20 best varieties of lilac (photo with description)

Some people love thunderstorms in early May, while others prefer the lush blooming of fragrant lilacs. Which varieties should you prefer so that the spring flower garden sparkles with bright colors?

Common lilac of all varieties exudes a pleasant smell, which we often associate with the approach of summer. Therefore, no matter what variety you choose, you are guaranteed a fragrant garden. But for greater effect, it is better to combine plants of different shades and with varying degrees of flower terry. Let's see which varieties of common lilac have already won the hearts of many gardeners.

Pink Perfume

A small bush - less than a meter high, about 160 centimeters wide. Gardeners adore this variety for its flowering in two waves - in June and August, until the first frost. For abundant flowering in the second wave, it is recommended to cut off faded panicles and fertilize the root system with humus.

Planting should be done on land with fertile soils, protected from direct sunlight.

Lilac is an exquisite and delicate plant that can decorate any garden plot without any special expenses or knowledge in the field of gardening. Breeders have bred more than one and a half thousand varieties, differing not only in the shades of inflorescences, but also in subtle aromas - so that every gardener can find a lilac suitable for decorating a flower garden.

Varieties by type of flowers

ordinary
terry

If an ordinary flower consists of one row, then double ones consist of two or three rows of petals, forming a lush bud. Prominent representatives are lilacs with the names “Katrina Havemeyer” and “Memory of Kolesnikov”.

Lights of Donbass

A small bush, characterized by a spreading crown and purple buds with a red tint. The inflorescences are formed in three panicles and reach 20-25 centimeters in length.

A distinctive feature of the color can be considered a noticeable lightening of the flowers towards the edge of the panicle, but at the same time the culture is resistant to fading. Young seedlings are not fussy to care for - they do not require fertilizers, they will bloom profusely on old shoots, without pruning.

Kolesnikov Olympics

One of the most beautiful varieties with pink-lilac double flowers with a diameter of 3 cm. The lower petals are strongly curved and have an oval shape, while the upper ones become smaller and curl inside the flower. The bushes are tall, more than 3 m, bloom for a long time and very abundantly.

The variety loves slightly acidic and neutral soils containing humus.

Hippolyte Maringer

Height – 2–2.5 m, width – no more than 2 m. Color – lilac-lilac, blooms in May, double flowers, having a helical shape. For abundant flowering, the shrub requires good care and rich soil.

Do not forget to prune faded inflorescences to leafy shoots or to the first pair of developed buds of last year's shoot.

Types and varieties of lilacs with photos and names

There are approximately 30 types of lilac, most of which can be found in gardens and parks. Below is a description of the most popular types and varieties of such shrubs.

Amur lilac (Syringa amurensis)

This shade-loving hygrophyte is found in the deciduous forests of the Far East and northeastern China. This species needs well-moistened soil. It is represented by a multi-stemmed tree that has a spreading, lush crown. The height of the plant is about 20 meters. This species is cultivated as a shrub, the height of which does not exceed 10 meters. The shape of the foliage of this plant is similar to the leaf blades of common lilac. When the leaves just bloom, they have a purple-green color; in the summer, their front surface is dark green, and the underside is paler. In autumn, the color of the foliage changes to yellow-orange or purple. The length of the strong panicle-shaped inflorescences is about 25 centimeters, they consist of small white or cream flowers with a honey smell. This plant is frost-resistant and does not need shelter for the winter. It is grown both solo and in group plantings, and this shrub is also suitable for creating a hedge. Cultivated since 1855

Hungarian lilac (Syringa josikaea)

This species is native to Hungary, the Carpathians and the countries of the former Yugoslavia. The height of the bush is about 7 meters. Branched dense stems point upward. The glossy dark green leaf blades, broadly elliptical in shape, reach a length of 12 centimeters and have a ciliated edge. The lower surface of the leaf blades is greenish-gray; the central vein sometimes has pubescence. Rare narrow paniculate inflorescences are divided into tiers. They consist of small lilac flowers with a slight odor. This plant is unpretentious, resistant to city conditions, and is widely used for creating group and single plantings. Cultivated since 1830. Popular garden forms:

Pale . The color of the flowers is light purple.
Red . The inflorescences are purple-red.

