The Lovely Ladies: Lilacs

If you grew up anywhere in the northern two-thirds of the United States or in Canada, mention May, and the lovely scent of lilacs will instantly come to mind for many of you. I know it comes to my mind! Lilacs are one group of plants of various species that overwhelmingly do well in the northern reaches of the continent. Granted, there are newer cultivars that have low winter chill requirements, but if you live in zone 8 or warmer, the choice of cultivars is slim pickins'. These plants require winter chill, and thrive in zone 7 and on to the lower zones, with some doing well even after a -40 F. reading!

Lilacs bloom for only a very short period of time. Their heady fragrance is the hallmark of mid- to late-spring, and there is no finer activity than gathering armloads of these lovely ladies for vases and containers around the home. I still prowl the city and countryside looking for abandoned homes and farms with old bushes of the common, and still most beloved varieties. Even after eight years of lilac growing at my present home, I still love to gather these free and wild common lilacs to supplement the blooms of my own.

Even though most of us are familiar with and cherish the lavender blooms of Syringa vulgaris, or the common lilac, there are many varieties that we can grow to extend the lilac season. If your property is large enough to support more than a few bushes, I would suggest trying a few more of the other species and cultivars to extend the season a bit. Here is a sampling of some lilacs available for growing in our Southern Great Lakes Region:

Sampler Chart Of Hardy Lilacs In Bloom Sequence (Earliest to Latest)
Name	Species	Color	Scent
Pochahontas	Hyacinthiflora	Single dark maroon-purple	Heavy
Asessippi	Hyacinthiflora	Pink-lilac	Heavy
Blanche Sweet	Hyacinthiflora	Blue buds to whitish blue tinged pink	Heavy
Sister Justina	Hyacinthiflora	White	Heavy
Krasavitsa Moskvy	Vulgaris	Pale pink to pinkish white	Heavy
Sensation	Vulgaris	Deep purple with white edge	Moderate
Charles Joly	Vulgaris	Double dark red	Heavy
Ludwig Spaeth	Vulgaris	Deep purple large single	Heavy
Primrose	Vulgaris	Yellow buds to creamy yellow florets	Moderate
Sarah Sands	Vulgaris	Dark red-purple with lighter edge	Heavy
Donald Wyman	Prestonia	Dark purple buds to wine-red florets	Spicy
Isabella	Prestonia	Clear pink	Spicy
Miss Canada	Prestonia hybrid	Red buds to dark pink	Spicy

Lilacs are not that hard to grow at all in our region; just plant them, and they will grow. The trick is to get them to bloom. There are many reasons lilacs fail to perform. It might be that a particular cultivar is a shy bloomer, or only blooms heavily every other year. If it fails to bloom after a three or four seasons from planting, there might be other problems that are easily corrected.

If you have an established lilac that fails to bloom, one common and often overlooked cause of bloom failure is fertilizer. Most people grow lilacs out in the open lawn. Any lawn fertilizer you place on the lawn is going to reach the lilac bush. You might have the greenest, most lush lilac around, but all that nitrogen that your lawn craves might be causing your lilac to expend energy on foliage rather than blooms. If you fertilize your lawn, avoid the area around the lilacs. If you hire a lawn service, inform them to not fertilize within the drip line of the lilac bushes.

Lack of sunlight might also be another cause. Lilacs require a minimum of six hours of sunlight to perform their best. If you are growing them against the garage near a north facing wall, or in the shadows, you just aren't going to get many blooms.

Improper pruning can destroy a lilac display. Snap off all the dead blooms within a week to ten days of blooming. Lilacs set next year's buds shortly after flowering, so you don't want to delay in removing spent blooms. Pruning to remove suckers and to maintain shape and growth should also be done after bloom time. Stretch this renovation pruning over a three year period so you don't sacrifice blooms by whacking away at your shrubs all at once. Take a third of the oldest branches out the first year and any suckers that you might see. Do the same the second and third years.

It is a myth that lilacs will do well in poor or heavy soil. Yes, they will grow in clay, but only if it drains well. Lilacs area at their best in a soil that is slightly alkaline or neutral and high in organic matter. They benefit from mulching and do appreciate a fertilizer higher in phosphorus. This is the second number on fertilizers, and if you can, give them organic fertilizer, low in nitrogen, please!

Lilacs benefit from mulching and regular watering. Don't neglect to give them a drink, even if they are established.

That about wraps it up about lilacs. There are many more varieties than what I have touched upon here. By choosing varieties wisely, it is possible to have a sequence of bloom from mid to late April until late June or beyond. They are a must in anybody's yard, and if you only have room for one, please plant at least one somewhere on your property. Within a few short years, you can be picking armloads of these lovely ladies and enjoying their beautiful flowers and heavenly fragrance!