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Lilac, Syringa Vulgaris, is what some refer to as Grandma’s or the Old Fashioned Lilac. This is a deciduous shrub with bright green, heart-shaped leaves and highly fragrant cone-shaped flower clusters. Two or three of these in a vase will perfume an entire house and one bush can perfume the whole neighborhood. Truly, when these are in bloom, you’ll know it and your nose will help you find them easily. They do best in cold winter regions. Lilacs can grow to be 15-20 feet tall and as wide if left to its own devices. It makes a wonderful, impenetrable hedge. Great between neighbors with whom you don’t get along.
For the small yard the size of a Lilac can be a problem. Lilac spread by suckers which are underground roots that extend out of the main stems. If left alone one bush can take over the yard unless you prune regularly. The proper plant in the proper space will eliminate the need for excessive cutting back.
There is the on-going debate of deadheading Lilac or not to do this. Frankly, I don’t do much but I have a reason. On a good day and standing on tip-toe I’m 5 foot, 5 inches tall, my arms may give me another 2 feet reach but my Lilac is 15 feet tall. You do the math. And my getting on a ladder is not my idea of fun since I have vertigo. No, not fun at all.
Deadheading, which is cutting spent flower clusters, is supposed to encourage more flowers the following spring. But I find this entirely unnecessary and at times harmful, at least to gardeners who love these wildly fragrant flowers. If you cut back a Lilac at any time other than directly after it is done flowering you are in danger of cutting off the flowers for the next year. After flowering is when the Lilac starts producing the buds for the following growing season. Cut these off and you’ll have no flowers in spring. Frankly put, it isn’t Spring without Lilacs. But perhaps that’s just me.
Lilacs do fine in as little as four hours of direct sunlight but they do best with six or more. Lilacs don’t like acidic soil. They prefer it slightly alkaline. The use of pulverized lime around the base of the shrub is advisable to sweeten the soil. They require soil on the dry side. Wet soil they hate! Like most plants, trees and shrubs, Lilac do well in rich, well-draining soil but I’ve seen huge stands of Lilac growing in the pathetically, heavy clay soil of the Pocono Mountains in which I currently live and in the nutrient poor, sandy soil of Long Island, N.Y. where I used to live. Truly the only sickly Lilac I’ve come in contact with are those growing–or should I say attempting to grow– in wet soil.
Strangely enough, Lilac is not the only color the Lilac comes in. (I often wondered if the color was named after the flower or the flower after the color. If anyone knows, please drop me a line. I’m curiouser and curiouser all the time about it.) “Alba” is a pure white variety with the same heart-shaped, densely packed leaves. There are popular French hybrid varieties such as “General Pershing” which has pink blossoms and “Charles Joly” has reddish flowers. These grow slightly smaller between 8 and 12 feet with the same wide spreading form. These hybrids bloom slightly later than S. Vulgaris and have larger single and double flowers. Some bi-colors are especially pretty and unusual for those used to only the Old Fashioned Lilac. “President Poincare” is a double two-tone purple. What a beauty!
For the small garden you might consider the Persian Lilac, S. Persica, which grows 4-8 feet tall, is easily maintained and produces lavender colored flowers on arching branches. There is even a tree form Lilac, the Japanese Tree Lilac, S. Reticulata. This can get thirty feet tall and has large white flowers but these lack the fragrance we expect from anything called Lilac. Still a beauty in my yard though.
Unfortunately Lilacs have a tendency to be susceptible to powdery mildew, leaf spot, scale and bacterial blight all of which can be guarded against with proper planting, feeding, watering and keeping it stress free. That means no wet soil! I cannot stress that enough. You’ll love any of these mentioned. They give folks endless joy, from generation to generation as they are very long lived. Give one a try. You will not regret it.
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Author Bio Box: Glory Lennon
 For more garden talk, funny short stories and romantic novel excerpts visit http://www.helium.com/users/32782
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