Outside of a few collections, the numerous forms of the modern Lilac are 
woefully missing from American gardens. iVIany people are acquainted with 
none but the Common Purple, the Common White and the Rouen Lilac, 
erroneously called Persian. 
Today there are some thirty species, most of which are natives of China and 
her borderlands. Numerous hybrids have been produced by crossing some 
of these. Hundreds of exquisitely beautiful forms have been produced by 
hybridization of the Common Lilac alone. 
In 1843 Liebert Darimont, a nurseryman of Liege, Belgium, introduced the 
first double Lilac —Syrmga vulgaris azurea plena. No one knows exactly 
how it originated, but in the opinion of Sargent, it was a seedling of the 
Common Lilac. Its flowers were small, malformed and of no ornamental 
value. It was some twenty-seven years later, in the little town of Nancy, 
France, that Victor Lemoine, one of the world’s greatest hybridizers and 
plant breeders, started to produce a race of double Lilacs. It served him as 
a diversion from the trials of the time, for this was during the Franco-Prus- 
sian War and Nancy was occupied by the Germans. Lemoine crossed 
Darimont’s plant with the single varieties, and after years of patient and 
painstaking labor gave the world the modern Lilac. 
Lilacs are best planted either when they are dormant in the fall, or in early 
spring. However, if necessary plants may be moved at any season, provided 
they are taken with a ball of earth and well watered for several days. 
Although Lilacs will grow under unfavorable conditions, and in any kind of 
soil, they prefer a sunny location and a well drained loam. They do not like 
a sour soil. Lime applied in suitable quantities is excellent for counteracting 
such an acid condition. 
Al.L OUR LILACS ARE GROWN ON 
THEIR OWN ROOTS 
. 4 . 