Meyer lilac (Syringa meyeri)

The compact plant reaches a height of only 150 cm. The length of the small leaf plates is from 20 to 40 mm, their shape is elliptical, they taper towards the apex, and have a ciliated edge. The front surface of the foliage is bare dark green, while the underside is paler and has pubescence along the veins. The length of the erect inflorescences is 3–10 centimeters, they consist of fragrant pale flowers of pink-lilac color. The species is frost-resistant.

Persian lilac (Syringa x persica)

This hybrid was obtained by crossing finely cut lilac and Afghan lilac. The height of the bush is about 3 meters. The length of the dense thin leaves is about 7.5 centimeters, they are pointed and lanceolate in shape. Wide loose panicle-shaped inflorescences consist of fragrant pale lilac flowers, the diameter of which is 20 mm. Cultivated since 1640. Popular forms:

White lilac. The color of the flowers is white.
Red lilac with red flowers.
Dissected foliage. This dwarf Persian lilac has spreading branches and small, pinnately lobed, lacy leaf blades.

Chinese lilac (Syringa x chinensis)

This hybrid was obtained by crossing Persian lilac and common lilac. This species was obtained in France in 1777. The height of the bush is about 5 meters. The length of the ovate-lanceolate pointed leaf plates is about 10 centimeters. The length of the wide-pyramidal drooping panicle-shaped inflorescences is approximately 10 centimeters, they consist of very fragrant flowers, the diameter of which is 1.8 cm. In buds, the flowers are colored a rich purple color, and when they bloom they are lilac-red. Popular shapes:

Double. The color of the double flowers is purple.
Pale purple.
Dark purple. This form is the most spectacular of all related to Chinese lilac.

Hyacinth lilac (Syringa x hyacinthiflora)

This hybrid is the result of the work of V. Lemoine. It is created using common lilac and broadleaf lilac. The leaf blades have a sharp tip and a broadly ovate or heart-shaped shape. In autumn, their dark green color changes to purple-brown. The flowers are similar to those of common lilac, but the inflorescences are less dense and smaller. Cultivated since 1899. The terry form is most effective; there are several other popular forms:

Esther Staley . The color of the buds is red-violet, and the fragrant flowers are a rich red-violet. The diameter of the flowers is about 20 mm, their petals bend back. The length of the inflorescences is about 16 centimeters.
Churchill . The color of the buds is violet-red, and the blossoming fragrant flowers are lilac-silver with a pinkish tint.
People's Glory . Dense inflorescences consist of large (diameter 35 mm) simple flowers of purple color.

Common lilac has been cultivated since 1583; it has a large number of varieties created by both domestic and foreign breeders. For example:

Red Moscow . The color of the buds is purple-violet, and the fragrant flowers are dark purple. They reach 20 mm in diameter and have yellow stamens.
Violet . Cultivated since 1916. The buds are dark purple, and the double and semi-double large (diameter about 30 mm) flowers are pale purple. They have a faint odor.
Primrose . The buds are yellow-green and the flowers are pale yellow.
Belicent . The bush is straight and tall. The length of the fragrant openwork pink-coral inflorescences is about 0.3 m. The shape of the large, slightly corrugated leaf plates is oval.

In addition to these varieties of garden lilac, the following are popular: Belle de Nancy, Monique Lemoine, Amethyst, Ami Schott, Vesuvius, Vestal, Galina Ulanova, Joan of Arc, Cavour, Soviet Arctic, Defenders of Brest, Captain Balte, Katerina Havemeyer, Congo, Leonid Leonov, Madame Charles Suchet, Madame Casimir Perrier, Dream, Miss Ellen Wilmott, Montaigne, Nadezhda, Lights of Donbass, Memory of Kolesnikov, Sensation, Charles Joly, Celia, etc.

Gardeners also grow the following types: Beijing lilac, drooping, Japanese, Preston, Juliana, Komarova, Yunnan, fine-haired, shaggy, Zvegintsev, Nansen, Henry, Wolf and velvety.

Varieties of lilac. Lilac Festival in Novoe Bortsovo

Varieties by flower size

The size of a classic bud flower is 5-10 mm, the largest specimens reach 25 mm in diameter.

Well-known representatives of the varieties “Blanche Sweet”, “Flora” and “Violetta” are at least 3 cm in diameter.

