Lemoine, Victor

Victor Lemoine was born on October 21, 1823 in the small Lorraine town of Delm in a family of hereditary gardeners and agronomists. After college, Lemoine traveled a lot. Deciding not to change family tradition and devote himself to gardening, he worked in many leading gardening institutions of that time, in particular, Louis Van Gutta in Ghent ( Belgium ).

In 1849, he settled in Nancy, where he established himself as a florist and gardener, a specialist in hybridization. The first breeding successes of Lemoine appeared in the early 1850s: in 1852 he bred a Portulaca variety with double flowers, and in 1854 - a terry variety of Potentilla , Gloire de Nancy , and the first hybrid streptocarpuses . Later, Lemoine's attention was attracted by fuchsias , and he bred numerous varieties, including the famous hybrid fuchsia Solferino with double flowers. In 1862 he introduced Japanese white spirea , later in 1866 - large-flowered panicle hydrangea and pelargonium with double flowers, and in 1868 - the first hybrid weigela .

The most famous achievement of Victor Lemoine was his breeding work with lilacs . In fact, he laid the foundation for the lilac culture, making it a popular garden plant. In 1876, he created the first hybrids of French lilac with double flowers and the first hybrid varieties of hyacinthiflora (S. oblata × S. vulgaris). Since 1870, in the family garden nursery founded by Victor Lemoine, 214 varieties of lilacs were obtained, many of which became standard. The very founder of the company owns 64 varieties, his son Emil Lemoine (1862-1942) - 140, the grandson Henri Lemoine (1897-1982) - 10.

Victor Lemoine was the first foreigner to receive the Victorian Horticultural Medal from the Royal Horticultural Society . He also received the George R. White Medal of Honor from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. Officer of the Legion of Honor .

From about the mid-19th century to the mid-1950s, Victor Lemoine and Son was widely known for its pelargoniums and fuchsias (about 450 forms), gladioli (590 varieties), clematis (almost 90), peonies (60), hydrangeas ( 40), astilbe (about 30), chubushniki , actions , weigels , begonias and other plants. Many varieties are popular at present ^[1] .

Victor Lemoine began breeding lilacs in 1870. At that time, France was going through a difficult period of its history, caused by the war with Prussia , which ended in defeat; Nancy , in which the gardener’s nursery was located, was under the occupation of German troops. Nevertheless, in the autumn of 1870 Lemoine received the first seeds from crosses of the common lilac 'azurea plena' - the first terry cultivar obtained in 1843 in Liege - with several varieties of s. common with large flowers growing in the nursery. Crosses of the variety 'azurea plena' and broadleaf lilacs were also produced. The latter hybrid was later called hyacinthiflora lilac.

The first seedling bloomed in 1878 and lived up to expectations: its flowers were double of 2–2.5 nimbuses, larger than those of 'azurea plena', the inflorescence brush was also larger and denser. The new variety was called 'Lemoinei' (which can be translated approximately as "Lemoine"). In 1881, the variety 'rubella plena' bloomed - the first terry variety with dark-colored (purple) flowers. Later, abundantly blooming terry varieties' Michel Buchner '(1885) and `President Grevy' (1886) were obtained. In 1890, the world's first snow-white terry lilac appeared, which Victor Lemoine named after his wife - 'Mme Lemoine'; a year earlier - the variety 'Emile Lemoine', named after his son. The variety differed from the others that existed at that time, with oval pointed and turned inside petals of double flowers with three rows of corollas and abundant flowering. Victor Lemoine named his varieties in honor of the political figures of France of that time ('President Grevy', 'President Loubet'), or their wives ('Mme Casimir Perier'), famous French scholars, philosophers and historical figures of the past ('Condorcet', ' De Saussure ',' Reamur ',' Duc de Massa '), as well as in honor of fellow contemporaries - gardeners, botanists, breeders (' Viviand-Morel ',' Charles Joly ',' Maximowicz '). In 1906, the son of Victor Lemoine, Emile gave his father's name to a bred variety of lilac. `Victor Lemoine` is still considered one of the best varieties of lilacs with unusually colorful and long flowering.

• Cérémonie d'inauguration du monument Victor Lemoine au parc Sainte-Marie à Nancy , le 13 juin 1926, Nancy: Impr. nancéienne, 1926, 26 p. et 1 gravure.
• François Hirtz, Victor Lemoine, un grand nom de l'horticulture mondiale , thèse de pharmacie, Université de Nancy I, 1993
• Vekhov N. Lemoines. The glorious dynasty of breeders. // Floriculture. - LLC "Editorial Board of the journal" Floriculture ", 2009. - No. 6. - S. 23-25 . - ISSN 0041-4905 .

• Sychev A. Lilac Tale of Lemoines ( Neopr .) . Garden Information Center. Date of treatment October 23, 2013.