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In 1920, William T. Macoun, Dominion Horticulturist in Ottawa, hired Isabella
Preston to expand the range of hardy ornamental plants and shrubs at the Central
Experimental Farm. He was interested in developing varieties that could endure
northern prairie winters.
Isabella worked on six genera: lilac, lily, rose, Siberian iris, columbine
and flowering crabapple. She was most successful with lilacs and Siberian iris.
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Her work in crossing two Oriental lilacs resulted in the creation of a new
group of late-blooming lilacs, which were eventually named for her.
Preston lilacs are very hardy, capable of
thriving in Zone 2 (northwestern Ontario and the central Prairie provinces).
They are prolific bloomers, with purplish-pink flowers that bloom ten days later
than common lilac. Prestons grow rapidly and are disease-resistant, though not
very fragrant. Isabella named fifty new lilacs after Shakespeare’s heroines.
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Introduction