Lilacs at the Central Experimental Farm

    Lilacs in the Ornamental Gardens    
By Colour

The Wister Code for colour classification is used internationally for lilac registration:

I - White
II - Violet
III - Bluish
IV - Lilac
V - Pinkish
VI - Magenta
VII - Purple



Lilac florets are classified as either:

S - single with 4 petals, or
D - double with more than 4 petals



Single florets are the norm. Double florets are found with some cultivars of S. vulgaris and S. ×hyacinthiflora.

Colour may be difficult to assign as there are no standards and there are subtle diffences between bluish and lilac, lilac and pinkish, etc. As well, colour varies with the time of day, the light, panicle maturity, soil conditions, the eye of the beholder, the camera, the computer, etc.

The following are examples of cultivars from the Lilac Rows which we consider quite good representatives for the assigned colour. All colours are well represented except for II and D VII. Colour II is rarely assigned and we have no representatives here of D II.

(Click on a cultivar name for an image. Click on an image to zoom in/out)

Colour

Examples

S I

'Hunting Tower', 'Marie Legraye', 'Mme Florent Stepman', 'Mont Blanc'

D I

'Edith Cavell', 'Jeanne d'Arc', 'Madeleine Lemaire', 'Mme Casimer Périer', 'Mme Lemoine'

S II

'Kosmos', 'Pocahontas', 'Violet Glory'

S III

'Blanche Sweet', 'Boule Azurée', 'Crépuscule', 'Heavenly Blue', 'Madame Charles Souchet', 'Peggy', 'President Lincoln'

D III

'Aucubaefolia', 'Duc de Massa','Hyacinthiflora Plena', 'Olivier de Serres'

S IV

'Christophe Colomb', 'Erzherzog Johann', 'Excel', 'Isabella', 'Jacques Callot', 'Marengo', 'Marlyensis Pallida', 'Mons. Van Aerschot', 'Pom Pom'

D IV

'Doyen Keteleer', 'Henri Martin', 'Julien Gérardin', 'Maurice de Vilmorin', 'Michel Buchner', 'Président Carnot', 'Thunberg'

S V

'Buffon', 'Catinat', 'Dr Bretschneider', 'Dr von Regel', 'Ethel M. Webster', 'James Macfarlane', 'Lamartine', 'Macrostachya', 'Maiden's Blush', 'Necker', 'Palibin', 'Pallens'

D V

'Berryer', 'Capitaine Perrault', 'Jean Macé', 'Katherine Havemeyer', 'Le Printemps', 'Mme Antoine Buchner', 'Montaigne', 'Vauban', 'W.T. Lee'

S VI

'Capitaine Baltet', 'Lady Lindsay', 'Masséna', 'Mons. Léon Mathieu', 'Olivia', 'Priscilla', 'Redbud'

D VI

'Comte de Kerchove','Downfield', 'La Tour d'Auvergne','Planchon', 'Président Loubet'

S VII

'Andenken an Ludwig Späth', 'Etna', 'Frank Paterson', 'Kingsville', 'Mrs W.E. Marshall', 'Prodige', 'Sarah Sands', 'Toussaint-Louverture'

D VII

'Adelaide Dunbar'

Two Colours

Two colours have been registered for some cultivars:
     -    = colour combinations
    &    = bi-colours

'Albert F. Holden'
'George Eastman'
'Helen'
'Mechta'
'Metensis'
'Saugeana'
'Sensation'

 S II - VII
D VII & I
S V - VI
S V - I
S III - IV
S I - IV
S V - VII
S VII & I

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Building 72, Arboretum, Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, Canada K1A 0C6
Tel: (613) 230-3276    Fax: (613) 230-1238    E-mail: info@friendsofthefarm.ca