The fragrant and spreading lilac bushes at all times delighted us with their lush flowers and wonderful aroma, and do not stop doing it now. It is impossible to pass by such beauty and not notice it.
Most owners of private plots begin to decorate them with the planting of a lilac bush. And a special place among the existing varieties of this plant is "Red Moscow".
Description
"Red Moscow" takes almost the first place in national love and popularity. It is one of the seven best and most famous varieties of purple lilac in the world.
It was bred in 1968 by the author of more than three hundred original varieties of this plant, Leonid Kolesnikov, and differs from other varieties with an extraordinary purple saturation of inflorescences, occupying a special place among them. 
Zoned variety "Red Moscow" in 1976. It is characterized by large, up to two centimeters, simple fragrant dark purple flowers with yellowish stamens and slightly rounded petals along the edges, as well as purple buds with a purple tint and silver tint.
The inflorescences of the "Red Moscow" consist mainly of two panicles in the form of wide ribbed pyramids measuring 18 by 9 cm, and are distinguished by their density and strength. Coloring flowers resistant.
Lilac blooms moderately, in the medium term, although under very favorable conditions it can bloom fairly abundantly, attracting the fragrant aroma of bees and other insects.
We recommend you read about growing Hungarian and Persian lilacs.Shrubs of this variety, with dark gray branches and dense dark green, straight and tall leaves, give an annual increase of up to twenty centimeters. In the height of the shrub can reach four meters in width - up to three.
Landing
Like every plant, the lilac "Red Moscow" has some planting rules that flow from the characteristics and characteristics of this culture. 
Location
Although the saplings of "Red Moscow" are well acclimatized on any land, this variety prefers fertile, moderate in moisture, drained neutral soil with a low level of acidity, sufficient humus capacity and a low location of groundwater.
Sometimes slightly stagnant moisture can contribute to the death of young roots. Therefore, plant lilacs in low, often flooded in autumn and spring, wetlands can not. 
The plant feels great in places without strong winds and drafts with excellent lighting; it can grow in the shade, but then you should not hope for a violent bloom. It will be quite comfortable to feel on the slopes.
Important! To increase the size of a lilac bush and luxurious flowering, it is necessary to cut it less often, but at least once a year.
Landing
It is recommended to carry out the planting process of the variety "Red Moscow" from the middle of the summer period to the beginning of the autumn. Shrubs that are planted in spring or late autumn, take root much more slowly and at first practically do not grow.
To plant several bushes should be at a sufficient distance of two to three meters. Pits for planting need to dig up with sheer walls, their size on soils with an average fertility can be half a meter in depth, width and length.
If the land is poor or sandy, the size of the holes must be increased to a meter in all respects and filled with a well-mixed substrate with the addition of humus or compost, wood ash and superphosphate. Superphosphate contributes to acidification of the soil, therefore, in acidic soils they give a double dose of ash to neutralize it. Planting of seedlings is necessary in the evening or in sunless weather.
A seedling should have a healthy and well-branched root up to a third of a meter long. The crown should be moderately shortened by two or three buds, pruned very long roots, and damaged or damaged roots should be removed altogether.
Sapling, setting the center of the pit and spreading its roots evenly, covered with substrate, compacted and well watered. After the water is absorbed, the soil is mulched with leaves, peat or humus.
Important! Some varieties of lilac survive at -60 ° C.
Breeding
Grow a lilac, and then multiply it is easy. Wild lilac seeds multiply. But varietal lilac, such as "Red Moscow", propagated by cuttings, grafts and layers.
The grafting is made by cuttings or sleeping buds; ordinary lilac or Hungarian lilac is taken for stock. The stock and selected stalk is cut at an angle of 45 °, combined and coiled. 
Reproduction is carried out with green cuttings, the optimum humidity is 90-100%, temperature is from 23 ° C to 25 ° C. A suitable substrate for this consists of peat and sand in a ratio of two to one.
The cuttings of the varieties that bloom quite early are harvested at the beginning of the process of flowering, and the flowering plants in the flowering period.
Learn more about lilac breeding methods.The method of cutting is less labor-intensive and makes it possible to get a good, ready for transplanting seedling with a sufficiently developed root in one year.
In the spring, near the bush, you need to make a hollow and bend a branch of lilac into it, then cover it with earth so that a pair of buds can be seen above the surface. In autumn the seedling will be ready, and next year it can be transplanted separately.
Care
"Red Moscow" is a rather cold-resistant and drought-resistant variety, therefore, when it is grown, it does not require any special troubles.
During the growing season it is necessary to loosen the ground several times shallowly. In the second year After planting, you can begin feeding lilac nitrogen with nitrogen (50-60 grams of urea or 65-80 grams of ammonium nitrate per season per bush), all other fertilizers can be left out for the first few years.
Did you know? In the world there are more than a thousand varieties of lilac. Although this plant began to grow only five centuries ago, it is second only to roses and rhododendrons in the number of varieties.From the fourth year It is recommended to apply organic fertilizers (one or three mullein buckets for one plant at a distance of half a meter from the trunk in a ratio of one to five). Also, potash and phosphate fertilizers will not interfere in the autumn period (once every few years).
Effective and optimal complex feeding is ash (200 grams of ash diluted in 8 liters of water). In particular watering lilac needs only during periods of flowering and shoot growth, in the summer it needs to be watered only during heat and arid period.
It is necessary to loosen the soil three or four times per season, while removing weeds. 
Did you know? Lilac is a honey plant whose flowers have a rim so deep that bees cannot get nectar. Only in the most favorable periods does it rise so high that the bees gain access to it.
To maintain a beautiful shape and productive flowering, systematic pruning should be carried out. In the first two years, the lilac develops very slowly, so cutting it to anything.
However, then it begins to form the base of the tree - fairly strong skeletal branches. In early spring, from five to ten of the most successful branches are found in a tree, and the rest must be removed.
It is better to thin and cut the branches for sanitary purposes in the period of early spring, but it is possible during the whole growing season. It contributes to the good development of shoots and the formation of new ones with flower buds, cutting off most of the flowering shoots into bouquets.
Application in landscape design
Lilac "Red Moscow" is one of the most spectacular plants, which is used with pleasure in landscape design and gardening of home gardens, parks, gardens.
Its rather large non-double flowers in persistent purple hues look great in any decorative composition, and the unique aroma that emanates from them leaves no one indifferent.
Lilac in harmony with evergreen conifers. Peonies blooming with lilac at the same time perfectly complement its beauty too. The main thing is that such a composition does not require any additional watering or special care, but looks luxurious.
Beautiful dark "Red Moscow" on a bright, sunlit place - an excellent choice, able in itself to decorate every corner of your site.
Did you know? In England, a girl who did not want to marry a boy handed him a bouquet of lilacs. In many other countries, a bouquet of lilac is a symbol of first love.
Often, in the design of our plots, we pay more and more attention to outlandish flowers and trees that are not typical of our area, forgetting that our plants, which are used to the native climate, are no worse, and in many respects better.Lilac "Red Moscow" - just such a variety that can truly delight us with its flowering and fragrant aroma. Yes, and almost no hassle with it, unlike the same exotic plants.
