Victor Lemoine
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Pierre Louis Victor Lemoine (October 21, 1823 in Delme,
Moselle The Moselle ( , ; ; ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A sm ...
- December 11, 1911) was a celebrated and prolific French flower breeder who, among other accomplishments, created many of today's
lilac ''Syringa'' is a genus of 12 currently recognized species of flowering woody plants in the olive family or Oleaceae called lilacs. These lilacs are native to woodland and scrub from southeastern Europe to eastern Asia, and widely and commonly ...
varieties. As a result of his accomplishments, the term ''French lilac'' has come to mean all cultivars of the common lilac that have double flowers, regardless of their origin.


Early years

Lemoine was born to a family of skilled gardeners in Delme,
Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...
,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
on October 21, 1823. His father and grandfather managed large garden estates at the time of his birth. The family was affluent enough for Lemoine to attend an exclusive boys school nearby. With his family's connections, he was able to apprentice with three leading horticulturalists in France. Lemoine devoted several years to furthering his knowledge working with these men. In 1840, at the age of 17, Lemoine went to work for botanist and nurseryman, E.A. Baumann, in the village of Bollwiller. Little is known about Lemoine's time with Baumann, but he later dedicated many of his hybrids to his former mentor. He next moved to
Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...
,
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
, where he spent time furthering his horticultural studies with
Louis van Houtte Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also * ...
. In later years, he would say that this period was the most influential of all his learning experiences. Van Houtte was an excellent horticulturalist, teacher and artist. Lemoine's last apprenticeship was with botanist, Auguste Miellez, at his nursery, in the village of Esquermes.


