The Art and Science of Cultivating Lilacs
Monica Calzolari, MBA
Enrollment Marketing Communications Expert I Problem solver
by Monica Calzolari
Cherry Valley, NY is home to a large and rare collection of lilacs. You can experience more than 150 varieties of these fragrant flowers at Cherry Valley Lilacs. The lilac farm is open to the public from Mother’s Day weekend starting May 13 through June 10, 2023. Every May, during the third and fourth weeks of the month, the town of Cherry Valley also hosts a Lilac Festival. It occurs over Memorial Day weekend.?
When Charle-Pan Dawson and her husband purchased their six and one-half acre farm and the historic Bates Hop House in 2013, they inherited about 100 lilac trees planted by the Alverson family more than thirty years ago.??
The Dawsons chose to become full-time farmers in their retirement.? Their two-person, family-owned business is as unique and unusual as is Charle-Pan’s name. Named after her father, Charles, and her mother, Pansy, Charle-Pan showed an early love of flowers, the environment, and chemistry.? All three played a role in creating what she calls a “dream come true.”?
The Dawsons initially created a nursery on the property and have been selling lilac plants for the last ten years. They sell to individuals, to landscapers, and to botanical gardens around the country including the New Jersey Botanical Garden.?
As the season to enjoy lilacs is very short, lasting four to five weeks at most, Charle-Pan Dawson was determined to find more ways to share the beautiful aroma of lilacs with others through organically-grown, hand-made lilac products.? In 2013, she started making lilac pomade.?
She reports that it took her another four years “to crack the code to make lilac absolute using an ancient process called Enfleurage.”? By 2017, she developed a three-step process, a process she calls “revolutionary.” Charle-Pan Dawson explained, “Perfume is usually a blend of essential oils and absolutes.”???
Today, Cherry Valley Lilacs is “the only lilac perfumery in the world,” according to Dawson.?
She scoured all the books she could find about how to extract the scent of lilac from the trees on her property. She even called the Institute of Perfume in France asking for advice. One famous perfumer advised her more than ten years ago not to bother with lilac Enfleurage because it is too difficult.? She became certified by the International Perfume Foundation.? The movie “The Perfume” is the only photographic evidence she could find explaining the process called Enfleurage that dates back to the 1600s. She says. “I figured out a way to make lilac essential oil, which has never been done before.” Today, she is “the only one in the world who makes the real extraction of lilac on a commercial scale.”??
Charle-Pan was born in upstate New York and was already 30 years old with three children before she enrolled at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, PA to study chemistry formally. She was 35 years old when she graduated.? She describes her unusual career leading up to the extraction of lilac this way: “I was an environmental activist in my youth, a chef, an environmental chemist, and later worked for the state of NY as a project manager in the field of renewable energy, green building, and energy conservation.”?
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Inspired to “revitalize the art of Enfleurage” she wrote a book called Charle-Pan’s Little Book of Enfleurage under her full name Charle-Pan Alison Rockwell Dawson. Her goal is to revive the methods of traditional Enfleurage that died away when synthetics became popular in the early 1900s. She offers workshops in her studio laboratory to teach others her methods of extraction.?
Cherry Valley Lilacs is a member of the International Lilac Society headquartered in Canada.? Charle-Pan Dawson said, “The International Lilac Society has come to our property many times. Our farm is listed in their catalogue.? We have a very rare collection of lilacs. There are only one or two copies of some of our lilac varieties in the entire world.”??
Charle-Pan Dawson expressed deep appreciation for The Alversons’ generosity in “planting it forward for future generations to enjoy these lilacs for many years to come.” The Dawsons are following in the footsteps of the previous owners. They have planted another 30-40 lilac trees on their property over the past ten years. According to the website, Cherry Valley Lilacs specializes in “rare and hand propagated classic, heritage, and new generation hybrid lilacs.”?
Mr. Dawson joked about the roles they play running their labor-intensive business saying: “I make the essential toil and she makes the essential oil.”??
Mrs. Dawson describes her husband’s vital role as the nurseryman who tends to the lilac trees, drives the tractor, cuts the grass, and pots all the lilacs they sell in their onsite nursery. The couple adheres to strict organic growing, harvesting, and processing criteria.??
Dawson encourages visitors to tour her garden and indulge in a “total immersive experience called Lilac Bathing.” She describes the scent of her collection of lilacs as “intoxicating, sensual and deep” as well as “therapeutic.”? The Dawsons also have 1400 peonies trees on their property.??
Photo courtesy of Cherry Valley Lilacs.
Ways to Experience Cherry Valley Lilacs, 54 Lancaster Street, Cherry Valley, NY 13320