Selection of lilacs
The assortment of lilac can be improved not only by scientific research institutions, but also by amateurs.
Selection tasks can be the following.
1. Preparation of early and late varieties to prolong the period of flowering of lilacs. As a starting point for obtaining early lilacs, the varieties Ranuncul, Buffon, Vauban, Bride, Tamara Kolesnikova, late forms - Miss Ellen Wilmott, Memory of SM Kirov, Deceiver, Taras Bulba, Edmond Boissier are recommended.
2. Creation of new sorting varieties.
3. Obtaining varieties with non-burning flowers.
4. Derivation of fragrant varieties with a high content of essential oil for the perfume industry.
5. Create a variety with an unusual, bright coloring of flowers -: yellow, blue, orange, red. In this case, you can use both the original forms of the variety Zybold, Banner of Lenin, Louis Pasteur, Red Moscow.
It is very important to select for parenting the parent varieties that most fully combine the necessary characteristics. However, one must take into account that not all varieties transmit their best properties to the offspring. Thus, Captain Balte, Alfons Laval, Pioneer, Dream "well convey the shape of the petals and the size of the inflorescences;varieties Poincare and Marshall Lannes - the size and shape of flowers, the shape of inflorescences, varieties Memories of Ludwig Speet, Madame Edward Harding, Congo, the Banner of Lenin - the color of the inflorescence.
As strong maternal plants choose. In the stage of large buds, the flowers are castrated - the anthers or the whole corolla are removed together with the anthers attached to it - and the insulator is put on the inflorescence. One day after castration, the flowers are pollinated by pollen, harvested from the right sorts and dried. Apply pollen on the stigma with a brush or a piece of gum, put on a wire. Pollination is best done in the morning, before the heat.
After tying the seeds, the insulator is removed. The harvested seeds are sown on combinations of crossing into boxes or immediately on the ridges. Lilac seedlings bloom for the fourth or fifth year from sowing. In the early years of flowering, valuable specimens are selected, studied in detail, and then propagated. Good results are also obtained by sowing seeds obtained from free pollination of the best varieties.