Syringa vulgaris - PRESIDENT GREVY

🌿 General description

• Botanical name: Syringa vulgaris ‘Président Grévy’
• Family: Oleaceae (olive family)
• Origin: France 🇫🇷
• Breeder: Victor Lemoine, famous horticulturist from Nancy, in 1886.
• Named in honor of: Jules Grévy, President of the French Republic from 1879 to 1887.
• Type: Deciduous ornamental shrub.

🌸 Characteristics

• Mature height: 3 to 4 m.
• Spread: 2.5 to 3 m.
• Habit: Erect, bushy, slightly rounded with age.
• Foliage: Medium green, heart-shaped, deciduous.
• Growth: Medium to fast.
• Hardiness: Excellent, down to -25°C and below.

🌼 Flowering

• Period: May to early June (mid-season flowering).
• Flowers:
  • Double, very full, in upright, compact panicles 20–25 cm long.
  • Color: Light lavender blue, sometimes slightly silvery when opening, becoming more bluish as it blooms.
  • Fragrance: Very intense, sweet and floral—typical of common lilac.
• Special feature: One of the most popular blue-flowered varieties for its soft, luminous hue.
  

🌞 Growing conditions

• Exposure: Full sun (6 hours or more per day).
• Soil:
  • Rich, deep, well-drained.
  • Tolerates limestone but does not like heavy, waterlogged soil.
• Care:
  • Prune immediately after flowering (never in fall or winter, so as not to remove flower buds).
  • Remove wilted flowers and suckers to stimulate the next flowering.
  • Add mature compost in spring to feed the plant.

🌷 Uses in the garden

• On its own, to fully enjoy its shape and fragrance.
• In shrub beds or flowering hedges.
• Near a patio, path, or window to enjoy the fragrance.
• Excellent as cut flowers: the panicles hold well in vases.

💡 Did you know?

• ‘Président Grévy’ is one of the most award-winning lilacs in the world: it has won numerous horticultural awards since the end of the 19th century.
• Its lavender-blue hue has long been considered a benchmark in European gardens.
• Victor Lemoine, its creator, is also responsible for more than 200 varieties of lilac, including ‘Monge’, ‘Mme Lemoine’ and ‘Charles Joly’.