🌿 General description

Botanical name: Syringa vulgaris ‘Charles Joly’

Family: Oleaceae (olive family)

Origin: France 🇫🇷

Breeder: Victor Lemoine, the renowned horticulturist from Nancy, around 1896.

Named in honour of: Charles Joly, the person commemorated by this cultivar.

Type: Deciduous ornamental shrub.

🌸 Characteristics

Mature height: 3 to 4 m.

Spread: 2.5 to 3 m.

Habit: Upright, bushy and rounded with age.

Foliage: Medium to dark green, heart-shaped, deciduous leaves.

Growth: Moderate to fast.

Hardiness: Excellent, about –25 to –30 °C, depending on growing conditions.

🌼 Flowering

Period: May to early June in Quebec (mid-season flowering).

Flowers:

Double, very full, in compact, dense panicles.

Colour: Deep reddish purple, wine red to dark magenta. Petal undersides are paler, creating a subtle two-tone effect.

Fragrance: Pleasant and noticeable, typical of old lilacs.

Special feature: Double flowers of particularly intense wine-purple make it one of the most remarkable classic dark lilacs.

🌞 Growing conditions

Exposure: Full sun (6 or more hours daily).

Soil:

• Rich, deep, moist and well drained.

• Tolerates calcareous soil.

• Prefers neutral to slightly alkaline soil.

• Dislikes constantly waterlogged ground.

Care:

• Prune immediately after flowering to preserve next year's flower buds.

• Remove spent panicles.

• Remove basal suckers if growth becomes excessive.

• Apply mature compost in spring as needed.

• Water regularly during the first few years after planting.

🌷 Garden uses

• As a specimen to showcase deep purple blossoms.

• In shrub beds or flowering hedges.

• Near a patio or walkway to enjoy the fragrance.

• In country-style or romantic gardens.

• Excellent for fragrant bouquets.

💡 Did you know?

‘Charles Joly’ was introduced in 1896 by Victor Lemoine in Nancy, France.

Its name honours Victor Charles Joly (1818–1902), a French physician, hotelier and author interested in horticulture. It is therefore not a tribute to Victor Lemoine himself.

Received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit in 1993.

Among the old French lilacs still highly appreciated today for double wine-red flowers and fragrance.