Syringa vulgaris - MONIQUE LEMOINE

🌸 Common Lilac ‘Monique Lemoine’ Fact Sheet

🔹 Identification

• Botanical name: Syringa vulgaris ‘Madame Lemoine’
• Common name: Double white common lilac
• Family: Oleaceae
• Origin: France (Victor Lemoine, 1890)

🌿 Description

• Type: Deciduous ornamental shrub
• Mature height: 3 to 4 m
• Width: 2 to 3 m
• Habit: Upright, bushy, dense
• Foliage: Medium green, heart-shaped, deciduous
• Flowering: Late April to May (depending on climate)
• Flowers: White, double, very fragrant, in large panicles (15 to 20 cm)
• Fragrance: Sweet, floral and pleasant
• Fruits: Capsules not very decorative

🌞 Growing requirements

• Exposure  
  •  Full sun (best flowering)
    
• Soil    
  • Ordinary, deep, well-drained, neutral to calcareous
    
• Watering    
  • Regular for the first 2 years, then moderate
    
• Hardiness    
  • Excellent (down to –25°C / zone 3-4)
    
• Growth    
  • Average to fast
    

✂️ Care

• Pruning:
  ➤ After flowering (May-June): remove faded flowers and old branches.
  ➤ Do not prune in fall (risk of removing flower buds).
• Suckers: Remove suckers if you want to limit propagation.
• Fertilizer: Mature compost in spring is sufficient.
• Additional watering: In case of dry summer.

🌼 Uses

• As a specimen plant, in a border, as a free-standing hedge, or as a corner plant.
• Excellent for fragrant bouquets.
• Attracts bees and butterflies 🐝🦋

⚠️ Watch out for

• Heavy or poorly drained soil → risk of chlorosis (yellowing leaves).
• Avoid dense shade (reduced flowering).
• May produce suckers (maintenance required depending on location).

💡 Good to know

• ‘Monique Lemoine’ is considered the best double white lilac of the Syringa vulgaris genus.
• It was created by Victor Lemoine, a famous horticulturist from Nancy, who named this variety in honor of his wife, Monique (or Madame) Lemoine.