General Culture:
Easily grown in average, medium, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. Best bloom is in full sun. Prefers rich, moist, neutral to slightly alkaline soil. Needs good air circulation. Prompt removal of faded flower panicles before seed set will increase bloom in the following year. Prune immediately after flowering.
Noteworthy Characteristics:
This common lilac cultivar is a small, upright shrub which grows 5-7' tall. Pink, fragrant, single flowers arranged in dense, pyramidal clusters (panicles) cover this shrub in late April to early May. Excellent fresh cut flower. Lilacs have been a garden favorite for years and often evoke nostalgic feelings of home and childhood. Walt Whitman lyrically extolled the lilac as "tall-growing with heart-shaped leaves of rich green, With many a pointed blossom rising delicate, with the perfume strong I love, With every leaf a miracle..." in his 1865 poem "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd".
Problems:
Powdery mildew is a frequent, unsightly, though not necessarily life-threatening problem in summer. Lilacs are also susceptible to a number of other diseases including blights, leaf spots, wilt and certain viruses. Lilacs are visited by a number of insect pests including borers, leaf miners and scale. Young leaves are particularly subject to frost injury in spring.
Uses:
Though spectacular when in full bloom, lilacs are otherwise a rather ordinary shrub with little special appeal outside of the blooming period. Effective as a specimen or massed, or may be grown as a privacy screen or hedge.
© Missouri Botanical
Garden, 2001-2010
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