Syringa vulgaris Comtesse Dharcourt - Common Lilac

The lilac 'Comtesse d'Harcourt' is a variety selected by a French nurseryman at the end of the 20th century. It produces beautiful clusters of white flowers in the spring, which exude a light, very pleasant fragrance and radiate an undeniable romantic charm. The Syringa vulgaris 'Comtesse d'Harcourt' is a French variety obtained in 1995 by Claude Bellion, then director of the research and development department of the Minier Nurseries in Angers. Claude Bellion, who was also head of cultivation, notably won the Xavier-Bernard Foundation award in 1993 for his work on ecological hedges. Of fairly large size, this bush is as comfortable in a free hedge as in a mass of country bushes. Very hardy, this easy-to-grow variety thrives in sunny exposure, in any neutral to limestone, not too dry soil. 

Lilacs are part of the Oleaceae family, which includes many ornamental genus, Forsythia, Osmanthus, Phyllirea, Chionanthus, the sweetly scented Jasmines, the Privets, the majestic Common Ash, as well as the venerable Olive tree with its legendary longevity. Fallen into disuse in the 1960s-1970s, which saw the arrival of American or Asian lilacs, with their model-like size and often perpetual flowering, the lilac of Europe and its hybrids, larger, are making a strong comeback in our gardens, following the trend of old roses, which were criticised for their single flowering, and were therefore neglected in favour of modern hybrids. It is often forgotten that the Common Lilac, or Lilac of Europe, is actually native to South-east Europe and the west of Asia, more precisely the Balkan peninsula, and it did not arrive in Western Europe until the end of the renaissance. In nature, this untamed plant with its very fragrant purplish blue flowers colonises the rocky hills and braves cold winters

This lilac is a large bush, as it reaches a mature height of 4 m (13 ft 1 in) and 3 m (9 ft 10 in) in width. It should also be taken into account that it suckers, meaning that it gradually widens by emitting new shoots on the periphery of the original plant. It is therefore better to plant it in a sufficiently spacious location. Its pretty green foliage, composed of heart-shaped leaves at the base, 5 to 8 cm (2 to 3.1 in) long, provides a beautiful background to the wonderful white flowering in April-May. At the end of one-year-old branches, long ramified clusters grouped in pairs, or even more, appear. These compound clusters, called thyrsus, sometimes reach 20 cm (7.9 in) in length. Their shape, overall pyramidal, is rather slender. The flowers that make them up are single, of a pure white. They diffuse a light, very pleasant fragrance and allow for the creation of beautiful bouquets for the home.

The common lilac ‘Comtesse d'Harcourt’, with its name hinting at old nobility, is an indispensable bush in a romantic garden. Use it, mixed with other varieties, mauves, pinks or reds, in abundance, in large flowering hedges, or in the company of other wild-looking bushes like the Amelanchier lamarckii, whose countless spring white flowers are equalled in beauty only by its autumnal colours and its decorative red fruits at the end of the year. To vary the colours, opt for the Chinese Spindle, or Euonymus phellomanus, with its superb decorative pink fruits. Another companion of choice for our lilacs is the Cornelian Cherry, which, like it, perfectly tolerates limestone and is full of assets, from its early yellow flowering, in February-March, to its decorative and edible red berries, not to mention its beautiful autumn colours. And to top off your free hedge on a joyful note, nothing better than the Crataegus laevigata Paul's Scarlet, a superb hawthorn with bright pink flowers that gives decorative red fruits and offers, like the dogwood, an autumnal spectacle, with its foliage turning red.