Beauty of Moscow

The height of the bush is 4 m, width is 3 m. It blooms in late May - early June. The flowers are double, light pink, turning white. Very fragrant. Inflorescences are dense panicles 25 cm high and 12 cm wide.

The lilac “Beauty of Moscow” was awarded the title “The most beautiful lilac in the world” and received the “Golden Branch of Lilac” award.

Monge

Low-growing shrub with purple-purple flowers. The flowers are large - about three centimeters, forming inflorescences up to 15 centimeters wide. A distinctive feature of the variety is its strong shoot system, which looks like tree trunks. The culture is frost-resistant and tolerates haircuts well, and is almost not affected by diseases and pests.

Victor Lemoine

The bush is quite tall up to 4–5 m and 3–4 m wide. It blooms in May, not profusely, but for a long time (about 20 days). Double flowers are light purple, buds are dark pink. Prefers slightly acidic and slightly alkaline soils.

Looks ideal in single plantings, alleys and tree and shrub compositions.

Sensation

In the world of breeding, this variety is rightfully called a sensation. A distinctive feature is the color of each flower - a purple center with a white edge. The inflorescences, like the bush itself, are medium in size and do not have an intrusive aroma.

Young seedlings are planted in open ground in the spring and must be fertilized with humus during the first 2-3 years of growth. An important aspect of caring for “Sensation” is cutting off faded panicles - for favorable flowering next season.

Family history

The genus Lilac (Syringa) belongs to the olive family and has about 30 species native to Southern Europe, Northeast Asia and Iran. These are deciduous, with rare exceptions, evergreen shrubs with a densely leafy crown. The flowers are bisexual, fragrant, white, lilac, violet, purple in color. Collected in multi-flowered apical or axillary paniculate inflorescences, appearing simultaneously with the blossoming of the leaves.

The fruit is an oblong or oval leathery capsule with two seeds behind each valve.

This is interesting

Lilac is perhaps one of the most popular and beloved crops. The history of its breeding began in 1583. It was then that, calling lilac Turkish viburnum, the Austrian envoy brought the seeds of this unusual plant from Constantinople to Vienna. Since then, it has been leading the list of the most highly decorative and beautifully flowering shrubs.

The homeland of most types of lilac is China, but this beauty has long been cultivated in other countries, where it is treated with great respect, and breeders have created a huge number of magnificent varieties.

In Russia, this plant is also particularly popular and loved. Since ancient times, fragrant lilac bushes have decorated royal and monastery gardens, private estates and parks. Currently, different types of lilac are widely used in urban landscaping and in garden plots.

Planting lilacs in the garden

What time to plant

The best time to plant lilacs in open soil is from mid-July to the first days of September. It is not recommended to plant such a shrub in spring or autumn, since it does not take root well and hardly grows for 1 year. For planting, choose a sunny place with moderately moist soil, saturated with humus, and its acidity should be 5.0–7.0.

When purchasing seedlings, be sure to carefully inspect their root system. You should choose a plant with a well-developed and branched root system. Before planting a seedling, all injured roots that have begun to dry out and are damaged by disease should be cut out; the remaining roots should be shortened to 0.3 m. Injured stems should be removed, and excessively long ones should be shortened.

Landing Features

When planting several seedlings, do not forget to leave 2 to 3 meters (depending on the type and variety) of empty space between them. When preparing a hole for planting, it should be taken into account that it must have steep walls. If the soil fertility is high or average, then the size of the pit will be 0.5x0.5x0.5 meters. If the soil is poor or sandy, then the hole needs to be made 2 times larger, because during planting the seedling it will be necessary to fill it with a nutritious soil mixture, which includes: humus or compost (from 15 to 20 kilograms), wood ash (from 200 up to 300 grams) and superphosphate (from 20 to 30 grams). You need to take 2 times more wood ash if the soil on the site is acidic.

At the bottom of the pit you need to make a good drainage layer; for this you can use crushed stone, expanded clay or broken brick. Then the nutrient mixture is poured into the hole so that a mound is formed. Next, the plant is placed in the center of the hole directly on the mound. After its root system is straightened, the hole must be completely filled with soil mixture. For planted lilacs, the root collar should rise 30–40 mm above the surface of the area. The planted shrub needs to be watered thoroughly. When the liquid is completely absorbed into the soil, its surface will need to be covered with a layer of mulch (peat or humus), the thickness of which should be within 5–7 centimeters.

