The most fragrant shrub you’ll find around but sadly the blooms only a few weeks in the spring. Some may think because the shrub is named the lilac that you can only find them in the color purple. That is not true. You can find lilac shrubs in white, and pink.

They have been known to grow as tall as 6-7ft tall and are easy maintenance shrubs. They do great on hilltops where water can run away from their root systems. They will tolerate almost any kind of soil you put them in as long as you don’t over water them. They don’t require fertilizer or feeding on a frequent basis. Once in a while to help promote better blooms you can work in some feed or fertilizer first sign of spring.

They do require to be pruned every year. You can prune the shrub immediately after it has finished blooming and the blooms have died off. Pruning a lilac may enable your shrub to grow as tall as 8ft. Pruning promotes growth for the shrub for the following year. It also is important not to allow your lilac shrub to get to rounded and bushy. This will invite plant disease by not allowing proper airflow and sun getting to the rest of the inner greenery and buds. This will be the hardest work you’ll have when dealing with the lilac but for the fragrance and beauty it brings the work will be well worth it.

Once the lilac has matured to its full height you might run into problems with a few pests. Mice and other little varmints might want to snack on the trunk of the shrub in the fall and winter months, which eventually can kill the shrub. You can always wrap your lilac trunk with protective wire to prevent this damage. Another worry you might face with your lilac is called powdery mildew disease. You can treat this but this does not cause serious damage to your shrub itself except the visual aspect.

You can have lilacs as a cut flower. The key to successfully doing so it to pick stems that have all or nearly all the blossoms open. Ants love lilacs so I would check them before you brought them inside to the vase. Another trick to having them last longer indoors in the vase is a cool spot that doesn’t get any sun.

Lilacs can be transplanted. Take into consideration before you transplant that you might cause the shrub to skip a year in blooms.

If you ever run into problems of your lilac blooming at all you may want to be more patient. It can take up to four years to have a lilac shrub bloom. I know that is a long wait but again it is well worth it once the blooms arrive. If you have waited this long and still have no blooms coming you might want to check your soil, be sure the shrub is getting enough sunlight, and you could try fertilizer or plant feed.

Now it is your turn to share your love for the lilac so go get planting!