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NEW HYBRID LILACS, continued 
grow as one wants it, according to its proper pruning, and in May its steeples or pinnacles of bloom tower 
skyward, an uplifted offering for the beauty of the spring. 
Cultural directions are few: planting may be done in spring or autumn, but the last is best because of 
early swelling of the flower-buds. Lilacs dislike moving, so choose their position beforehand with care. If 
moved, they do not die, but languish and refuse to bloom for one, sometimes for more years, and this is 
especially true of old specimens. What truth there is in Benjamin Franklin’s rhyme, 
“I never saw an oft-removed tree. 
Nor yet an oft-removed family, 
That throve as well so those that settled be.” 
Two or three rules which may be suggested here for best results with these shrubs are: 
First: Give the Lilac a well-dug and -manured soil when planting. 
Second: Give the Lilac room—most varieties are of fairly rapid growth, and eight to ten feet apart is 
not too much to allow when grouping them. 
Third: Prune the Lilac judiciously and little. Seed should not be allowed to form, and all weak shoots 
should be taken out. Watch for suckers, especially if your Lilacs are not on their own roots; to permit the 
stock to send up shoots is to quickly smother your oeautiful variety or hybrid in growth of privet or common 
Lilac. “If your plants are not on their own roots,” says Mr. Dunbar, “be sure to set them about three inches 
or more in the earth above the union, and in two or tnree years’ time they will be on their own roots.” The 
Privet on which they are usually grafted acts as a temporary carrier for a few years. Mr. Dunbar considers 
Lilacs on their own roots, that is, from cuttings, the best, but this method gives a smaller percentage of 
plants. 
Fourth: Spray once a year, preferably in late autumn, if your bushes are in the neighborhood of apples 
or other trees, hosts of San Jose scale. 
Because of the remarkable variety in the list of Lilacs offered in this book, I may mention a few group¬ 
ings of the rarer ones which might give a purchaser a somewhat quicker return in pleasure than buying at 
random. I find that for three which are very pink, President Fallieres, Montaigne, and Mme. Antoine 
Buchner are satisfying. For deep mauve, Danton, President Poincare, Marcchal Lannes, Marceau, and 
Milton give the note. For strong contrast in color, I would suggest these pairs: Ren6 Jarry-Desloges, 
Danton; Thunberg, Marechal Lannes; Marceau, Macrostachya; Diderot, Rene Jarry-Desloges; President 
Fallieres and Emile Gentil; Montaigne, Danton. Crerulea superba, Gilbert, and Macrostachya. Arrange¬ 
ments are endless and fascinating and, happily “there is no finality in gardening.” 
Garden cities are very well, but how much more interesting will it be when cities, towns, and villages 
are renowned for the development of special flowers. Such there are already. Charleston speaks to the lover 
of horticulture through its renowned azaleas; Portland, Ore., by means oi roses; Rochester, N.Y.,through 
Lilacs; the suburbs of Philadelphia by their unexampled beauty in the spring. No doubt, we shall soon 
have towns and villages everywhere whose celebrants shall be great Lilac collections, or on all of whose 
individually owned grounds the loveliest specimens of the Lilac shall grow to such perfection as to couple 
the word Lilac with the local name. Those who live in our great industrial centers are rapidly encircling 
these towns and cities with beauty, creating fine places and notable gardens, but until each man has his 
own small bit of ground, and finds the best use of that for both food and flowers, we shall not have arrived 
as a nation at an eminence of possible development. The Lilac is the shrub which delights all classes of 
men, and its more general distribution in its finer forms is greatly to be hoped for in the interests of a 
nobler horticulture and of the ever-improving aspect of the American scene. 
Spring , IQ 20 . 
New Hybrid Lilacs (Syringa) 
I could not possibly suggest any improvement in the list of the new and rare varieties of Lilacs which 
Mrs. King has mentioned, as those given cannot be surpassed, and may be said to be the last word in Lilacs. 
Most of them, however, are of such recent introduction that there has not been time to work up a sufficient 
stock to meet the demand, and they can be supplied only in limited number and in small sizes. It will 
doubtless be several years before a stock of good-sized plants can be grown. Since they can no longer be 
imported, I feel that to save disappointment to my patrons I should submit a list of similar varieties, 
which can be supplied in good-sized plants. 
I recommend the following varieties, with perfect confidence in them: 
DOUBLE-FLOWERING. White: Jeanne d’Arc, Mme. Lemoine. Light Blue: Monument Carnot, 
Marc Micheli, Victor Lemoine. Pink Shades: Belle de Nancy, Waldeck-Rousseau, Wm. Robinson, Jules 
Ferry. Violet: Maximowicz, Murillo, President Viger. Dark Crimson and Purple: Charles Joly, Presi¬ 
dent Loubet. 
SINGLE-FLOWERING. Pink Shades: Lovaniensis, Mme. Francisque Forel. White: Mme. Florent 
Stepman, Frau Dammann. Dark Crimson-purple: Congo, Toussaint I’Ouverture, Ludwig Spaeth. Light 
Blue: Crampel. Mauve and Violet: Lamartine, Mirabeau, both very early varieties. 
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