Planting lilacs - good advice

Andenken an Ludwig Spath

A unique variety with dark purple inflorescences reaching 20-25 centimeters in diameter with a total crown span of up to three meters.
The bush itself grows up to 4 meters in height. The flowers are resistant to fading and retain their purple color throughout the flowering period. The formation of buds occurs in the first weeks of June. The variety has an unobtrusive scent, which is perfectly preserved when cut for bouquets.

Varieties by flowering time

early (beginning of May, end of April)
mid-blooming (mid-May)
late (early June)

As you can see, the popular saying “When lilacs bloom, it’s cold” simply coincides with the last spring cold snap, and the flowering time can vary from late April to June.

Etoile de Mai

An elegant and delicate bush can become a decoration of a personal plot, both as a hedge and as a lonely growing shrub. Purple, with a red tint, the flowers have a spherical shape, petals with whitish edges, giving the entire inflorescence splendor and airiness.

During the first two years of growth, the seedling will not delight with abundant flowering even in a sunny place, but will require feeding in the form of humus or manure.

Galina Ulanova

Large bush, spreading. It blooms very profusely, the inflorescences are creamy white, the flowers are simple pure white. When flowering is complete, the petals bend slightly back. Flowering time is June – July. Loves sunny areas and partial shade.

Lilac variety "Galina Ulanova" can be found not only in dachas near Moscow, but even in the garden of Buckingham Palace.

Pearl

A low but wide bush with dark green leaves. One of the early flowering varieties. Pink buds open into double mauve flowers. Preferred location is sun and partial shade.

Looks great in garden compositions. But you should choose areas with low groundwater levels.

Caring for lilacs in the garden

Growing lilacs in your garden is very simple, especially since caring for them does not take much time from the gardener. This shrub can grow without your participation, but it will be very good if from the beginning to the middle of the summer period you provide it with systematic watering as the soil dries, and 2.5–3 buckets of water should be poured under 1 bush at a time. During the season, you will need to loosen the surface of the tree trunk circle 3 or 4 times to a depth of 4 to 7 centimeters. Also, do not forget to remove weeds in a timely manner. In August and September, such a plant needs to be watered only when there is a prolonged drought. After 5 or 6 years, the lilac will become a very impressive dense bush.

For the first 2 or 3 years, lilacs are fed only with a small amount of nitrogen. Starting from the second year, ammonium nitrate is added to each bush in an amount of 65 to 80 grams or urea in an amount of 50 to 60 grams. But experienced gardeners recommend feeding lilacs with organic matter; to do this, pour 10–30 liters of slurry under the bush (cow manure should be dissolved in water in a ratio of 5:1). To begin with, make a not very deep groove around the bush, stepping back from the trunks at least 50 cm. You need to pour the nutrient mixture into it.

Once every 2 or 3 years, the plant is fed with phosphorus and potassium; for this, 1 adult bush should take from 35 to 40 grams of double superphosphate and from 30 to 35 grams of potassium nitrate. The granules should be buried 6–8 centimeters into the tree trunk circle, then the plant must be watered without fail. However, lilac responds best to fertilizing with a complex fertilizer consisting of 8 liters of water and 0.2 kilograms of wood ash.

Transfer

Gardeners with considerable experience strongly recommend replanting the shrub after 1 or 2 years from the date of planting. The fact is that such a plant very quickly consumes all the nutrients present in the soil, even despite systematic feeding. In this regard, after 2 years, the soil will no longer be able to provide the lilac with the necessary energy for lush and incredibly spectacular flowering and rapid growth.

Three-year-old bushes are transplanted no earlier than August. Young plants must be replanted immediately after flowering at the end of spring, otherwise they will not be able to take root properly before the first frost. The hole for transplantation must be made in exactly the same way as for planting. Then you should inspect the plant and cut out injured, dried out or unnecessary stems and branches. The shrub is dug up along the projection of the crown perimeter and pulled out of the ground along with a lump of earth. Next, it is placed on thick fabric or oilcloth and moved to a new planting site. The size of the new hole should be such that it can accommodate not only a bush with a lump of earth, but also a sufficiently large amount of fertile soil.

