Popular, robust, and adaptable huge bushes are French lilacs. Once established, they can withstand dryness and poor soils, but avoid planting in moist locations. Mid-spring sees the blooming of clusters of periwinkle-blue flowers on this variety. Fall causes the deep green foliage to become yellow-purple. To encourage new growth and fullness, prune after flowering and occasionally eliminate the oldest stems.
What distinguishes a French lilac from a common lilac?
The common lilac, Syringa vulgaris, can reach a height of 20 feet. French lilacs, which come in a wide range of variations and hues, from whites and pinks to purples and lavenders, are cultivars of the common lilac.
Lilac collectors prize the older kinds because they are more fragrant than some of the more recent imports.
The growth pattern of the Korean lilac, Syringa patula, is denser and twiggy. If heavily pruned, it can be kept to a manageable height of 3 feet, but it will eventually mature to a height of 8 to 9 feet.
A long-established variety called “Miss Kim” is renowned for its pink to lavender blossoms.
Justin enquires: Every day as I drive through Fountaingrove Parkway, I stop to admire the trees and bushes that have adapted to the drought. I’ve recently observed a gorgeous bush in bloom, with bright yellow blooms all over it. Do you happen to know what it’s called?” Do you think this shrub would work well in my own low-water landscaping?
Reply: No! Scotch broom, or Cytisus scoparius, is the brightly colored shrub. It came from Europe and was used to make brooms or as packaging material. As it grows among the natural species and outcompetes them, it has evolved into a tenacious and invasive weed that is nearly impossible to eliminate. Don’t be seduced by its vibrant blossoms if you see one for sale or if a friend offers you one for free. For accurate identification, be aware of the botanical name.
There are additional “brooms” that are neither invasive nor considered weeds. Look for well-behaved brooms with comparable but advantageous characteristics within the genus Genista. Genista lydia is a ground cover that I really like. It has a spread of 3 to 4 feet, grows to a height of 1 to 2 feet, and blooms with yellow blossoms in the spring. G. Lydia needs favorable drainage conditions, such as slopes, full sunlight, and low water.
On a recent garden tour, Gil writes, “I came upon the most incredible tall shrubs covered with fragrant flowers in colours of purple, lavender, and white.” The name of this blossoming shrub was unknown to the people in the area. Are you able to recognize it from my description and tell me its name?
The name of the shrub, yesterday-today-and-tomorrow, is widely used and is appropriate. The name alludes to how the blooms’ color changes as they ripen on the plant. Brunfelsia pauciflora is its official scientific name. It originates from Brazil and belongs to the Solanaceae plant family. All of its components are lethal, which may be why nurseries hardly ever sell it.
You will find this plant growing in older, more established areas, which suggests that it was highly well-liked years ago. It can grow up to 10 feet tall when fully grown. It can, however, be kept at a more controllable size. It needs moderate water and some partial shade, like on a building’s east or north side.
When is the best time to prune an olive tree, wonders Doug? My young tree should be pruned into an open center form, according to advice from a gardening friend. Production is more crucial than the beautiful shape because I intend to use the olives for curing in the future.
The blooming season is when olive trees are pruned. The opposite of a “central leader form is a “open center form. Imagine it as an inverted pyramid. The lower limbs cannot be shaded because of the exposed core.
Your young olive tree should first undergo shaping pruning; never over-prune it. Since an olive tree is an evergreen, excessive trimming during the first four years diminishes tree size, delays fruiting by two years, and, most importantly, lowers the amount of energy that is stored in its leaves. A healthy, mature olive tree can be trimmed by taking out 20% of the growth from the previous year.
Since olive trees tend to alternate their bearing years, one can prune more heavily for trees with heavy flowers and less or not at all for those with light blooms.
How tall can you grow a French lilac?
Shrub Height French lilacs mature at a height of 8 to 15 feet. They favor lots of room, sunlight, and water. Typically, plants are spaced 10 to 15 feet apart. However, they provide a lovely hedge when they are spaced 6 feet apart.
What hue do French lilacs have?
French Lilac has a little mountain undertone and is a midtone, pure periwinkle purple. It is the ideal hue for a room’s entire walls and adds a pleasantly refined touch to a living room or dining area.
How old are French lilacs?
Did you know that the National Gardening Bureau has designated 2022 as the “Year of the Lilac”? They have a sweet, eerie aroma and are among the easiest shrubs for your landscaping to maintain that bloom in the spring. Find out how to plant, nurture, and prune your lilacs.
About Lilacs
Syringa vulgaris, or common lilac, is prized for its tenacity, dependability, and scent. Lilacs are so hardy that they can live for more than 100 years and frequently outlive the houses they were planted near.
