Lilac Collection
When to Visit:
With nearly 200 different kinds of lilacs, there is generally at least one lilac in bloom during the entire month of May. Peak flowering for the collection occurs in mid-May when Lilac Sunday, now a century-old tradition, is celebrated. The last to bloom is the tree lilac (Syringa reticulata), in June.
Information:
A brochure about the lilac collection, best cultivars for home gardens, and lilac care is available in the Visitor Center. In May, look for self-guided tour signs in the landscape.
Access:
The lilac (Syringa) collection is nestled at the base of Bussey Hill. View the plants from Bussey Hill Road, or meander up the hillside for a closer look at the diversity of our holdings.
Plan your vist to the Arboretum.
There are more than 375 lilac plants of approximately 175 different kinds in the Arboretum’s collection (excluding nursery holdings). These include nearly 150 cultivars, which are varieties that have been selected by nurserymen and hybridizers to accentuate certain horticultural merits, such as flower size and color. The remaining kinds represent various botanical taxa, the parents of many of today’s hybrids. Together they provide a season of color and scent that extends over five weeks each spring.
Please join us for Lilac Sunday, an event celebrating one of North America’s premier lilac collections.
The large Japanese tree lilac (Syringa reticulata) standing above the Arboretum’s lilac collection along Meadow Road was grown from seed received from Japan in 1876. The seeds were sent by William S. Clark, the first President of the Massachusetts Agricultural College (now University of Massachusetts–Amherst), who was in Japan to organize an agricultural college in Sapporo. Not only is this accession (1111) the oldest lilac in the collection, it is believed to be the oldest individual of its species in North America. The seeds likely germinated in the spring of 1877, and one of the resulting seedlings first flowered in 1885.
S. reticulata blooms later than the common lilac with white, showy, fragrant flowers borne in large terminal panicles measuring up to 12 inches in length. The tree also features attractive, cherry-like bark, which is reddish brown to brown in color with clearly defined horizontal lenticels. It grows 20 to 30 feet in height with a rounded to oval crown. Its resistance to most of the maladies that commonly afflict garden varieties of the genus make the Japanese tree lilac a great choice as a specimen in the landscape.
- Alexander, John H. 1997. Lilac Sunday. Arnoldia 57(1): 12-13. [pdf]
- Alexander, John H. 1996. Would a Lilac by Any Other Name Smell So Sweet?. Arnoldia 56(1): 25-28. [pdf]
- Alexander, John H. 1989. The Quest for the Perfect Lilac. Arnoldia 49(2): 2-7.[pdf]
- Alexander, John H. 1978. The Uncommon Lilacs -Something Old, Something New. Arnoldia 38(3): 65-81. [pdf]
- Wagenknecht, Burdette L. 1959. The Lilacs of New England. Arnoldia 19(5): 23-30. [pdf]
- Howard, Richard A. 1959. A Booklet on Lilacs from Russia. Arnoldia 19(6-7): 31-35. [pdf]
- Fordham, Alfred J. 1959. Propagation and care of Lilacs. Arnoldia 19(8): 36-45. [pdf]
- Wyman, Donald. 1949.Lilacs. Arnoldia 9(4):13-16. [pdf]
- Wyman, Donald. 1948. Syringa Prestoniae. Arnoldia 8(7):29-36. [pdf]
- Wyman, Donald. 1940. The Arboretum Lilacs in their Order of Bloom. Arnoldia 8(5):25-28. [pdf]
- Anderson, Edgar. 1935. A Visit to the Home of the Lilac. Bulletin of Popular Information, Series 4, 3(1):1-4. [pdf]
Search for related articles in Arnoldia, the magazine of the Arnold Arboretum.
- The Lilac Society
- Connor, Sheila. Century Flower. Silva, Spring-Summer 2008: 4. [pdf]