Career

In 1849, Lemoine established his independence by buying property 40 miles away from his family and an opening his own nursery at Nancy, France. By 1850 Lemoine had established himself as a florist and gardener; the ''Revue Horticole'' mentioned Lemoine's double flowered '' Portulaca''. In 1854 Lemoine produced the first double ''
Potentilla ''Potentilla'' is a genus containing over 500 species of Annual plant, annual, Biennial plant, biennial and Perennial plant, perennial herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants in the rose family (biology), family, Rosaceae. Potentillas m ...
'' (Gloire de Nancy), and the first ''
Streptocarpus ''Streptocarpus'' ("twisted fruit" from Greek στρεπτός (''streptos'') "twisted" and καρπός (''karpos'') "fruit") is an Afrotropics, Afrotropical genus of flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae. The genus is native to Afromont ...
'' hybrids. It was about the same period that Lemoine turned his hand to
fuchsia ''Fuchsia'' ( ) is a genus of flowering plants that consists mostly of shrubs or small trees. Almost 110 species of ''Fuchsia'' are recognized; the vast majority are native to South America, but a few occur north through Central America to Mex ...
s and introduced many varieties, including the double flowered hybrid Solferino. By 1862 he had introduced a white '' Spiraea callosa'', in 1866 the first genuine double-flowered zonal ''
Pelargonium ''Pelargonium'' () is a genus of flowering plants that includes about 280 species of perennial plant, perennials, succulent plant, succulents, and shrubs, common name, commonly called geraniums, pelargoniums, or storksbills. ''Geranium'' is also ...
'' geraniums (Gloire de Nancy), and in 1868 the first of his hybrid weigelas. The greatest of his creations, though, were undoubtedly his
lilacs The Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde (in Portuguese language, Portuguese), acronym LILACS, and previously called Latin American Index Medicus, is an on-line bibliographic database in medicine and health sciences, main ...
. Starting in 1870 Lemoine and his descendants (Émile Lemoine (1862-1942) and Henri Lemoine (1897-1982)) introduced over 200 new lilac cultivars. In 1876 he created the double French hybrids and hybridized the first hyacinthiflora lilacs, the result of crosses between the early-blooming '' Syringa oblata'' and the familiar '' S. vulgaris''. However, his work was by no means confined to lilacs. During the last fifteen years of his life he produced excellent new varieties of '' Astilbe'', cannas, ''
Delphinium ''Delphinium'' is a genus of about 300 species of annual and perennial flowering plants in the family (biology), family Ranunculaceae, native species, native throughout the Northern Hemisphere and also on the high mountains of tropical Africa. T ...
'', '' Deutzia'', ''
Gladiolus ''Gladiolus'' (from Latin, the diminutive of ''gladius'', a sword) is a genus of perennial cormous flowering plants in the iris family (Iridaceae). It is sometimes called the 'sword lily', but is usually called by its generic name (plural ''g ...
'', ''
Heuchera ''Heuchera'' ( or ) is a genus of largely evergreen perennial plants in the family Saxifragaceae. All species are native to North America except for '' Heuchera sichotensis'', native to the Russian Far East. Common names include alumroot and co ...
'', ''
Hydrangea ''Hydrangea'' ( or ) is a genus of more than 70 species of Flowering plant, flowering plants native plant, native to Asia and the Americas. Hydrangea is also used as the common name for the genus; some (particularly ''Hydrangea macrophylla, H. m ...
'', ''
Penstemon ''Penstemon'' , the beardtongues, is a large genus of roughly 280 species of flowering plants native to North America from northern Canada to Central America. It is the largest genus of flowering plants endemic to North America. As well as bein ...
'',
peonies The peony or paeony () is any flowering plant in the genus ''Paeonia'', the only genus in the family Paeoniaceae. Peonies are native to Asia, Europe, and Western North America. Scientists differ on the number of species that can be distinguishe ...
, '' Philadelphus'', and '' Weigela'', as well as more modest efforts in
chrysanthemum Chrysanthemums ( ), sometimes called mums or chrysanths, are flowering plants in the Asteraceae family. They are native to East Asia and northeastern Europe. Most species originate from East Asia, and the center of diversity is in China. Co ...
s,
dahlia ''Dahlia'' ( , ) is a genus of bushy, tuberous, herbaceous perennial plants native to Mexico and Central America. Dahlias are members of the Asteraceae (synonym name: Compositae) family of dicotyledonous plants, its relatives include the sun ...
s, bush
honeysuckle Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or Vine#Twining vines, twining vines in the genus ''Lonicera'' () of the family Caprifoliaceae. The genus includes 158 species native to northern latitudes in North America, Eurasia, and North Africa. Widely kno ...
s, '' Montbretia'', ''
Phlox ''Phlox'' (; "flame"; plural "phlox" or "phloxes", ) is a genus of 68 species of perennial and annual plants in the family Polemoniaceae. They are found mostly in North America (one in Siberia) in diverse habitats from alpine tundra to open ...
'',
saxifrage ''Saxifraga'' is the largest genus in the family Saxifragaceae, containing about 473 species of holarctic perennial plants, known as saxifrages or rockfoils. The Latin word ''saxifraga'' means literally "stone-breaker", from Latin ' ("rock" or " ...
s, and ''
Spiraea ''Spiraea'' , sometimes spelled spirea in common names, and commonly known as meadowsweets or steeplebushes, is a genus of about 80 to 100 species
''.


Death

Lemoine died at Nancy on 11 December 1911 aged 88.


Honors and awards

Lemoine was awarded the
Veitch Memorial Medal The Veitch Memorial Medal is an international prize awarded annually by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). Goal The prize is awarded to "persons of any nationality who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement and improvement ...
of Horticulture by the
Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...
, the first foreigner so honoured.Judith M. Taylor He also received the George R. White Medal of Honor from the
Massachusetts Horticultural Society The Massachusetts Horticultural Society, sometimes abbreviated to Mass Hort or MHS, is an American horticultural society based in Massachusettsbr>It describes itself as the oldest formally organized horticultural institution in the United States ...
.


Personal life

Lemoine married a young woman from Delme, Marie Louise Gomieu (1834–1905). They had two daughters and a son, Emile (1862-1942), whose son, Henri became an important horticulturist in his own right. Lemoine taught Marie the techniques he used to crossbreed plants and she became an important contributor to the family's success. One of their daughters married legendary French psychologist,
Émile Coué Émile Coué de la Châtaigneraie (; 26 February 1857 – 2 July 1926) was a French psychologist, pharmacy, pharmacist, and hypnotist who introduced a popular method of psychotherapy and Self-help, self-improvement based on optimism, optimistic ...
. Lemoine was active in the family business until the 1890's when his son, Emile, took over the company's management. The nursery continued to be owned by the family until Henri closed its doors in 1968.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lemoine, Victor 1823 births 1911 deaths People from Moselle (department) French horticulturists Floriculturists Veitch Memorial Medal recipients