World's Greatest Collection of Lilacs Here!

Boston is lucky enough to be home to the world's greatest collection of lilacs. They're in bloom NOW and a visit is FREE to Harvard University's Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain. (Wait until the rain finally stops.) The cult of lilacs reached its peak during the Victorian age, when the famous French nusery of Lemoine produced hundreds of named varieties in shades of blue, violet, pink, magenta and white as well as purple. Many of these are at the Arnold in full bloom now.

With so many excellent hybrids available it makes sense to seek out the best ones for planting at home. The Arnold Arboretum has selected the following varieties in its collection for their intense fragrance, disease resistance, flower quality and landscape form:
Blue: President Lincoln
Purple: Assessippi, Excel, President Roosevelt
Pale yellow: Primrose
Magenta: Charles Joly, Ruhm von horstenstein
Pink: Catinat, Katherine Havemeyer, General Sherman, Vauban.
My own personal favorite is Beauty of Moscow (Krasavitsa Moskvy).

The University of New Hampshire in Durham also has a nationally famous lilac collection.

Weston Nurseries, East Main St., Hopkinton, has long been noted for its selection of lilacs. I've also bought inexpensive smaller plants mail order from Fox Hill Nursery in Freeport, Maine (www.lilacs.com). Fedco, P.O. Box 520, Waterville, ME 04903-0520 (tel: 207-873-7333) is another good mail order source. Their catalogs cost $3.

Lilac shrubs like full sun though I do have lilacs that bloom in shade. To plant a shrub dig a hole 18 inches deep and three feet across and fill it with compost or good soil mixed with a little lime.

Gardening Event: May 14 the Garden in the Woods, 180 Hemenway Road, Framingham, will host an exquisite evening of music and shopping for native plants. Visit www.newenglandwild.org for details.