How to transplant an adult lilac

Trimming

Before the bush turns 2 years old, it does not need to be pruned, since the skeletal branches are still in the formation stage at this time. In the third year of lilac life, the formation of its crown should begin; this process will take from 2 to 3 years. Pruning is done in the spring, before sap flow begins and before the buds swell. To do this, select from 5 to 7 beautiful branches equidistant from each other, and remove the remaining ones. Don't forget to cut out all the root growth. Next year you will need to remove about ½ of the flowering stems. The main principle of pruning is that one skeletal branch should have no more than eight healthy buds, while the excess part of the branch must be removed to avoid overloading the bush during flowering. Simultaneously with the formation of the bush, sanitary pruning is also carried out. To do this, you should remove all injured, drying, frost-damaged or disease-damaged branches and shoots, as well as those that are not growing properly.

If desired, lilacs can be shaped into a tree. To do this, you need to choose a seedling with a powerful, straight, vertical branch. It is necessary to shorten it to the height of the trunk, and then from the shoots that will grow, it is necessary to form 5 or 6 skeletal branches, and do not forget to regularly free the stem and the trunk circle from the growth. After you finish forming the standard lilac, you will only need to thin out the crown every year.

How to prune lilacs. Website "Garden World"

Caring for lilacs during flowering

When the weather becomes warm outside in spring, the lilac will begin to bloom, and its very delicate aroma will attract a huge number of beetles. It is necessary to remove cockchafers from bushes manually. During active flowering, approximately 60 percent of all flowering stems will need to be removed. This procedure is called pruning “for a bouquet”; it is necessary to ensure that young stems form more intensively, as well as to increase the number of flower buds laid for the next year. To extend the life of a lilac bouquet, you need to cut it early in the morning, and do not forget to split the lower part of the cut branch. At the end of flowering, cut off all the inflorescences that have begun to fade from the bush.

Pests and diseases of lilac with photo examples

Lilac has a fairly high resistance to diseases and pests. But in some cases, it can develop bacterial necrosis, bacterial rot, powdery mildew or verticillium. Hawk moths, leaf miners, bud or leaf mites, and lilac moths can also settle on the bush.

Bacterial, or nectrium, necrosis

If in August the green foliage changed its color to gray-ashy, and at the same time the young shoots turned brown or brown, this means that the bush is infected with bacterial (nectria) necrosis. For prevention purposes, it is recommended to systematically thin out the crown of the plant to improve ventilation, cut off areas affected by the disease and promptly get rid of pests. If the damage to the bush is significant, then it will need to be dug up and destroyed.

Bacterial rot

Bacterial rot damages the foliage, flowers, stems and buds of the plant. In some cases, wet spots appear on the root surface and grow very quickly. As the disease develops, the foliage loses turgor and dries out, but its fall does not occur immediately; drying and bending of the stems is also observed. In order to cure lilacs, it is necessary to carry out 3 or 4 sprays with copper oxychloride, and the interval between procedures should be 1.5 weeks.

Powdery mildew

Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that can harm both young and old shrubs. A loose whitish-gray coating appears on the surface of the foliage; over time, it thickens and becomes brown. The progression of this disease is observed in hot, dry summers. Treatment of the plant should begin as soon as the first signs of the disease are noticed. The first step is to cut out and destroy all areas affected by the disease, then spray the bush with a fungicide. At the very beginning of the spring period, you should dig up the soil with bleach (100 grams per 1 square meter), while trying not to injure the root system of the shrub.

Verticillium wilt

If you notice that the lilac foliage is curling up, brown or rusty spots appear on its surface, and they gradually dry out and die, then this is a sign of another fungal disease - verticillium wilt. The bush begins to dry out from the top, and the disease spreads extremely quickly. The affected bush should be treated with a solution consisting of 1.5 buckets of water, 100 grams of soda ash and the same amount of laundry soap. Spraying the bush with Abiga-Peak also shows good results. Cut out all infected areas and destroy them along with the fallen leaves.

Lilac Hawkmoth

The Lilac Hawkmoth is a large butterfly with a marbled pattern on its front wings and prefers a nocturnal lifestyle. In the caterpillar stage, this pest reaches 11 centimeters in length. It can be distinguished from other pests by a dense growth similar to a horn located in the back of the body. The hawkmoth caterpillar settles not only on lilacs, but also on meadowsweet, currants, viburnum, ash and grapes. To get rid of such a pest, you will need to treat the bush with a solution of Phthalophos (1%).