This tiny, multi-stemmed deciduous shrub (or tree) has approximately ten canes and blooms at eye level. The height of a common lilac can range from 8 to 12 feet, depending on the cultivar. The aromatic flowers attract butterflies and make good cuttings.
There are lilac types that come in white, cream, and even pink and yellow, though the blooms are typically lilac/purple in hue (ranging from very pale to extremely dark). Flowers can be solitary or double in number.
Lilacs bloom in northern states from mid- to late spring for around two weeks. However, there are lilac varieties for early, mid, and late seasons that, when cultivated together, guarantee a consistent bloom for at least six weeks.
Lilacs do best in soil that is fertile, humus-rich, well-drained, and neutral to alkaline (at a pH near 7.0). Add compost to your soil to improve it if it is in bad condition. (Learn more about adding amendments to the soil and getting it ready for planting.) Lilacs don’t enjoy having their feet wet and won’t blossom if they are kept too moist, so make sure the planting area drains well.
Lilacs should be planted in full sun, which is defined as having at least six hours of sunlight each day, for the finest blooms.
How to Plant Lilacs
- If you’re fortunate, a friend may offer you a sucker, or offshoot, of the plant’s root system. The sucker will first appear pitiful, but all you need to do is dig a hole, fill it with soil, and then insert the sucker. water next, and then wait. You’ll be rewarded with enormous, fragrant blossoms in 4 or 5 years.
- Lilacs purchased from nurseries can also be planted easily. If the plant was cultivated in a container, spread its roots out as you plant it; if it was balled or burlapped, gently remove the covering and any rope before doing so. Set the plant 2 to 3 inches deeper than it was while it was growing in the nursery and cover the roots with topsoil. in water Then add more topsoil to the hole to finish it.
- Depending on the kind, place multiple lilac bushes 5 to 15 feet apart.
- Apply a layer of compost under the plant each spring, followed by a layer of mulch to keep moisture in and weeds under control.
- If the weekly rainfall is less than 1 inch, water during the summer.
- If lilacs receive too much fertilizer, they won’t bloom. In the late winter, they can manage a few 10-10-10, but no more.
- Spread some lime and thoroughly composted manure around the base of your lilac bush once it has finished blooming. Remove suckers while you form the shrub by trimming it.
Pruning Lilacs
- Since lilacs blossom on old wood, it’s important to prune in the spring immediately following their bloom. You risk removing the wood if you prune later in the summer. A word of advice: It’s time to prune if your lilac flower clusters are getting smaller!
- After bloom each year, cut away any dead wood. Remove the oldest canes by pruning (down to the ground). Take out the tiny suckers. Reduce weak branches until a robust shoot remains. Reduce tall canes to eye level.
- Remove one-third of the oldest canes (down to the ground) in year one, half of the remaining old wood in year two, and the remainder in year three if your lilac is very old and in poor condition. Cutting the entire plant back to a height of approximately 6 or 8 inches is another option for elderly lilacs. Although it sounds dramatic, lilacs are remarkably resilient. This option’s drawback is that it takes some time for the hair to grow back. The lilac will grow back bursting with blooms, so there will be less work and more reward.
- It is important to understand that extreme trimming causes bloom loss for one to three years. For these reasons, a smart pruning program gives the bushes yearly attention in an effort to avoid making dramatic and severe cuts.
The Syringa vulgaris kind of lilacs is the most widely grown and fragrant:
- Try the double magneta variety “Charles Joly” for an early bloom.
- Lilacs in the middle of the season include “Monge,” a deep reddish purple, and “Firmament,” a delicate blue.
- Miss Canada, a reddish pink, and Donald Wyman, a solitary purple, are two late-season beauties.
Syringa x hyacinthiflora, an early-flowering lilac cultivar, opens 7 to 19 days before those of the common lilac. Hummingbirds and butterflies are attracted to its fragrant blossoms.
The cutleaf lilac, a fragrant pale lavender, is one of the common lilacs that may flourish as far south as Zone 9. Common lilacs appreciate cold weather. The beautiful shrub Syringa patula ‘Miss Kim’ has light lilac-blue flowers that eventually become white.
There are tiny kinds for gardeners who simply don’t have the space for the conventional larger lilacs, particularly those in urban settings. Even in a container on your balcony or patio, they will grow.
- ‘Baby Kim’ has a lovely rounded shape, only grows 2 to 3 feet high (and 3 feet wide), and has purple flowers that draw butterflies. Hardiness from Zones 3 to 8 extended.
- Compact lilac ‘Little Lady’ (Syringa x) has dark pink buds that open to lilac-pink flowers and grows to be 4 to 5 feet tall and wide at maturity. Zones 2 to 7 are tough.
