THE LILAC ZONE (Now being updated again!)
Another cultivar that produces huge florets is 'Hallelujah'. The florets of this cultivar also exhibit a really cool effect as they age. As the color in the petals fades, the florets tend to exhibit a pattern that looks like a cross. I suspect that this is where it gets its name.
As I mentioned elsewhere on this site, this cultivar resides next to 'Glory', as well as 'Hosanna' which bloomed last year. This area is a very special place in my garden!
2023 was another great year for seeing lilacs bloom for the first time. As many cultivars as we had bloom in 2022, we were blessed to have more bloom for the first time this year, including two of my favorite rare cultivars, 'Humphrey' and 'Christophe Colomb!
'Glory' is considered a single magenta. This cultivar produces huge panicles of large-sized florets. It is a lilac that certainly grabs the attention of visitors from afar!
'Humphrey' is an extremely rare lavender lilac that I became enamored with years ago. It is another cultivar that produces impressive panicles and the bluish-lavender hue of its florets is entrancing!
'Christophe Colomb' was actually the first lilac that I lost to lilac borers. It was disheartening, as it was one of my favorites! It took a good while to be able to obtain another one and this one is actually one that I had grafted from a parent plant in an arboretum. It isn't apparent in the photo because the flower cluster is small, but this cultivar produces clusters of tightly packed, round-petaled florets that give it the appearance of clusters of grapes. The bright yellow anthers and the white spots of coloration near them play off of the lavender coloration of the petals, resulting in very beautiful florets!
'Polly Hill' is one of the last lilacs introduced by an American propagator name Father John Fiala. Fiala wrote an incredible comprehensive book about lilacs which included his introductions and this one is so new that he didn't even mention it in his book. Needless to say, it is not very common. It has large pale pink florets that are produced on good-sized panicles, which make it a treat to see when it blooms!
'Marie Frances' produces large panicles of beautiful salmon pink florets! Unfortunately, it has been messed up in the nursery trade. I myself have obtained three different plants labeled 'Marie Frances' that have produced florets that look radically different from one another! The florets on the present shrub look different than the florets on the shrub that I originally purchased, which came from the original propagator's garden, so I am currently in the process of obtaining another sample of the former to be sure that the true cultivar continues to exist!
'Belle de Nancy' is a beautiful double pink. This is the second specimen that I have had to purchase because I lost my original to awful pests called lilac borers. Fortunately I didn't have to wait long to make sure that this specimen was accurate. This was only the first year that I had the second specimen and I got lucky - it bloomed right away!
'Sensation' is definitely one of the most recognizable lilacs due to its unique striped florets, which only a couple of other cultivars exhibit. The "picotee" pattern would be fun to see in other colors, so I hope that at some point we will see that! Regardless, I was excited to see my specimen finally bloom after five years!
This is not a vulgaris. It is a Syringa patula, light violet in color called 'Miss Kim'. I don't have many lilacs that are not vulgaris or hyacinthiflora, but this one is one of my favorites because of its subtle violet hue.
'Independence' is a beautiful lilac that produces clean bright white florets that are fairly large. The panicles consistently grow upright, which is not all that common to see. These attributes, when combined, make it very impressive when it blooms!
'Aucubaefolia' is one of the few cultivars that is more easily verified because it has variegated foliage, which it had produced consistently since I purchased it back in 2016. Still, even among variegated lilacs there can be problems that occur. This particular cultivar is a prime example. At some point, it was unfortunately mixed up in the nursery trade with a single-flowering variegated lilac called 'Dappled Dawn', resulting in the majority of lilacs labeled as 'Dappled Dawn' being incorrect. The cultivar called 'Dappled Dawn' could very likely be extinct at this point as the only known verified specimen to exist died a couple of years ago and unfortunately very little was done to preserve it prior to it dying. I continue to be on the search for it, in case one might still exist out there. If you happen to know of one, please let me know right away! You could save a very unique and rare cultivar from extinction!