EQUISETUM hyemale

Original perennial aquatic plant with an herbaceous and particularly invasive consistency, belonging to the Equisetaceae family, widespread in the wild, not only in Europe, especially the northern one, but also in areas with a temperate climate of North America and Asia. Equipped with a sturdy rhizome from which thin rough, hollow stems, with a diameter of around 1 cm, which can reach a height of 1 m in perfect erect development, rise in a dense way, close to each other. Very similar in appearance to bamboo canes, although very small in size. Between the end of spring and summer some fruits are surmounted by short oval-shaped yellow-brown spikes that contain the spores necessary for the spread of plants.

It prefers sunny or very bright shady locations and a continuous layer of water not less than 5 cm in deep and humid soils; it tolerates long periods of intense frost and also adapts to winds from coastal areas; fears droughts especially if prolonged. It does not require specific pruning interventions; if anything, in spring you can simply remove old, dry, broken or yellowed branches, to stimulate the vegetative restart. suitable to cultivation near the shores of ponds and ponds with still waters, it is able to give the garden an image of modernity, contemporaneity and due to its verticality, associated with plants with different leaves, it manages to solve outdoor spaces in an architectural way. It also lends itself to growing in large containers of balconies, terraces and verandas as long as it can contain a few cm of water above the ground level.