- Syringa vulgaris cultivars “New Age Lavender” and “New Age White” were developed for mildew resistance and are quite compact, growing from 4 to 5 feet tall and wide. Hummingbirds and butterflies are drawn to their fragrant blossoms. Zone 4 hardy.
French lilac trees grow how quickly?
The lilac is a multi-stemmed, deciduous shrub with an erratic, rounded shape. When young, it grows quickly, but as it ages, its growth slows to roughly one foot every year. The stems’ sturdy wood has a dark gray to gray-brown color. The leaves are light green underneath and dark green to blue-green above. The clusters of four petal blooms, which come in lilac, light purple, or lavender hues, bloom in April or May. They have a strong fragrance. Although the lilac thrives best in sunny locations, it cannot stand hot, muggy weather. It requires moist, well-drained soil that is neutral or just a little bit alkaline in pH. Peat or leaf mold can be added to the soil as a supplement. As soon as they start to fade, old flowers should be removed. Lilacs should be pruned as soon as they finish blooming. Pruning the shrub is preferred since it will highlight the medium-aged wood, which will still contribute to the plant’s good size and produce nice blooms. Remove a third of the earliest stems at ground level each year to accomplish this. Any remedial trimming, like removing competing branches or sucker growth, can be done concurrently. Pruning older lilacs as small, multiple-branched trees will highlight a few massive, old trunks while removing sucker growth and making them a focal point of the landscape. The shrub can also be pruned into a tree with a single stem. Lilacs that are overgrown can be pruned to a few inches above the surface. They will bloom once more in three to four years, Depending on the mature height, space your plants 3–4 feet apart if you want a hedge.
Do French lilacs have a scent?
French lilacs are a common addition to parks and gardens all around the temperate zone. They are a deciduous big shrub, or small tree, that grows to a height of about fifteen feet. The blooms, which are an intense purple, are arranged in broad panicles among the branches. Modern species or cultivars with double flowers are referred to as French lilacs. Victor Lemoine, a renowned lilac producer, deserves credit for his lifetime of labor. On old wood, which relates to whether the plant has been clipped or not, lilacs are known to bloom. Old wood indicates that the shrub is not pruned annually. The plant needs to be clipped in order to produce flowers, according to new wood.) This means that the gardener needs to use caution when pruning to avoid discouraging the plant from flowering.
The Conservatory Garden’s French lilacs are without a doubt the most fragrant of all the spring shrubs, and many garden visitors view them as the showpiece of the early summer display. They certainly set a high bar for others to meet.
Where should lilacs be planted for greatest results?
When the lilacs begin to blossom, it is a solid indicator that spring has arrived for good. While many people only have a limited knowledge of common lilac (also known as French lilac) shrubs that can reach a height of 15 feet or more, there are now a lot more options available than there were fifty years ago. Some varieties that rebloom enhance the garden’s appeal the entire growing season.
How to Choose Lilacs
The common lilac is what you will most likely find when you go plant shopping. This traditional plant comes in a variety of cultivars and variations, each of which yields fragrant spring flowers in pink, purple, white, or even combinations of those hues. Common lilacs are typically the most fragrant variety of lilac and can grow to be rangy and large.
Rebloomers have arrived in the garden center thanks to recent introductions of hybrids between the common lilac and other shrub-type lilacs. Some of these more recent types are a little less fragrant, but they also tend to be smaller, bloom more frequently throughout the growing season, and have fewer powdery mildew issues.
The tree lilac is another common variety of lilac. It can grow to a height of around 20 feet and blooms with cream-colored flowers in the middle of the summer. Though it doesn’t require much trimming, keep in mind that the tree lilac is a tree, not a shrub.
Where to Plant Lilacs
Lilacs should be planted in full light (at least 6 to 8 hours per day), as too much shadow will prevent them from blooming. Lilacs also prefer moist, well-drained soil that is slightly alkaline.
When to Plant Lilacs
Before the ground freezes in the late fall is the ideal time to plant lilacs. After the ground thaws in the early spring, that is the next ideal time to plant. Realistically, you’re probably going to have to plant lilacs when you can find them at the garden center, and that’s finethey may just need more watering if you end up planting them during a warmer time of year.
How to Prepare the Soil for Planting Lilacs
A soil test should be performed prior to planting since lilacs thrive in slightly alkaline (6.5 to 7.0 pH), moist, well-drained soil that is high in organic matter. Lime must be added to raise the pH if it is below 5.5. It’s time to get the soil ready when you’ve obtained the ideal pH. Improve individual planting holes by mixing Miracle-Gro Garden Soil for Trees & Shrubs in a 50:50 ratio with the natural soil to give lilacs a nutrient-rich start. Iron and phosphorus are also present in this garden soil to promote root development and ward off leaf fading.