In one sense we have no favorite lilacs at Rochester for we grow them all – that is. all ire can get by purchasing, swapping or as grateful recipients of the generosity of introducers of new varieties. Indeed. this has been our policy since the Highland Park collection was started in 1892. The happy result is that all during the period of important developments in the common lilac, introductions of the Lemoine Nursery in Nancy, France, and other growers were added to the collection. Our accession cards carry many such entries as these:
ELLEN WILMOTT – double white. Introduced by Lemoine. 1903. Received from V. Lemoine & Sons Nursery 1905.
HENRY MARTIN – double lilac-mauve. Introduced by Lemoine. 1912. Received from V. Lemoine & Sons Nursery 1911.
The collection also boasts many of the first segregated forms which have historical value hut have long since been superseded by better forms and discarded from nursery lists. Methuselah of Highland Park lilacs is a venerable 60-year-old plant. Its marker reads: “Lilac PRESIDENT GREVY. This plant was the start of the world’s greatest display of lilacs. It was planted in 1892 by John Dunbar, originator of Lilac Festival in Rochester.”
This year two interesting new lilacs have come to us. The city of Aalsmeer, Netherlands. presented to Rochester for the Highland Park collection the variety SENSATION. yet to he introduced. Before World War II. from Europe there had come word of a new color break – the first true bicolor in lilacs, purple distinctly edged with white. Lilac fanciers often wondered whether the new variety had survived invasion rigors and the terrible devastation of bombing. Our plants are the hoped-for answer. Our other recent acquisition is Syringa tigerstedti. a new species from western China. It was named in 1947 by Dr. H. Smith of Sweden. one of the last explorer-botanists to make important discoveries in China. Early in 1952, scions of this new species came to Rochester from the Botanic Garden in Gothenburg, Sweden.
One of the reasons for our having as complete a Mac collection as possible is that it may be used as a guide by the home gardener. If well-informed, he will know that his newly planted lilacs will not display their best flowering form for several years – some say as long as ten years. He can wait with more peace of mind if he has seen The ultimate effect he will have.
Among the thousands who view the Highland Park lilacs every year are many who study the varieties and note the names of those they like only to find that they are old varieties no longer to be found in nursery lists. Fortunately there are nurserymen about the country who specialize in lilacs and maintain a fairly large list of varieties, and we are able to refer our questioners to them.
Every year some combination of factors impels some few varieties to exceed their usual performance, but gardeners usually prefer a steady variety which year after year produces an abundance of flowers with clarity of color. Some of the newest varieties, while bearing clusters of spectacular size, produce them irregularly on bushes much too vigorous in growth. These considerations, along with many. others, are our basis for selecting favorities among the Rochester lilacs.
In advance of the common lilac by a week to ten days is early lilac, Syringa oblata, a species of eastern Asia. Both it and its Korean form, S. oblata dilatata, are available from nurseries. Its characteristic of many stems, up to 10 to 15 feet high, demands considerable space. Its abundant flower display in fullness of bloom is a pale lilac. Early lilac is one of the most closely related Asiatic lilacs to the common lilac of the Balkans. In 1876 Victor Lemoine reported that hybridization between the two was possible. These hybrids, Syringa hyacinthifiora, keep to the week-ahead schedule of flowering. They are vigorous plants which need occasional severe pruning to confine them to heights where their flowers can be reached. Selection of varieties depends on individual color perference. LAMARTINE is a frequent choice for its lilac-pink color. Professor Ralph Curtis of Cornell University, who made an intensive study of lilacs at Ithaca and Rochester to select 26 recommended varieties, chose Lamartine for his early hybrid. John Wister, who has traveled all over the country observing lilac bloom and who edited the invaluable 1941 survey “Lilacs for America” has named MONTESQUIEU as the best of the Lemoine introductions in this group. It has a darker color, reddish purple, which brings it into the magenta group. In the Rochester collection a 1913 Lemoine introduction, BEIIUYEII, was the only one to rate a plus with me in all three respects: color, floriferousness and habit. Its buds are deep red-purple while the effect in full bloom is mauve pink. It is one of the few partly double types in this group. There are newer varieties not fully tested yet from Mr. Skinner of Manitoba, Canada. which promise to complete the color range from deep purple to white in this early group.