Lilac moth

The lilac moth prefers to live on hedges and in light forests. In one season, such a pest can produce 2 generations. Its small caterpillars eat up flowers, buds and buds completely, and all that remains of the leaf plates are the veins, rolled into a tube. The affected bush should be sprayed with Fozalon or Karbofos.

Lilac leaf mite

The lilac leaf mite is a very small insect that feeds on lilac plant sap, sucking it from the lower surface of the foliage. The leaves gradually dry out and change their color to brown. For prevention purposes, you should spray the lilac foliage with a solution of iron or copper sulfate, and also systematically thin out the crown and fertilize the plant with phosphorus-potassium fertilizer. Don’t forget to collect and destroy fallen leaves in autumn.

Lilac bud mite

The lilac bud mite spends its entire life in the buds of the plant. It sucks the juice out of them, and also survives the winter in the kidneys. As a result, the buds are deformed, the stems and foliage growing from them are underdeveloped and weak, there is no flowering and over time the plant may die. For preventive purposes, at the very beginning of the spring period (after the frosts are left behind), it is necessary to remove all fallen leaves and cut off the root shoots, then dig up the soil in the tree trunk circle to the fullest extent with turning the soil, and then the bush is treated with a solution of copper sulfate.

Mining moth

Mining moths can harm lilac foliage. At first, many brown dark spots (min) appear on its surface, and after some time the plates curl into a tube as if from fire. Affected plants do not flower, and after 1 or 2 years they die. To get rid of such moths, it is necessary to generously spray the foliage with a solution of Baktofit or Fitosporin-M, or you can use Bordeaux mixture. For preventive purposes, in the autumn it is mandatory to collect and destroy plant residues, while before frosts and at the very beginning of the spring, it is necessary to deep dig the soil in the tree trunk circle.

Lilac propagation

This plant is propagated by seeds only by specialists in nurseries. To propagate varietal lilacs, gardeners use vegetative methods such as layering, grafting and cuttings. If desired, you can purchase grafted seedlings or self-rooted ones obtained from cuttings or layering. The advantages of own-rooted lilacs over grafted ones are that they are less demanding, recover relatively quickly after wintering, and can be easily propagated by vegetative methods. Own-rooted lilac has greater durability.

Lilac propagation by grafting

The following rootstocks are used for varietal lilacs: Hungarian lilac, common lilac and common privet. You can bud a shrub in the summer with a dormant bud, and in the spring an awakening bud is used for this. It is recommended to vaccinate in the spring, since at this time more than 80 percent of the cuttings take root. In order to carry out spring grafting, cuttings are prepared in February or March, then they are wrapped in a paper sheet and placed on a refrigerator shelf (temperature 0–4 degrees). To take cuttings, mature annual shoots covered with browned bark are used.

The preparation of the rootstock should also be done in advance. To do this, you need to cut the side stems to a height of 15 to 20 centimeters and cut out all the root shoots. The root collar of the rootstock should not be thinner than a pencil, and the bark should be well separated from the wood; for this, the plant must be provided with systematic abundant watering 7 days before grafting. On the day of grafting, first, all soil is removed from the root collar of the rootstock. Next, take a clean, damp cloth and wipe the grafting site with it. Split the rootstock stump in the center to a depth of 30 mm using a budding knife. The lower end of the scion cutting must be cleaned on both sides to a height of 30 mm, and the result should be a wedge. It is necessary to insert a scion wedge into the split of the rootstock so that the area cleared of bark is completely immersed in the split. After this, the grafting site must be wrapped with tape, with its sticky surface facing outward. Next, the damage and the places from which the buds were cut are treated, using garden varnish. Then a plastic bag should be put on the grafted cuttings, and it should be fixed just below the grafting site, this will help create a greenhouse effect. The package should be removed only after swelling of the buds is noticed on the scion.

To carry out this procedure, choose a dry sunny day. The vaccination must be carried out from 16 to 20 pm or from 5 to 10 am.

