Syringa

Botanical/Latin
   Syringa

Pronunciation
   Si-ring-ga

Common Name
   Lilac

Hardiness zone range
   3 & 4

General Comments
Magnificent spring and early summer flowering shrubs and small trees that are highly valued for the delicious fragrance that accompanies the colorful flowers. These essential and much loved members of the spring garden scene reflect our fondness for their flowering period when we refer to it as "Lilac time" and use their familiar color to describe a particular shade of color tint as lilac.

Light Preference
Full Sun

Culture & Care
Lilacs are easy and undemanding plants to grow. They thrive best in reasonably fertile soils that are well drained and preferably have a pH level that is on the alkaline side of neutral. To reduce damage from late frosts, try to avoid planting sites that are low lying and prone to becoming frost pockets. At planting time, we suggest improving the site by incorporating extra organic matter (peat, planting compost, etc.) into the surrounding soil and adjusting the pH level with the addition of lime if needed. Mulching after planting helps retain valuable moisture and improve the soil structure. Once established, a spring dressing with a well-balanced fertilizer can be worked into the surrounding soil to sustain healthy growth and improve vigor and flowering. Removing spent flower heads prevents seed production in some types and conserves valuable energy that is better diverted to the formation of a nicely balanced branch framework in young plants. With older, established specimens and hybrids that do not produce many seeds, this is difficult and unnecessary, so they normally are never removed.

Pruning
A walk around old homesteads and established gardens will reveal mature specimens that are never pruned, yet flower and grow satisfactorily. Older plants can become leggy and woody, so, on established plants, it is worth considering removing a proportion of the oldest branches near ground level to encourage new, healthy growth and well furnished, bushy plants. They flower on the tips of stems made during the previous year, so any pruning should be carried out as soon as possible after they finish flowering to allow maximum growing time for developing next year's flower buds. This will encourage strong replacement shoots, nicely shaped bushes with lots of fresh, healthy foliage, and big, strong, colorful flower heads. Our lilacs are grown on their own roots, making them less prone to sending out suckers like those that have been grafted onto vigorous rootstocks.

Uses
The exquisite fragrance and attractive color is wonderful just about anywhere in the garden. They are ideal for beds and borders, near high profile places like doorways, pathways, around steps, and especially near seating areas like patios, decks, and swimming pools, or in sheltered corners where the delicious fragrance can waft and swirl to sweeten the air. The taller growing selections are effective as informal flowering hedges and screens, or placing in the middle of shrub and mixed borders where they can be used as colorful accent plants or backgrounds. They can be used as single, stand-alone specimens in lawns, or grouped in masses on banks and sloping sites. Since deer do not prefer to browse on them, they are useful in areas where deer are a problem. They are hardy and quick to establish, and are ideal for placing in new gardens among other slower to mature species, as they give an almost instant display without becoming invasive or overpowering. They last well as cut flowers, and a few stems placed in a vase or arrangement is a great way to enjoy the heavenly fragrance indoors.

