Time to think about lilacs and hot summers

We are fortunate to live where lilacs grow. They prefer hot summers and cold winters and we certainly can accommodate those conditions.

Beside the lovely purple shades of flowers and enticing fragrances, lilac have many attributes that can enhance most landscape situations.

There are varieties that are tall, medium and small, suckering and non-suckering, early or late blooming, and have blossom colors in many hues of purple and lavender, blue, pink, white and even a variety with yellow flowers.

Lilacs make good low maintenance hedges, are resistant to deer and most insect pests and diseases. They prefer a location with full sun but will tolerate some shade in the afternoon. Lilacs appreciate well drained alkaline soil and are drought tolerant once established.

Lilacs are best propagated from hardwood cuttings in the fall and protected in a covered area such as a garage until spring when the cuttings have sprouted and roots have formed.

Transplanting to their permanent place in the garden can be done in late March or after the ground has thawed and warmed to about 50 degrees.

It takes lilacs several years to mature enough to produce flowers, so for a blooming plant, consider purchasing larger established lilacs.

You are not alone in a garden with lilacs as hummingbirds and butterflies delight in feasting on the sweet nectar.

Syringa, the species botanical name for lilacs, has many cultivars. There are French, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Hungarian, Persian, and S. vulgaris known as Common Lilac. Some have double flowers and the Syringa vulgaris ‘Sensation’ even has white and magenta rimming the purple flowers.

Lilacs do not require fertilizing so save your money. In order to not interfere with next year’s blooming, prune lilacs within two weeks of flowering.

Some varieties to ask about at your favorite nursery include: ‘Excel’ the white hybrid S.x hyacinthiflora; ‘Miss Kim,’ a Korean lilac, and ‘Spokane’ a very fragrant, magenta pink cultivar specifically hybridized and named for Spokane.

Some lovely easy care combinations with lilacs in your shrub border include varieties of Spirea,

Amelanchier (serviceberry), Forsythia, Physocarpus (ninebark) and Philadelphus, (mock orange). Each of these beauties need plenty of room. Allow space for the mature plant and then some. The growers recommendations are usually included on the plant label.

Soon the Inland Empire will be alive with the fragrance and beauty of lilacs. I look forward to visiting the lilacs in my garden and hope you will consider including a Syringa variety in yours.

-- Margaret A Swenson is a Washington State University Master Gardener. Contact Master Gardeners by calling 509 477-2181.