Lilacs

Lilac time has been celebrated in Rochester since 1905. Today, the celebration has grown into a 10-day Lilac Festival in May that attracts visitors from around the world. The Park's 22-acre display is found primarily along Highland Avenue.

John Dunbar planted the first lilacs (genus Syringa) at Highland Park in 1892. During his 36 years as Park Horticulturist, he gradually expanded the collection and introduced more than 30 new cultivars to the trade. The deep sky-blue ‘President Lincoln’, a 1916 Dunbar introduction, is still considered to be the best of the blue lilacs. Dunbar's successor, Bernard H. Slavin, built Highland Park 's Lilac Collection into the largest in the world. Today the display numbers approximately 1,200 shrubs, representing nearly 500 cultivars. The ‘Rochester’ lilac, a creamy white variety introduced in 1963, commemorates the city that has become synonymous with lilacs.