SELECTION OF NEW VARIETIES DAHLIA × CULTORUM THORSRUD & REISAETER IN THE MAIN BOTANICAL GARDEN OF THE RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF S

In the context of the implementation of the concept of import substitution, the need to create varieties of domestic breeding is absolutely indisputable. There is no doubt about the priority of breeding work on strategic crops. But the selection of ornamental plants does not lose its relevance. The purpose of the presented work is to create new varieties of Dahlia × cultorum on the basis of the Dahlia collection fund of the Laboratory of ornamental plants of the MBG RAS. On the basis of the Dahlia varieties collection of the Laboratory of ornamental plants of the MBG RAS, a classical scheme of the breeding process has been created and maintained. When selecting maternal forms, the ecological-geographical principle and the concept of a trait are applied. The creation of populations for selection is carried out on the basis of free pollination. The selection of elite plants begins from populations of F1 hybrids. The selection method is individual, according to a complex of decorative and economically valuable traits. Promising breeding numbers are field tested for 5 years. The article presents the results of breeding work for 2005–2021. During this period, 6 varieties of Dahlia × cultorum were tested by the state. All of them have positive results of examinations and are included in the State Register of Protected Breeding Achievements. The article describes in detail their biomorphological and economic characteristics. At the same time, in the composition of the presented varieties, the highest decorative qualities are characterized by 2 cultivars – ‘Vizavi’ and ‘Prima Balerina’, who are the leaders of the group (95 points each) on a 100-point scale of decorative evaluation. The earliest flowering variety (with the shortest period from the beginning of vegetation to the beginning of flowering, which is 70–80 days) is the ‘Rumyana’ variety. The most original phenotypic characteristics of inflorescences due to the reduction of lingual flowers are possessed by ‘Himera’. According to the combination of biomorphological characteristics, the variety ‘Present’ is optimal for cutting. The most abundant flowering is noted in cultivars ‘Zarnica’, ‘Prima Balerina’ and ‘Rumyana’.