Martin’s Garden Notes
lilacs are shrubs that offer a lot of diversity. We are all familiar with the Old Fashion Lilac with it’s wonderful fragrance. Related varieties include all of the ” french hybrids” which were derived from our old fasioned favorite. Most offer the nice fragrance and a wide range of colors. Powderly mildue, common on these lilacs, can be unsightly but will cause no permanant harm to the plants. Spraying in early summer will make it less of a problem.
We have recently started to grow a selection of ‘hyacinthaflora’ types that offer great scent and a blooming period that is a little in advance of the old fasioned and the French Hybrids.
Following up these lilacs are several small leafed forms that bloom later to extend the season. Miss Kimm a lavender blue is a fovorite because it flowers freely, has nice scent and blooms after old fashioned types. A nice dwarf, the korean lilac (Syringa palabaiana ) often blooms twice.
Most lilacs can be pruned by removing a fwe older limbs to the ground every year just after bloom. This will generate new healthy shoots to keep the plant productive and contained.