Lilac – Highly scented flowers in late spring

Lilac (Botanical name: Syringa) are large shrubs or small trees with highly scented flowers arranged in stunning cone-shaped spires in late spring.

Lilac, despite the name, come in different colours including pink, white, purple, purple & white as well as lilac.

Depending on the variety, the height of a lilac will vary from the dwarf Syringa meyeri ‘Palibin’ at 1.5m (5ft) tall to the larger growing ‘Souvenir de Louis Spaeth’ and ‘Charles Joly’ at 7m (20ft) tall.

Lilac are easy to grow. They will grow in most soils (apart from very water-logged soils) and thrive best in full sun or light shade. You can grow your lilac into a tree by removing the lower branches or prune it to make it into a bush. Pruning some of the older stems after flowering will encourage more flowers in the future. You can also take out any crossing branches. Over-grown lilac trees can be pruned back hard to re-juvenate them. I cut one right down to about 30cm (1ft) in winter and it came back with masses of fresh growth in the spring but be aware that, as they flower on older wood, they will not flower for a couple of years.

Also, most lilac are grafted so do not cut them off below the point where they are grafted or you will just get the root-stock shooting back and not the original variety.  Feed once a year in March with Osmocote Controlled-Release Feed.

We have a range of different  varieties here at Greenshutters Garden Centre in a range of sizes.