and the peony on the scene was not only colorful, but also the plants were full of green leaves, which was more feminine.

Nowadays, the Peony Flower Exhibition of South China Botanical Garden has entered the tenth session, and after nearly ten years of continuous accumulation of experience and improvement of anti-seasonal flowering technology, it is now possible to accurately control the flowering period of each peony variety, so that early-flowering varieties, conventional varieties and late-flowered varieties can bloom at the same time, so that the general public can watch more blooming peony varieties at the same time at the flower exhibition.

"I've loved painting peonies since I was a child, I used to look at photos on the Internet to draw, many places need to imagine for myself, now you can see real flowers to paint, it's really great." 」 A primary school student in Guangzhou told reporters that she was very happy to see so many kinds of peonies, and she could paint a lot of peonies that she had not painted before this winter vacation.

For the 2022 Spring Festival Flower Exhibition, Wei Zhuxin carefully selected more than 8,000 peonies 40 days in advance, not far from Luoyang to the South China Botanical Garden for flowering.

This batch of precious peonies has undergone low-temperature dormancy in the early stage, greenhouse maintenance in the later stage, the use of advanced cultivation technology, fine management, and flowering regulation according to the accumulated accumulated temperature and drugs, etc. At this moment, it has begun to show a rich and dignified posture, and is ready to "meet" with the public.

At the first peony flower exhibition in 2013, the peony flowers needed to start flowering from Luoyang to the south 55 days in advance. Back to the time of Wei Zhuxin's exhibition in 1993, it took 60 days to urge the exhibition. 20 years of painstaking research, the science and technology breeding flower condensation in this seemingly short but actually very "long" 20 days, so that Yangcheng residents can see more and more varieties of peonies at their doorstep.

"The anti-seasonal flowering technology enables peonies to bloom in Yangcheng, thousands of miles away from the place of growth, so that the people of Huacheng City can appreciate the charm of 'National Color Heavenly Fragrance and King of Hundred Flowers' in advance to the Spring Festival, so that the business card of Guangzhou Flower City adds more color and contributes to the strength of the national scientific research team for 'Flower City To See Flowers', which is the original intention and mission of our peony flower exhibition in the past ten years." Wang Ying, director of the Horticultural Center of the South China Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that if cooling, heating and other facilities are in place, their current technology can achieve the peony flower at any time of the year. (End)

【Editor: Chen Wentao】

Source: China News Network