FRENCH HYBRIDS 
The big, showy, sweet-scented blooms of the French Hybrids, and the wide 
variations they display in color and form, have made them the most popular 
and best known of all modern lilacs. Not all are French, some having originated 
in the United States, others in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. None 
are true hybrids, since all have been derived from just one lilac species, the 
Common Lilac, Syringa vulgaris. In 1870 Victor Lemoine, world renowned 
hybridizer of Nancy, France, began crossing the few available single forms 
of S. vulgaris with the only double lilac of the time, S. vulgaris Azurea Plena. 
Today approximately one-third of the more than five hundred recognized 
French Hybrids, and about three-quarters of the most outstanding of them, 
are originations of the firm of V. Lemoine & Son. 
ADELAIDE DUNBAR (Dunbar 1917) Double. One of the darkest lilacs in 
cultivation. Buds deep maroon; blossoms violet-red; clusters long, open. 
Young leaves tinged with dark red. An open-growing, well shaped bush. 
(Illus. p. 9.) 
ALPHONSE LAVALLEE (Lemoine 1885) Double. Long, well-filled panicles 
of feathery flowers resembling tiny stars. Rich lavender, shading to violet. 
A broad, symmetrical, very sturdy shrub. A profuse and dependable bloomer. 
AUDREY —See Prestonia Hybrids, p. 14. 
BELLE DE NANCY (Lemoine 1891) Double. Florets bright lilac-rose, with 
conspicuous white centers. Long, compact trusses. Low-growing, bushy, hardy. 
BLEUATRE (Baltet before 1897) Single. Flowers noticeably bluish in full 
bloom; contrasting rose colored buds. Tall, slender, vigorous, attractive. 
BUFFON—See Giraldi Hybrids, p. 13. 
CAPITAINE PERRAULT (Lemoine 1925) Double. Big, imposing panicles 
composed of unusually large florets of rich rosy mauve. Very impressive. Late. 
CATINAT—See Giraldi Hybrids, p. 13. 
CHARLES JOLY (Lemoine 1896) Double. Well filled, cylindrical spikes 
of deep crimson-violet flowers, held erect. Very striking; stands out clearly 
from a distance. A slender, upright, dependable grower. (Illus. p. 5.) 
CHARLES SARGENT (Lemoine 1905) Double. Extremely showy, flaunting 
a mass of big, billowy clusters of mauve-violet blossoms with steel blue 
overtones. Strong and sturdy. Keeps unusually well as a cut flower. 
All of our lilacs are grown on their own roots 
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