Lilac propagation by layering

In spring, you need to find a young stem that has begun to become lignified. It should be tied with copper wire at the base and in another place, retreating from the first 0.8 m, while trying to ensure that the bark remains uninjured. Then the shoot is placed in a previously prepared groove, the depth of which is from 15 to 20 mm. It is fixed in this position using pins, so that only the upper part remains on the surface. After some time, young stems will begin to grow upward from the layering; after their height is 15–17 centimeters, these shoots must be covered with nutritious soil, and they are covered with earth at least half the height. In the summer, provide the layering with systematic watering and weeding, and add soil under the stems that have begun to grow 1 or 2 times during the season. After it gets colder outside, you should cut off the cuttings in the places where the constriction is constricted. It will need to be cut so that each part has a shoot with roots. Such a division can be planted on a school bed for growing, and if desired, it can be planted in open soil in a permanent place. Young bushes planted in open ground need shelter for the winter.

Lilac propagation by cuttings

Cuttings of this shrub are quite difficult to root, and in order for this procedure to end successfully, two important rules must be taken into account:

Harvesting cuttings must begin as soon as the plant fades or do it during flowering.
Cuttings are cut in the morning from young bushes. For this purpose, non-lignified stems located inside the crown, which have an average thickness, short internodes and 2 to 3 nodes, are suitable.

The cut at the top is made at a right angle, and at the bottom - obliquely. The leaf plates located in the lower part of the cutting must be torn off, and those in the upper part must be shortened by ½ part. Next, an oblique cut of the cuttings is immersed in a solution of a root growth stimulating agent. He must stay there for at least 16 hours.

To ensure that the cuttings take root well, prepare a cutting box or greenhouse. For rooting, it is recommended to use a substrate consisting of peat and sand (1:1). If desired, sand is partially replaced with perlite. First, the container needs to be sterilized, then a twenty-centimeter thick layer of soil is poured into it, which must first be treated with Maxim or Fundazol. On top of this soil, a five-centimeter thick layer should be placed, consisting of calcined river sand. To begin, the tips of the cuttings should be rinsed using clean water to remove any remaining root material. Then the cuttings are buried in a layer of sand and such a distance is maintained between them so that the foliage of one plant does not touch the leaves of the neighboring one. The planted cuttings need to be moistened with a spray bottle, and then they are covered with a lid, which must be transparent. If an ordinary box or container is used for cuttings, then to cover the cuttings, take a 5 liter plastic bottle and cut off the neck. Turn this container over and cover the cutting with it. Cuttings for rooting are removed in partial shade. Please note that the sand in the container should not dry out. Systematically humidify the air under the cover using a spray bottle, since the percentage of air humidity there should be equal to 100. To prevent fungal diseases, you should spray the cuttings with a weak solution of potassium manganese once every 7 days.

Rooting of cuttings can take from 40 to 60 days. Then they will need to be ventilated every day in the evening, after some time the shelter must be removed for good. When roots appear in the summer, the cuttings will need to be planted in a well-lit area, and the soil should be slightly acidic and light. For wintering they need to be covered with spruce branches. If the roots appear at the end of summer or autumn, then the plants are left for the winter at the rooting site; they can be planted in a permanent place only in the spring. Shrubs grown from cuttings begin to bloom in the 5th year.

How to propagate lilacs from cuttings

Lilac propagation by seeds

If you have a great desire to grow lilacs from seeds, then, of course, you can try. Seeds are collected in autumn in rainy weather. The collected boxes should be dried at room temperature for several days. The extracted seeds should be stratified. The seeds are combined with moistened sand (1:3), the mixture is poured into a container or bag and put in the refrigerator on the vegetable shelf. She must stay there for 8 weeks. It should be noted that the sand should always be slightly damp.

The seeds are sown in the second decade of March and buried 1.5 cm into the soil. For sowing, garden soil is used, which must be fried or steamed. The surface of the substrate must be moistened with a spray bottle. The first seedlings may appear in 2–12 weeks. Half a month after the appearance of the seedlings, they must be planted, keeping a distance of 40 mm between the plants. Once the weather is warm outside, the seedlings can be transplanted into open ground.

Seeds can be sown before winter in slightly frozen soil. In this case, there is no need to pre-stratify the seeds. In spring, seedlings will appear that need to be picked and sent for growing.