Hungarian Lilac - A Winter-hardy Plant For Garden Decoration

The story of the discovery of this beautiful and very decorative plant is interesting. It, to us students, at the end of the sixties of the last century, was told by Professor P.L. Bogdanov.

Hungarian lilac in the first half of the 19th century was discovered by a Hungarian baroness by the name of Jozikeya - an amateur botanist - she found it growing near her estate and found out that this species has not yet been described by anyone.

Who would have remembered that Baroness, if not for this discovery of her, soon after which, in 1830, this species was introduced into culture. And now, forever and ever, in Latin, he bears her name, or rather her surname - Seringa Josikaea Jacg.

In Russian, this lilac was given the name in honor of their homeland (both the Baroness and the lilac) - Hungarian.

Hungarian lilac, of course, is somewhat inferior to common lilac, for example, in the beauty and sophistication of inflorescences, as well as in aroma.

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In ordinary lilacs, it is more delicate, refined, and in Hungarian, it is sharp, strong and rough, smells of some kind of medicine, and even unpleasant up close. But on the other hand, it has its own advantages: it is very unpretentious, does not give root shoots, blooms when the common lilac has already faded, as if complementing the latter.

By the way, Hungarian lilac is for some reason very often confused with Persian. Although they are somewhat similar in appearance, there are also many differences between them. The shoots of the Persian lilac are thin, while the Hungarian ones are strong, more or less straight.

The leaves of the first are ovate-lanceolate, sometimes trilobate or pinnate, and the second ones are pointed, glaucous below. Persian lilac, although it is found occasionally in the Middle Belt and in the North-West, is not winter-hardy, it often freezes over. Hungarian is very winter-hardy, it grows in culture even in the Arctic up to Murmansk, although its homeland is the Carpathians.

But precisely because (despite its winter hardiness) Hungarian lilac is a fairly southern plant, it is accustomed to a longer growing season, it does not shed its foliage in the fall for a very long time, almost until the very frosts. By the way, this fully applies to common lilac.

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Hungarian lilac grows rapidly. It is a lush tree-like shrub 3-4 m in height with greenish-gray shoots and branches; covered with large transverse light gray or whitish lenticels.

The leaves are elliptical, dense, dark green above, lighter below. The inflorescence is an elongated panicle. They appear on the shoots of the current year after the regrowth of leaves. Flowers with a short, four-toothed calyx and a tubular purple-violet corolla. Blooms and bears fruit abundantly and regularly.

Fruits are dry cylindrical capsules with narrow-winged seeds. This lilac is not demanding on the soil, drought-resistant, but prefers fresh soils. In culture, it is very widespread throughout the country. This lilac is widely used in the design of gardens and squares.

That's all, in short, about the Hungarian lilac. As you can see, in order for people to remember you, it is not enough to be a baroness - you also need to discover a new type of lilac.