This shrub is on the east side of the Philadelphus Walk.

Origin and exact planting date unknown.

In the 19th century various hybrids arose spontaneously in gardens between the species then in cultivation, notably the European Philadelphus coronarius and the American Philadelphus inodorus and Philadelphus pubescens. This hybrid is the result of deliberate crossing. The creations of the great French plant-breeder Victor Lemoine of Nancy (1823–1912).

‘Voie Lactée’ flowers are slightly scented, saucer-shaped at first, becoming flat, with the petals then slightly reflexed, 5 cm or slightly more wide, solitary or in cymose clusters of three or five; petals occasionally five or six instead of the usual four. Calyx almost glabrous. Leaves on the flowering shoots up to 7 cm long, 3 cm wide, slightly toothed. One of the most beautiful of the single-flowered hybrids. Height 1.2 to 1.5 m.

‘Voie Lactée’ is the French term for the Milky Way.

Gained Award of Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society in 1912.