Background
The botanical name comes from the Greek word for pipe- syrinx; this refers to the long hollow stems that were used in ancient Turkey (which may also be the origin for the word syringe). The common name is thought to have origins in Persia, and, because the little individual flowers that make up the flower panicles resemble lily flowers, the name has presumably been altered through time to English translations like Lily-oak and the Arabic Lilach to arrive at Lilac. They were highly prized in the ancient enclosed gardens of Persia and India, and may well have been among some of the first ornamental plants to be cultivated. It is interesting that the delightful plant we grow as Syringa x persica (Persian lilac) has its origins in this ancient period, so if ever there was a "tried and trusted" selection, this has to be one. It is a most charming plant that grows to about 8-10 feet and about the same wide. It has a nice, bushy habit and upright, arching, slender branches that carry 2 -3 inch long, fragrant, lilac colored flowers in late spring and early summer with occasional reblooming sprays later in the summer. The flowers are sterile, which give credibility to the suggestion that it is an ancient hybrid between two rare species (Syringa afghanica x lacinata). It was introduced to European gardens before 1640, and it is a testament to its durability and enduring endearment that it has been constantly cultivated and enjoyed for such a long time. It was given an Award of Garden Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society and is, without doubt, a lilac that also deserves a place in every garden. Mention lilacs and our imagination takes us to the intoxicating fragrance and fabulous range of colorful cultivars that have become collectively known as French hybrids. There are literally hundreds of kinds that are descended in part from a small, flowering shrub that is native to the Alibek mountains of western Romania. Syringa vulgaris was introduced to Western Europe in the 16th century, and became so popular and widely cultivated that it has often been mistaken as a native plant. Around 1870, Victor Lemoine and his wife (later joined by their son, Emile) began hybridizing at their famous nursery in Nancy, France. They hand-pollinated a double flowered form of Syringa vulgaris that he had discovered previously with the pollen from a recently introduced Chinese species (S. oblata). Double flowered plants are often sterile and do not readily set seed; only seven seeds were collected the first year and about 30 seeds the second, but it was enough to begin a large scale hybridization program that by 1927 had produced 153 named cultivars. Quite a few of these are still grown today, and, when grouped with other hybrids that have been developed since, represent the most popular and commonly grown types. The work continues up to the present time, and new and improved selections are reaching us from various parts of the world. One of our favorites, Syringa 'Nadezhda', was raised and introduced from Russia. Syringa 'Nadezhda' is a sumptuous, double flowered selection that grows to about 7-8 feet tall and produces big, full, sturdy flower panicles in shades of lilac-blue that open and develop to give a beautiful, bicolor affect. The blooms are long lasting and, best of all, have a gorgeous fragrance. It was raised by amateur plant breeder Leonid Alekseevitch Kolesnikov (1893-1974), who dedicated a lifetime to lilac breeding, with most of his work based upon improving the Lemoine introductions. Nadezhda is a common woman's name in Russia, meaning hope. We hope you will enjoy this excellent new cultivar; it is a very fine plant. Canadian plant breeders produced another group of Lilac hybrids that is worthy of consideration; Preston Lilacs are very hardy and, because they flower later, often miss the worst effects of frost. Even where frost is not a concern, they are valuable because they extend the flowering period. They are vigorous growing hybrids that were developed by Miss Isabella Preston who was working at the Central Experimental Farm in Ottawa, Canada. She set out to develop lilacs that would cope with the cold Canadian climate and made the original crosses in 1920. She crossed S. villosa x S. reflexa to produce over 50 named selections that are known as Syringa x prestoniae. Dr. Frank Leith Skinner also worked on these hybrids. Of the 47 cultivars introduced, our favorite is Syringa x prestoniae 'Donald Wyman'. It is a good, vigorous selection with lush, coarse textured leaves and large, pyramidal shaped, lavender tinted, purple flowers that are fragrant, and, like the other cultivars, is generally free from the effects of diseases or insects, and attracts butterflies and hummingbirds when the weather conditions are conducive. It is fitting that this excellent cultivar commemorates one of the most influential woody plant experts in America. Donald Wyman worked at the Arnold Arboretum and wrote numerous detailed studies in Malus, Forsythia, Ilex, Hibiscus, Betula, Tilia, Quercus, Fagus, Philadelphus, and Berberis. He took great pains to be detailed and specific on color, bloom time, and plant sizes, etc. He had the rare ability of combining an expert botanical knowledge with a down to earth, practical approach. When it comes to selecting smaller growing lilacs, the compact growing Korean Lilac, Syringa patula 'Miss Kim', tops the list. It responds well to pruning and can be contained to as little as 3-4 feet, making a dense, bushy, rounded plant that that is covered with pyramidal shaped flowers that are purple tinted in bud, opening to a cool, icy-blue. The flowers are fragrant and are produced a few weeks later than the French Hybrids, thereby extending the flowering period. Syringa patula is native to Korea and Northern China, and it is interesting that the plants we grow today came to us because of the curiosity and passionate interest of a keen plantsman that was serving with the American Red Cross in South Korea. Professor Elwyn Meader decided to go up into the mountains north of Seoul in November 1948 to do some botanical exploration; he found this unusual species and, recognizing its potential as a garden plant, sent some seeds back to plant breeder Professor Yeager in the United States. He managed to raise a small crop of seedlings, and in 1954, the best one was selected and introduced as Syringa 'Miss Kim'.

Splendor Suggestions
Bring the refreshing spring color and intoxicating fragrance indoors by cutting some stems and conditioning in a container of deep water left in a cool place for at least a couple of hours. They are best cut either early in the morning or late in the evening when the individual buds are well formed and the first ones are just beginning to open. It is largely a matter of personal taste, but we prefer them to be placed in a container on their own, a vase, porcelain jug, or old pitcher. They make a delightful addition to large, open, airy places like lobbies and entrance areas, dining rooms or main living rooms, and are glorious when put in large deep bowls to bring a quaint, Victorian feel to living spaces and older period homes. They are perfect for table arrangements at a luncheon or formal dinner, and are even better used as a table decoration in a conservatory or for outdoor dining.

Companion Plants
They are great with white flowering, spring shrubs like Viburnums, Philadelphus, and Deutzia, especially the European Snowball bush, Viburnum opulus 'Roseum' and the magnificent Doublefile Viburnum, Viburnum 'Shasta'; the horizontal, layered growth is a perfect foil for the upright, rounded habit and pyramidal shaped, lilac flower heads. Pink flowering Deutzia 'Pink Minor', 'Godsall Pink', and the bicolored 'Magician' go beautifully with the lavender and deeper purple colored forms, and, on a smaller scale, Deutzia 'Nikko', Spiraea 'Tor', and the variegated 'Mt. Fuji' are worth trying; the silvery white, variegated foliage will last and last, even when all the flowering lilacs have finished. The almost evergreen foliage of Heuchera 'Palace Purple' and the gorgeous 'Plum Pudding' is a marvelous way to clothe the ground around the smaller growing forms and the purple forms make a rich, luxuriant background to show off their taller, rounded companions. If low maintenance ground cover is a priority, then consider placing them in spreading carpets of Arctostaphylos, Cotoneaster, Euonymus, Microbiota decussata, or the silvery-blue of Junipers. To add seasonal color, plant some summer flowering Potentillas, Buddleias, Vitex, Hibiscus, and Hydrangeas, and then carry the display into winter and early spring with broad-leaved evergreens like Ilex (hollies) and Conifers; they provide shape and definition, particularly those with upright, sentinel shapes like Juniperus 'Skyrocket' and 'Wichita Blue'. In mixed borders, sun loving perennials like Lavenders, Scabiosa 'Pink Mist and 'Butterfly Blue', Aster x frikartii 'Monch', and some of the ornamental sages (salvias) will keep the color and interest going through the summer and early autumn months. They are all repeat flowering, if trimmed back, keeping the display well into mid and late autumn. Salvia 'Blue Hill' is a particular favorite of ours; it is perfectly compact and ideal for placing towards the front of beds and borders.