Syringa vulgaris in commerce today. Lemoine's "French lilacs" extended the limited color range to include deeper, more saturated hues, and they also introduced double-flowered "sports", with the stamens replaced by extra petals. These cultivars have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit: Syringa vulgaris Syringa vulgaris (lilac or common lilac) is a species of flowering plant in the olive family Oleaceae, native to the Balkan Peninsula, where it grows on rocky hills. This species is widely cultivated as an ornamental and has been naturalized in other parts of Europe (including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy), as well as
Syringa vulgaris that hardy character of the men and women of the Granite State". Additional hardiness, for Canadian gardens, was bred for in a series of "S. vulgaris" hybrids by Isabella Preston, who introduced many of the later-blooming varieties, whose later-developing flower buds are better protected from late spring frosts; the "Syringa × prestoniae" hybrids range primarily in the pink and lavender shades. Most garden plants of "S. vulgaris" are cultivars, the majority of which do not exceed tall. Between 1876 and 1927, the nurseryman Victor Lemoine of Nancy introduced over 153 named cultivars, many of which are considered classics and still