New York Lilacs

New York Lilacs. . , A century of work by New York hybridizers has produced some of the most distinctive and beautiful lilacs., Americans have grown lilacs since the colonial era, and New York State has a special history with this group of plants. Long Island horticulturist T.A. Havemeyer began breeding lilacs around 1910 after visiting Victor Lemoine's famed French nursery. Working largely with Lemoine's hybrids, Havemeyer developed richly hard, large-flowered lilacs in all seven color categories. Havemeyer and his family donated many plants to The New York Botanical Garden, and some of them continue to add beauty to the Collection nearly a century later., Rochester, New York, "The Lilac City," became another center for lilac hybridization. John Dunbur planted the first lilacs at Highland Botanical Park 1891 and created hybrids such a the vigorous blue lilac President Lincoln. In 1971 Alvan R. Grant, Rochester Director of Parks, bred the common lilac cultivar Rochester' with a unique many-petaled flower shape called a radial double. Richard A. Fenicchia, Superintendent at Highland Botanical Park, used this beautiful white lilac as the foundation for further hybridization work in the 1970s and 80s. The results of their labor are still enjoyed at Rochester's annual Lilac Festival, which has been celebrated since 1898., Other lilac breeders, including renowned lilac expert and writer Father John L. Fiala, have continued so breed these New York hybrids and their progeny to develop ever more bold hues and unique flower shapes, the most stunning of which are featured throughout the Collection.