Common Name: Common Lilac Beauty of MoscowLatin Name: Syringa vulgaris ‘Krasavitsa Moskvy’Soil: Medium moisture, well-drained. Acid, alkaline or neutral.Position: Full sunFlowering period/colour: April to MayHardiness: Fully hardy in the severest European climates (to below -20°C).Height and spread in 20-50 years: 2.5m-3.5m/2mSpecial features: Deciduous upright multi-stemmed shrub with fragrant showy flowers in white with pink blush. RHS Award of Garden Merit.Syringa vulgaris is a useful feature shrub suitable for a range of garden uses. It makes a fine specimen shrub in a lawn or border, and can also be used as a hedge plant. Mature height is 2.5m to 3.5m and the plants also reach 2m in width. This variety produces a fine show of flowers in April or May, and the flowers show good form as a cut flower for use indoors. The flowering heads each carry a large cluster of small double white flowers with a pink blush. The attractive fragrance is also highly prized and a great asset in the garden. The leaves are heart-shaped and are also an attractive feature in their own right. Syringa vulgaris will grow well in acid, alkali or neutral soils and can thrive in full sun or partial shade. It will also tolerate deer or heavy clay soil, and so is a really adaptable specimen. This is a low maintenance shrub, requiring little pruning or attention of any kind. This is a suckering shrub, so it can be invasive in a garden situation. One way to deal with this problem is to grow it in a lawn, where suckers will be controlled by mowing in the immediate area. This variety was developed in Russia in 1943 and the variety name “Krasavitsa Moskvy” translates into the English-language name “Beauty of Moscow”. This variety carries an RHS Award of Garden Merit, indicating that it is a reliable performer in the garden.