Garden planners point up the importance of introducing white flowers into the landscape picture. White lilacs are long established; the white form of common lilac has been known since 1600. The difficulty with many white varieties is that they open later than most lilacs and therefore fail in their job of blending with and subduing some of the harsher magenta and purple colorings. It is now possible to recommend some of the newer varieties of single -whites. MONUMENT, a French variety, has the large florets and long, wide-based clusters of the modern lilac. The past season it was the showiest white variety in Highland Park. MME. FELIX is an exceptionally dense-clustered, pure white variety from Holland. MARIE ‘FINON is the earliest of the good white singles. Most double whites lag way behind in blooming season, but MADELEINE LEMAIRE, when it becomes available, will remedy this. This variety has perfect white rescued florets on well-formed clusters. ELLEN WILLMOTT is probably the best of the easily obtainable.
Blue and pink are good, distinct colors desirable in lilac plantings. We are somewhat partial, perhaps, at Rochester to PRESIDENT LINCOLN, which still seems unsurpassed although it was one of the first Rochester varieties named by John Dunbar in 1916. Its excellence is in its bright Wedgwood blue single flowers. It is an early bloomer. Lighter blue and large-clustered is the French variety FIRMAMENT. Of the double blues, OLIVIER DE SERRES is a dependable variety, although a later introduction, AM/ SCHOTT, is worth a trial. For salmon pink coloring nothing equals LUCIE BALTET. The other single light pinks, MACROSTACIIYA, LILAROSA and others, look much alike. KATHERINE HAVEMEYER iS a deservedly popular pink double.
The distinctions between the color classifications of violet and lilac are not well defined. Flowers with a tendency toward blue are lilac-colored. The choice of the singles in this group may well go to JACQUES CALLOT. A good Selection for a double medium lilac shade is HENRI MARTIN and for a lighter one, PRESIDENT FALLIERES. CAVOUR, which tends toward purple with a paler margin and large hooded florets, is recommended for a violet single. A favorite double violet is MARECHAL LANNES.
Magenta comes to full flower among the lilacs and seems not at all unworthy of a place in the garden. Its greatest fault is its tendency to fade quickly in hot sunshine. Given a cool, partly cloudy season, magenta groups make a splendid sltow. MARECHAL Foci is conceded first place among singles with PAUL THIRION or the older CHARLES JOLT tops among doubles.There seems to be more interest in dark purples than in any other color class. There are many to choose from, especially in singles. For reliable performance MONGE is outstanding. The American introduction hills. W. E. MARSHALL holds its coloring well. Another Rochester introduction, ADELAIDE DUNBAR, takes first place with us for a double purple.
Hard on the heels of the main show of common lilac varieties are the eltinensis forms, hybrids of ‘Persian and common lilacs. These bear small florets, but their abundance on greatly elongated clusters compensates for lack of size. Smaller leaves and smaller, denser branches give Chinese lilac top ranking as a hedge, especially an informal one with the flowering left undisturbed.
As the main display fades, a species from China, S. microphylla, opens its flowers, which -vary from pale pink to deep violet. One particularly bright-flowering selection, reddish in bud opening rose-pink, has been introduced as Variety SUPERBA. Littleleaf lilac often grants a bonus, of autumn flowers when conditions are favorable.
Standard cultural practices certainly contribute to success with lilacs. The – planting site should be chosen for good air circulation, sunshine and drainage. Heavy soils should he lightened with a manure compost. Depleted soils should be enriched with bonemeal or a complete tree fertilizer. ‘Watering and mulching young plants the first years after transplanting will help them to flourish. Young plants should he watched for oyster-shell scale. This pest multiplies rapidly but may be controlled by applying a dormant oil spray in April or nicotine spray in June when the young insects are moving. Old plants are susceptible to borer injury, usually noticeable in August when fresh sawdust betrays their work. Their burrowings may be treated with a nicotine paste or carbon distil-fled.
by H Bernard – 61216
