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With Blossoms so Large and so Beautiful 
One can Hardly Imagine That They Are 
Related to the Common Lilac 
BRAND'S LILACS 
are all on their 
OWN ROOTS 
These bushes come to you all ready 
to plant. They need no trimming. Now 
that the French Lilac can be propagated 
successfully on its own root, there is no 
longer any reason why a Lilac propa¬ 
gated in any other way should be 
planted. 
We have experimented with the propagation of the French Lilac for 
over 20 years to find how to grow it in a practical way on its own roots. 
We have discovered how to do this successfully. Before we were able 
to do this we never had any success with French Lilacs in the Minnesota 
climate. We have never had any trouble with our French Lilacs dying 
out since. A French Lilac must be on its own root to do well in a severe 
climate like that of Minnesota. 
Growing an Improved Lilac on its own root is a slow process. It actU' 
ally takes us two years longer to produce a Lilac of a given grade on 
its own root than it would take to produce the same grade on privet. 
Yet we insist on sending out only those Lilacs that will prove satisfac¬ 
tory, so our customers can depend upon receiving only genuine own' 
root plants. 
We have a wonderful deep rich alluvial soil; the soil in which the 
Lilac revels. This contributes to strong thrifty tops with a large, well' 
balanced root system. 
Our plantings of Lilacs have increased from year to year until we now 
have for our 1939 sales as fine and as large a collection as you could 
possibly find anywhere. 
This is probably the largest collection of high class French Lilacs in 
the world. We are in a position to offer our customers a first class article 
in every respect. 
LILAC DESCRIPTIONS 
Many of the peculiarities of any variety of Lilac are easily described. One can tell at a glance 
whether the florets are single, semi'double, or double, or whether the panicles are simple or com' 
pound, long or short, loose or compact. 
But when it comes to color probably no two persons would name exactly alike the colors of any 
dozen varieties of Lilacs. 
A little explanation may help to interpret our descriptions. When we say a Lilac is red, we do not 
mean that it is scarlet; or, when we say it is blue, we do not mean sky'blue, as an occasional customer 
seems to expect. The truth is, the colors of all Lilacs are soft. They are made up of different pro' 
portions of blue and red with more or less addition of white. If the red predominates in the light 
shades, we may call the color pink or rose. If the blue predominates decidedly, we may call the color 
blue; but if tbe blue while dominant is less pronounced we may call it lavender or lilac or violet 
or mauve. 
In the dark colors, if the red predominates decidedly we may call it red, as with Reaumur. If the 
blue predominates we call it purple. Then to be more definite we sometimes say reddish purple or 
purplish red. 
It must be remembered also that, aside from the difficulty of getting an exact name for the normal 
color of a variety, this color may change somewhat with the season. For example, this year we had 
cool, cloudy, and rainy weather throughout the Lilac season. Consequently, the colors were all darker 
than usual. The character of the soil also sometimes changes the color slightly. 
We make our descriptions as clear as we can, but we understand how difficult it is for a purchaser 
who cannot visit a Lilac field during the blooming season to make his selection. However, we list 
only good varieties, those that should give much pleasure to those who plant them. 
DISCOUNTS 
We allow the following discounts 
on French Lilac orders according to 
the size of the order: 
No discount on orders below 
$ 10 . 00 . 
10% on orders between $10.00 
and $25.00. 
15% on orders between $25.00 
and $50.00. 
20% on orders of $50.00 or more. 
NOTE: Do not include collec¬ 
tions when computing your dis¬ 
counts, as liberal discounts on them 
have already been allowed. 
Planting Instructions 
WHY LILACS FAIL TO BLOOM 
We are asked a number of times during the course of the year, “Why do my 
It is impossible to answer this question satisfactorily by letter. There are 
why Lilacs fail to bloom. We cannot tell which special reason is applicable in 
We are giving a number of causes in this catalog and leaving you to decide 
which of these fit your individual problem. 
We have no difficulty here at the nursery. Our plants are loaded with flowers 
each year and if your plants are not giving satisfactory bloom, some one of 
the following causes must be responsible. 
1. Your plants may not have been handled carefully enough when you made your planting. 
The roots may have been exposed to the air and some of the vitality of the plant weakened. 
A bundle of Lilacs comes to you and this bundle is often opened up and the plants separated 
and looked over. Then they are laid out in the sun or shade while the holes for them are dug 
and the planting goes on. The plants grow but they received a setback from this exposure of 
the roots and it often takes 2 or 3 years to overcome this mistreatment. 
2. It may be the roots were not spread out carefully and soil packed tightly about them at 
planting time. The roots may have become jammed in a cramped and twisted mass in the hole, 
and growth stunted. In filling in the hole dry dirt may have been pulled in over the roots and 
so reduced the vitality of the plant as to check its right growth for several years. 
3. The young plant may be planted so close to trees or larger shrubs as to rob it of much 
of its vitality. 
4. It may be in too much shade or in dry gravelly soil. Lilacs like a rich heavy soil but 
not a wet acid soil. 
5. It may be your plants are making altogether too much growth and that such growth needs 
checking. Or they may have formed a great mass of heavy branches from the ground with a 
tremendous branchy top growth and have reached a point where they have stopped going for¬ 
ward and produce no bloom. If your plants are making a very rapid growth, sending out long 
new shoots with no bloom, go through your plants about the middle of June and trim out 
about one-half of the new growths back to the old wood. This will have a tendency to cause 
blooming buds to set on the balance of the new growth for the next year. If your bushes have 
a great many branches from the ground and many short top branches go through your plants 
in March in the north or earlier in the south (before the sap starts) and cut out about one-halt 
of the old branches to the ground. This will cause a new growth which no doubt will bring 
the plant into heavy blooming. 
Now any of the foregoing causes might be the reason your Lilacs are not blooming. You are 
in a position to analyze your difficulty much better than we. We have no further information 
to offer. 
An orange tag giving full directions for the planting and care of your Lilacs is attached to 
every order of Lilacs that leaves our packing department. Watch for this card. Read it care¬ 
fully before you open your package and then follow directions. 
Lilacs fail to bloom?” 
a number of reasons 
each individual case. 
Watch for an orange tag which you will 
find attached to your shipment. On this 
tag you will find printed instructions for 
planting and caring for your Lilacs. Note 
picture below to show what depth you 
should plant. 
THE ABOVE PICTURE 
is from a photograph of four average-sized plants of our Own-Root French 
Lilacs, showing one plant of a tw>o- to three-foot size, and three plants of a 
three- to four-foot size. 
The line running through each plant shows the depth you should plant your 
bushes. 
To one who has never grown an Own Root French Lilac, the price may seem 
high. But we feel sure you would not wdsh to care for a plant for five years 
and offer it for a price below what we are charging. 
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