Dahlia Cav. is a beautifully flowering perennial plant from the family Asteraceae Dum. It has storing root tubers that do not survive during the winter in the open ground of central Russia. This crop is characterized by a high variety of colors, shapes and sizes of inflorescences, different plant heights, long-term stable decorative effect from the beginning to the end of the growing season. The purpose of the study is to analyze the Dahlia × cultorum collection in the Botanical Garden-Institute of the Volga State University of Technology (Yoshkar-Ola, Mari El Republic). As of 2021, plants of 32 cultivars were grown in the exposition «Ornamental Herbaceous Plants», each cultivar is represented by 1-5 plants. It is established that the available cultivars belong to 6 classes according to the structure of inflorescences, the largest number of them belong to the class of Decorative and Semi-Cactus (12 and 8 names, respectively). According to the color of the inflorescences, the largest number of cultivars has bicolor inflorescences. The small-flowered cultivars dominated according to the inflorescences size. In general, most cultivars with large and medium-sized inflorescences have a decrease in their size. We can replenish the collection with varieties from the smallest represented classes, as well as the missing 6 classes. The results can be used in the practice of settlements landscaping of the Mari El Republic and nearby regions.

Daffodils are decorative spring-flowering bulbous plants characterized by unpretentiousness to growing conditions, abundant flowering and variety of flower shapes. The timing of their flowering depends on varietal characteristics, weather conditions and climatic conditions of the growing point. The purpose of this article was to study the seasonal development of 6 Daffodils varieties in the Mari El Republic. Observations were carried out in the Botanical Garden-Institute of the Volga State University of Technology (Yoshkar-Ola). The objects of the study were varieties: small-cupped– 'Carnmoon' and 'White Lady', large-cupped – 'Duke of Windsor' and 'Odense', double – 'Texas' and 'Yellow Cheerfulness'. Observations were carried out in 2014-2019 according to the methodology of the Main Botanical Garden of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It was found that the varieties starting vegetation later had a longer vegetation period. The dates of the beginning and mass flowering correlated with the dates of complete leaf death. The variety 'Yellow Cheerfulness' had the late passage of all studied phenophases, as well as the shortest duration of vegetation and growth. The variety 'Odense' was characterized by the early end of leaf growth, budding and flowering. The variety 'White Lady' had a long vegetation period and the leaf growth period, a late flowering end and a long flowering duration. The short duration of flowering is established in the variety 'Carnmoon'. The data obtained are of interest in the practice of daffodils growing in the settlements of the Mari El Republic.

Hyacinthus orientalis is a valuable decorative bulbous plant. One of the main limitations of its widespread use in landscaping is the low coefficient of vegetative reproduction and the high cost of planting material. Hyacinths are usually grown with the annual digging of bulbs in summer and planting them in autumn. The article presents the results of experience in growing bulbs of small hyacinth fraction with various agricultural techniques. The experiment was carried out in the period 2016-2018 in the open ground in the Botanical Garden-Institute of VSUT (the Mari El Republic). The dynamics of growth and development of 6 hyacinth varieties bulbs was studied during two-year cultivation with annual digging and without digging. It was found that the weight of bulbs of all studied hyacinths varieties increased intensively during two-year cultivation without annual digging. In the experiment variant with annual digging of bulbs weighing 7.3-8.5 g (first size), the formation of baby bulbs was noted only in the varieties ‘Eros’ and ‘Lady Derby’, without annual digging – in the varieties ‘Carnegie’, ‘Lady Derby', ‘Madame Sophie'. The weight of the bulbs of the second size (from 3.8 to 4.5 g) for 1 year of cultivation increased by an average of 1.6 times. Bulbs weighing up to 2 g (third size) for 2 years of cultivation are able to increase their weight by 3 times. Bulbs of terry varieties ‘Rosette’ and ‘Madame Sophie’ weighing up to 2 g grew better during two-year cultivation without annual digging. The data obtained can be used in the cultivation of hyacinths in decorative nurseries.