New Hampshire Lilacs

At The Avenues, dozens of lilac shrubs and trees are planted for public enjoyment. The common purple lilac, Syringa vulgaris, is a woody flowering shrub with heart-shaped leaves and fragrant blossoms, native to the rocky hills of the Balkan peninsula, and it serves as the New Hampshire state flower. An Agnes Smith lilac hybrid developed by the late Owen Rodgers at the University of New Hampshire has large white blooms that appear later than most and is extremely hardy in colder climates. Lilacs are not native to New Hampshire; all lilacs originate from Europe or Asia, but they are well suited to New England's rocky soil and cool climate and were seen as symbolic of the hardy character of the men and women of the Granite State. The Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion in Portsmouth is known for extensive lilac gardens and for the state's oldest documented lilac, dating to 1750. The Governor's Lilac and Wildflower Commission promotes extensive lilac plantings to beautify the state's highway system. The University of New Hampshire in Durham housed the country's longest-running lilac breeding program for six decades and introduced ten varieties to extend the bloom season. French nurseryman Victor Lemoine introduced more than one hundred fifty named lilac cultivars between 1876 and 1927, and many of these French hybrids remain in commercial production. In the 1919 legislative session, after repeated deadlocks among the House, Senate, a conference committee, and two botanists asked to arbitrate, the purple lilac was chosen as the compromise state flower, and Governor John H. Bartlett signed it into law on March 28, 1919.

Berlin, New Hampshire · United States