Lottah Nursery Tasmania, Australia

Syringa x Lotta

Syn. S. x 'Josee'™, 'MORjos 060F'

Bred by G. Morel in France and introduced in 1974, 'Lotta' sports a complex parentage of (S. pubescens ssp. microphylla x S. pubescens ssp. patula) x S. meyeri, and is the precursor to the new generation of repeat flowering dwarf cultivars we are about to see more of.

It began appearing on the North American market in recent years and has been generating considerable interest there.

'Lotta' is a vigorous semi dwarf cultivar maturing to a rounded non-suckering shrub of 1.8 m sporting reddish buds opening into fragrant pink flowers; unusual for a lilac, it keeps repeat flowering into Winter.
While it is not uncommon for flowers to emerge before leafbreak it is certainly novel to see flowers persisting on a plant after leaves abscise in Winter.

Plant is believed to be resistant to blight.

The advice of more experienced growers is that 'Lotta' performs best when sheared after flowering to initiate fresh growth for the repeat flowering. We would suggest 'renewal pruning' of older shoots in Winter to initiate vigorous new growth for the following season.

We have renamed this after a young lady who once came to Lottah looking for her namesake .....

(click on thumbnails for larger images)

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