Is there a flowering shrub that brings back more childhood memories than the lilac?
In our zone 3 area these generally begin to bloom in June with an amazing fragrance.
Lilacs are not a difficult shrub to grow or maintain. The most difficult part would be to choose one from the hundreds of varieties that exist. Lilacs are typically divided into groups such as American hybrids, Preston hybrids, French hybrids, Japanese tree and miniatures. Varieties differ in bloom sizes, fragrance and blooming time.
American hybrids are the first to bloom followed by Preston hybrids in late spring. Dwarf and French hybrids are mid season bloomers, while the Japanese lilac tree is a late season bloomer.
Colours range from white, violet, lilac, pink and purple. For those growing for fragrance the French variety are the way to go, but the most likely to sucker. American varieties grow quickly, are hardy and will not sucker.
Our garden has has a miniature Miss Kim and the Little-leaf Lilac and a lilac standard, all good choices for a small garden or border.
Lilacs should be planted where they will receive 6-8 hours of sun. I have had some grow on the north side of the house, but you will not get as many blooms. They like moist free draining soil.
As the shrubs bloom on last seasons growth, pruning should not be done until after the shrub has bloomed. You can lightly trim the top of the shrub to keep it neat and remove the spent blooms. Every three years I will remove some older branches cut right at ground level. Never remove more than about 25% of the branches . This keeps the plant invigorated and creates good air flow to avoid powdery mildew which some varieties are prone to. It doesn’t seem to hurt the plant but it’s not very attractive.
What you may not know is lilac blooms are edible. We have painted some in an egg wash and coated in castor sugar to make cake decorations. Try our lilac jelly, simple syrup for beverages or our lilac wine recipe. The flavour is wonderful and the fragrance comes through. We’ve given away The jelly and wine in Christmas baskets as a unique gift.
With all that the lilac gives us is it any wonder it is such a widely used shrub.