Abstract
This study investigate the growth performance and the dynamic community of multi-species annual flowers in tropical landscape. The multi-species plant community produce an attractive colour of flowers according to their flowering peak of each species that have been tested. At the first growth cycle, the earliest species to bloom were Gomphrena globosa and Zinnia elegans which took 8 weeks after seed were sown. Meanwhile, Cosmos spp and Tithonia rotundifolia were the late species to bloom which took 14 weeks after seeds were sown. At the second growth cycle, the multi-species annual plants bloom much earlier which is only 3 weeks after pruning. The mean plant height and dry weight of several species on both growth cycles show a significant difference (P<0.05). Cosmos sulphureus and Cosmos caudatus recorded maximum heights on both growth cycles with C. sulphureus recording a maximum dry weight of about 172.5 gm/plant in the first growth cycle. Overall, the established multi-species plant community developed, had a lifespan of 5- 6 months in each growth cycle. The second growth cycle plant community was formed through self-sowing and vegetative part after pruning.
Highlights
Annual flowers are popular ornamental plants that are used in landscaping
Knowledge on species suitability and patterns of long run dynamic change in the plants community are essential to be identified from a landscape planning perspective [4, 8]. This is to ensure that the right species of ornamental plants would be chosen in order to produce an interesting impact of flowers. Since these areas are yet to be explored, the objective of this study is to identify the natural dynamics of mixing several multi-species flowering annuals in tropical landscape
This study was conducted at the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI), Ornamental Complex, Serdang, Malaysia
Summary
Annual flowers are popular ornamental plants that are used in landscaping. They are grown to add color in a garden [1, 2]. Annual flowering plants are propagated and grown in a nursery until they produce buds or flowers before being transferred to the landscape areas. It involves high cost of planting materials and maintenance. To resolve this problem, the technique of directly sowing multi-species flowering annuals in the tropical landscape area has a potential to be practiced [3]
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