The Lilacs - Lilac Trivia

Highland Park's lilac collection is famous throughout the world. The following are some facts and trivia about lilacs, and about
the collection.
The first lilacs were planted in Highland Park by Calvin C. Laney and John Dunbar in 1892. 3,000 people gathered one Sunday in 1898 to see the lilacs. This number increased to 25,000 on Lilac Sunday a
decade later.
The lilac is known as the "queen of shrubs". The name lilac itself comes from Persia, from the word "lilaq" which means flower. Other old names for lilacs: blewe pipe trees, prince's feather, duck's bills,
Spanish ash.
The Latin term for lilac is syringa vulgaris. Vulgaris can be translated as "belonging to the masses."
The lilac originated in Bulgaria and spread throughout Eastern Europe and temperate Asia.
Victor Lemoine changed the old fashioned syringa vulgaris to what it is today: he developed the first double lilac.
In 1563, lilacs were brought to France from Constantinople.
We owe our lilacs to the Puritan women who carried rooted pieces (or perhaps even small plants) on their long journey from England. Both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson refer to the lilac in
their diaries.
The oldest bush in the park was a double lilac of the President Grevy variety, planted in 1892, but this was replaced and now the oldest is the same variety but it was planted in 1897.
Lilac Sunday idea was proposed by the Park Department in 1909 when the collection, which spread from the original bush brought from France, began to attract attention.
The fine for picking lilacs in Highland Park is $25.

Myths concerning lilacs:

If you think you are being followed by evil spirits, ghosts, or banshees, the advice of a West Indian native is to hang some lilac sprays over your door. The perfume of the flower has a mysterious power that will keep those haunting things away.
New England youngsters a half century ago (1890) believed in the Luck Lilac that had five divisions on the petal rather than the usual four. This lilac was believed to be a love divinator. If you swallowed the petals and they went down smoothly, then his /her lover loved him/her. If he/she choked, then his/her lover loved them not.
To some, the lilac was the flower of bad luck because its purple is the hue of mourning.
An old adage says, "She who wears lilacs will never wear a
wedding ring."
And to send a spray of lilacs was a delicate way of asking that an engagement be broken.

Lilac Timeline

1905 saw the first Lilac celebration
In 1919 the first Lilac Sunday observance was held
In 1930 many people voiced the opinion that Rochester was not making the most of its lilac collection as an advertising feature. The Rochester Chamber of Commerce organized a committee to give the festival permanency. Ideas used: flower float parades, floodlighting, installed balloon ascensions, lilac song composed by Eastman School student. The Lilac Festival was first floodlighted in 1932. Three years later a special Lilac Festival Committee printed 25,000 circulars
for distribution.
1930 - first Lilac Festival Queen: Christine M. Blackwell, an instructor at the YWCA.
1931 - 2nd Lilac Queen contest. The 2nd choice for Lilac Queen is the Queen's Maid of Honor. Special requirements to be Queen are "personality, poise and charm." Young woman chosen is to typify the spirit of the event which features the beauty of the blossoms.
In 1932, 7 Lilac Queens were chosen representing national groups & the celebration was extended to Lilac Week. Lilac Time queens had to be sponsored by an organization and each organization could sponsor only one queen.
The Lilac Queen contest, started in 1930, lasted only 4 years because the mobs accompanying the pageantry threatened the park shrubs.
May 11, 1948 City Council designates lilac as official flower of the city, and provided that the Mayor annually shall designate "Lilac Time" to be a full week.
Number of species and varieties of lilacs:
- 1896 - 100
- 1897 - 110
- 1898 - 297
- 1899 - 384
- 1900 - 430
- 1901 - 493
"Lilac Time" has reference to Highland Park. A 45 rpm record made by Century, Words written by Carl Piarulli
1935 - official song: "Lilacs Remind Me of You", by Walter Mourant and Frank Kunkle
1935 - 300 lilac colored balloons released from the top of Sibley's. Inside were invitations to come to the Lilac Festival. A person finding one would receive a lilac bush and be eligible for one of three
cash prizes.
1937 - new Highland Park music pavilion to be named John Dunbar Music Pavilion.
1937 - 200,000 people came during Lilac Week
See Flower Grower, May 1945 issue, p. 255
1946 - 100,000 visitors to the park on Lilac Sunday
1948 - 300,000 visitors to the festival
1948 - "Rochester, the Flowers and You," words by Viola Kidder and music by Joseph Clute
1949 - Lilacettes: 20 girls, among the prettiest in Rochester, act as guides to the visitors.
1949 - "By the Genesee at Lilac Time" by Pat Tylert (music) and lyrics by Ann E. Reid.
May 1950 issue of General Folks: article on Rochester lilacs
1951 - Popular Gardening editor to present the City of Rochester with a cup of recognition of its outstanding park planning and maintenance
1951 - "Lilac Lane" by E.M.Alcox
1952 - "eviction" of wasps from Highland Park
1953 - a box of lilacs flown to Washington to be presented to Dwight D. Eisenhower
1954 - lilacs from Highland Park presented to Patricia Nixon, the wife of Vice President Richard Nixon, and to Queen Elizabeth of England
1954 - new type of lilac, syranga danton sent from London
1954 - 354,000 visitors to the park
1955 - Lilacs from Rochester presented to Queen Mother Wilhemina of the Netherlands
1955 - 150,000 visitors to see the Lilacs
1958 - 1st Annual Lilac Time parade

Upcoming Events

The Lilacs - Lilac Trivia

Myths concerning lilacs:

Lilac Timeline