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Lilac Lights of Donbass are included in the magenta group, with a luxurious reddish-purple bloom. The terry variety was bred in 1956. After 20 years, at an exhibition in Czechoslovakia, he received a silver medal.
Description of lilac Lights of Donbass
The decorative bush Lights of Donbass grows from 2 to 3,5 m, it is formed with a spreading crown on one trunk or from several trunks. The root system is well developed, located superficially. Near the central shoot, many processes break through. The bark of shrubs is grayish in color, smooth in young shoots. On old trunks, from 5 cm in diameter, with long longitudinal cracks. The shoots are densely branched, creating a rounded, dense crown, the diameter of which is from 1 m at a young age to 2 m or more in a 10-year-old plant. The lilac bush Lights of Donbass lends itself well to pruning.
In spring, leaf and flower buds swell early. The leaves bloom with warm weather, do not fall until frost. Thanks to the beautiful, heart-shaped leaves arranged oppositely, and the rich color of dark green, lilac is decorative throughout the summer-autumn season. The length of the leaf blade is up to 8-10 cm, width is 4-6 cm, the apex is pointed.
Variety Ogni Donbass, bred on the basis of common lilac:
- unpretentious;
- drought-resistant;
- winter-hardy, withstands frosts down to -40 ° C.
The plant takes root and develops in all regions of the middle lane.
How the lilac blooms Lights of Donbass
The photo of the lilac Lights of Donbass conveys the magnificent flowering of reddish-purple clusters that bloom in the middle, usually in May. Inflorescences are formed from two paired pyramidal panicles and separate lower branches. The density of the arrangement of blossoming buds is average. The length of the panicle is from 15 to 20 cm, the width is 9-10 cm. The buds of the lush lilac variety are large, equal in diameter to the size of a pea.
Purple-lilac flowers of the Ogni Donbass variety gardeners refer to the Magenta group, which includes lilac varieties with reddish petals. Terry flower large, 2-3 cm wide, consists of 2-3 corollas. The doubleness of the lilac is visually increased due to the fact that the tops of the oval petals rise from the plane of the corolla. A feature of the Ogni Donbass variety is the lighter tops of the petals, which, against the general carmine-purple background of the blossoming brush, create a bewitching impression of flickering lights. The authors gave the new lilac variety a name associated with the flashing of miner’s lamps in the face. The intense color of the petals of the Lights of Donbass is resistant to fading, and remains for a long time even in the sun. Clusters of lilac emit an intense delicate aroma.
The flowering of the Ogni Donbass variety is long, until autumn the seeds are formed in bivalve boxes.
Features of reproduction
In nurseries, lilacs are propagated by seeds. Flower growers exchange new plants using offshoots, cuttings, layering or grafting. Lilac bushes grown from layering and cuttings constantly retain their characteristics. Layers are added dropwise in early spring and take care of the sprouts, watering and loosening the soil. Young plants are transplanted in autumn or next summer. Lilac cuttings root poorly. It is necessary to choose for this purpose only young shoots during the period when the bush has faded.
Plants on a wild lilac rootstock without proper care can lose their trunk with a scion in an abundance of processes extending from the root. Therefore, when buying a variety of Ogni Donbass, they are always interested in the method of obtaining a seedling.
Planting and caring for lilac Lights of Donbass
An unpretentious variety requires minimal care.
Recommended dates
Although most varieties based on the common lilac are unpretentious in care, the plants require attention when planting. Unlike other crops, ornamental hardy bushes are planted in the second half of summer – from mid-July to early September.
Site selection and preparation of soil
Lilac Lights of Donbass shows the full potential of decorativeness in an open, illuminated place. Light partial shade is also allowed. Bushes develop well on fertile soils with weak or neutral acidity. The lilac is tolerant of dry spells, but prefers regions with moderate to heavy rainfall.
How to plant
By placing several decorative bushes nearby, they dig holes every 2 m. Seedlings are chosen for planting:
- with fresh, well developed roots;
- no damage to the trunk;
- with healthy leaves.
On poor soil, spacious pits are prepared for laying along with garden soil 15 kg of humus, 200 g of wood ash, 60 g of superphosphate. The place of scion must be above the ground. Having compacted the soil around the trunk, pour a bucket of water. In the steppe regions, the soil is mulched to keep moisture longer.
Cultivation of lilac Lights of Donbass
An ornamental plant will retain its attractiveness with regular competent pruning.
Watering
Lilacs are supported by watering in spring and June. On moist soil, the plant develops better and blooms more magnificently. From the second half of summer, the bush is also watered once a week in the absence of rain. Each plant consumes 20-60 liters of water, depending on its volume.
Additional fertilizing
In spring, the Ogni Donbass variety is fed with nitrogen fertilizers of your choice:
- 50 g of urea;
- 80 g of ammonium nitrate;
- a bucket of diluted 1:5 mullein, which is poured into a groove dug along the perimeter of the root system.
After 2-3 years, at the end of September, beginning of October, potassium-phosphorus preparations are applied under the lilac bush in dry form, scattering the granules into the grooves:
- 35 g of potassium nitrate;
- 60 g superphosphate.
Then the perimeter of the near-stem circle is watered abundantly.
In summer, lilacs are fed with a solution of 0,5 liters of wood ash in a bucket of water. Such support is especially useful in areas with acidic soil.
Mulching
Near the seedling, the soil is regularly loosened so that a crust does not form after watering. Remove all weeds. After planting, the trunk circle is mulched with bark, old sawdust, dry grass or humus. In autumn, the mulch layer is renewed, adding new material.
Trimming
According to reviews, the lilac Lights of Donbass blooms especially luxuriantly the next year after cutting the inflorescences, up to 60%. Panicles are cut after the faded buds wither. Formative and sanitary pruning of lilacs is carried out in the spring, before the start of sap flow:
- they begin to give the desired silhouette to the seedling from the third year of development;
- 5-7 branches are left on the central trunk;
- next spring, these skeletal branches are pruned so that 7-8 buds remain on them;
- a plant not overloaded with flowering develops better;
- then, every year, thickening and wind-damaged or frost-damaged branches and root shoots are removed.
Preparation for winter
Variety Lights of Donbass endures severe frosts, if there is enough snow. Young bushes are mulched with peat, leaves, humus – up to 12 cm thick. In snowless winters, the stems are covered with burlap.
Diseases and pests
Lilac can be infected with fungal and bacterial diseases:
- verticellaz
- powdery mildew;
- bacterial necrosis and rot.
Effective treatment with copper chloride, fungicides. For disease prevention:
- when pruning, the crown is sparse as much as possible;
- in spring, lilacs are treated with preparations containing copper;
- in autumn, the leaves are harvested and burned if signs of disease were visible.
Leaf-eating pests, like lilac hawk and lilac moth, are destroyed with insecticides. The lilac mite damages the kidneys, they get rid of it by digging up the near-stem circle in early spring and preventive spraying.
Conclusion
Lilac Lights of Donbass, an unpretentious frost-resistant plant, will give the spring garden a festive look. For lush flowering, the bush requires infrequent watering, traditional top dressing in spring and autumn, and regular pruning.
