THE LILAC ZONE

'Marechal Lannes' is a great double-flowering light violet lilac in which the panicles are full and tend to look "fluffy" because of it. This lilac took a while to finally bloom for the first time (far too long for my impatient self!) and when it did, I was quickly reminded of why I wanted it as part of my collection! 

​As I mentioned previously, 'Yankee Doodle' is a purple lilac that unfortunately has been mixed up in the nursery trade and now there is a variety being sold under this name that isn't anywhere as spectacular as the real deal. When I first thought that I had obtained it, I found out the hard way that I had bought the imposter. Thanks to a friendly acquaintance who had actually obtained her specimen directly from Father Fiala's garden, I was able to obtain the true-to-name variety. This is another remarkable lilac, with huge florets. The florets tend to have white spots in the eyes, which make it even more distinctive and is one way that it can be verified as the true cultivar.

When speaking of lilacs that have eye-catching blooms, 'Mme.F. Morel' definitely falls within that category! This lilac is a profuse bloomer that produces huge panicles, having abundant florets. The petals on the florets tend to be a light magenta with a darker magenta border. It's a beauty!

NOT 'General John Pershing' - This lilac, described to be "azure" in color, is supposed to be a double and was validated as such at the Arnold Arboretum. I was lucky enough to have a connection to be able to obtain a sucker from a public park where I assumed that the specimen labeled with this name would be correct. Though its first bloom was beautiful this year, it is not a double, as you can see. I subsequently was able to see the original plant at the public garden this year and validated that it wasn't a double either! Needless to say, the hunt to obtain the true-to-name cultivar begins anew as the true form is very beautiful!

I am happy to report that my replacement 'Violetta' turned out to be the real deal! I would argue that hands-down, 'Violetta' is the best double violet lilac in existence. The violet color in this cultivar is so rich and pure. That, in combination with the shape of the florets really makes this one remarkable to me.

To say that I was obsessed with obtaining 'Rhapsody' would probably be an understatement. 'Rhapsody', an extremely rare pale, pale blue Fiala lilac, was my "white whale"! I saw an image of this lilac posted by a nursery that was able to obtain a number of the Fiala lilacs and I became enamored with it, just based on the color and shape of the florets. I finally was able to obtain some scions of this cultivar which a good friend of mine was able to graft (among other rare lilacs). Much to my delight, when I was able to pick them up in the spring, it had already produced a bloom! The blooms were on their way out, so I didn't get to see them at their peak but I am looking forward to seeing it hopefully bloom again next year. If it does, I may have to post a photo of it again, just because I can't believe that it is finally mine! WAHOO!!!

NOT 'Necker' - Yet another specimen that was obtained from a public garden through connections, this specimen ended up not being the true-to-name 'Necker', which though technically classified as a pink, tends to have very whitish florets with just a pink hue along the edges. It certainly doesn't have the dark pink hue that this specimen exhibits. I actually was given two suckers from the public garden and both exhibited blooms this year similar to the photo. That indicates to me that the parent plant at the public garden is likely to produce flowers like this as well and thus is likely mislabeled. Someday I intend to circle back with them to validate whether that is the case, as I feel it important that these lilacs are labeled accurately!

This is a white lilac called 'Bicolor'. It is not in the same family as most of the lilacs that I own. Rather than being of the species vulgaris, it is a Syringa chinensis. I have been enamored by this cultivar for years and because it does not tend to sucker, had given up on thinking that I would ever be able to obtain one. I cannot describe the amount of excitement that I had when I found out that I was going to be able to procure it, thanks to a highly skilled friend of mine that has had great success in rooting chinensis species from cuttings. Not only was she kind enough to give me one, but I was lucky enough to be able to enjoy it already flowering! The contrast of the pinkish-purple eye with the whitish petals that surround it makes the florets on this cultivar so striking. I absolutely love it.

'Dr. Brethour' - Everything about this lilac is immense. The petals are huge and the panicles are enormous. To say that the blooms are impressive and eye-catching is an understatement! Father Fiala ranked this lilac as one of the top purple lilacs and now that I have seen it in bloom, I understand why!

'Elsie Lenore' is a Father Fiala lilac that I was eager to obtain several years ago, however my source had an unfortunate reputation for selling lilacs that were often mislabeled. I was very happy to see when this lilac flowered for the first time that it was labeled accurately. This was a fun one to finally see bloom, as the light magenta florets are huge and have a very unique color to them. The eye of the floret is very unique as well, almost giving the appearance of being punched out. I have never seen another lilac floret with an eye that looks like this!

2021 was quite a busy year as I took a number of trips to visit other collections in the spring. Nonetheless I still enjoyed my own personal collections as well, as I got to enjoy 8 new first-time bloomers, including two that I was lucky enough to see in bloom when I procured them this year. Of course no year is "complete" without one or two lilacs blooming and revealing themselves to not be what I believed they were. (Grrrr...) As usual, I will include those as well, as knowing the history behind them makes it even more interesting that they were still labeled incorrectly.