In 2014 my children, grandchildren and I attended the Annual Lilac Festival in Rochester, NY's Highland Park. There were more beautiful lilacs there than I had ever seen before, but I fell in love with one cultivar in particular, Syringa vulgaris 'Rochester', with its gorgeous white blooms of unusually heavy substance. As I learned later, this cultivar was a favorite of Father John Fiala in hybridizing many beautiful lilacs that are still sold today.

I would like to grow Syringa vulgaris 'Rochester' in my garden but have not found a source, in spite of much searching. I did find several catalogs listing 'Rochester', but each one indicated that it was "Not Available." Finally I found it in the catalog of ForestFarm Nursery, and I ordered three plants. However, when the plants arrived their flowers were blue with white edges, not pure white like 'Rochester'. Forest Farm looked into the matter and found that all of their so-called 'Rochester' plants also had blue flowers with white edges, like the ones they shipped to me. So I am back to square one. I still want 'Rochester' very much.

Does anyone know where I might find this plant?

Could it be the Syringa vulgaris Fiala Remembrance Double White Lilac that you are looking for?

'Rochester' is the official name of the cultivar. It would not be called any other name. As I understand it, 'Rochester' is difficult to propagate and grows very slowly, so it is not economically feasible for commercial growers to offer it.

The lilac you actually got sounds lovely to me. Do you know what it really is?

I think it is 'Sensation'. It is a lovely cultivar, and I found places for all three of them in my new shrub border, but my collection will not be complete until I have 'Rochester' here too. I should note that ForestFarm was very apologetic and offered a refund or replacement with something other than 'Rochester'.

Hmmm, 'Sensation' looks purple to me, but still is very striking! We have deep purple, light purple, and pale purple lilacs here (don't know their names, they came with the house) and Sensation would be a nice addition! Thanks!

You are right! Sensation is purple (or something similar). It is available locally from numerous garden centers, as well as online vendors, including, of course ForestFarm Nursery, which sells them at a very reasonable price. Just ask for 'Rochester'!

I should have added that I too live in a house that came with lilacs, one huge one with purple flowers and a smaller one with white flowers. Both were especially lovely after the two extra-cold, snowy winters we endured here in Pennsylvania. Lilacs LOVE that kind of weather and showed their appreciation by producing more flowers than I have seen in previous years.

Carol, if you are still searching for 'Rochester', I may be able to help you. Let me know how to contact you.