Some flowers have to be seen to be noticed while others are observed by just their fragrance. If a flower is really lucky it can be both beautiful and fragrant.
The lilac is one such flower.
It won't be long before the first scents of the lilac will be in the air. Lilacs are one of the first flowering shrubs to bloom in the spring. Its flowers are clusters, made up of small flowers that can be either single or double. They come in various shades of white, pink, violet, lavender, blue, purple, and yellow.
Lilac bushes are not in bloom for a long time but there are many different varieties available that have different bloom times, so with some careful planning you could have lilacs blooming in the landscape for many weeks.
Lilacs are a hardy, long-living, flowering shrub that have been growing in Prince George for many years.
Once they are established they do not require a lot of care, and if looked after properly they can grow for hundreds of years. Keep this in mind when choosing a site to plant lilacs as some varieties can grow quite large. Plant them in fertile, well drained soil and choose a sunny location.
Good air circulation is also beneficial as lilacs can sometimes get powdery mildew. Once they have become established they can tolerate some drought but will grow and bloom better if they are kept sufficiently watered.
Pruning is done in late spring after the lilac has finished blooming. Remove all the old finished flowers before they form seed as this takes energy away from the plant. Cut the finished cluster just above the next leaf node.
Lilacs form next years flowers over the summer months and need to go through a chilling process of below freezing temperatures to start growth in the spring.
The common lilac is a good indicator of spring temperatures as they do not respond to daylight but rather to temperatures. We have a lilac bush planted near the house and the branch that is touching a window (where it is warmer) is already in full leaf whereas the rest of the plant is just beginning to bud.
There are many different varieties of lilacs that have proven to do very well in the Prince George area.
Some of them include:
Syringia Vulgaris, Common Lilac - vigorous suckering plant with single, fragrant lavender-purple blooms. Great cut flower.
Syringa vulgaris, Charles Joly - strongly scented double purple-red flowers, early bloomer.
Syringa vulgaris, Beauty of Moscow - small pink buds open to large double white florets that mature to white. Beautiful multi tone affect. Great cut flowers.
Early bloomer.
Syringa vulgaris, Sensation - fragrant, single purple flowers have a white border. Unique bicolour flower. Early bloomer.
Syringa vulgaris, Mme. Lemoine-pure double white flowers, strongly fragrant. Early bloomer.
Syringa vulgaris, Congo - extremely fragrant, single, large, rich purple-red flowers. Plant grows two metres tall and two meters wide.
Syringa vulgaris, Sarah Sands - very fragrant, large panicles of single purple flowers. Good cut
flower. Attracts butterflies.
Syringa vulgaris, Ludwig Spaeth - fragrant single, red-purple flowers. Good cut flower. Early bloomer.
Fast growing.
Syringa vulgaris, Michel Buchner - double
lavender-pink flowers. Very fragrant.
Syringa vulgais, Paul Thirion - double red-pink flowers open up from purple-red buds. Very fragrant.
Syringa vulgaris, Primrose - fragrant creamy
yellow flowers, good for cutting.
Syringa prestonise, Donald Wyman - lightly fragrant single purple flowers on large pyramidal spikes.
Introduced by Agriculture Canada.
Syringa Bailbelle Tinkerbelle Lilac - crimson flowerbuds open to single deep pink flowers. Spicy fragrance. Small glossy green leaves. Compact plant with round form.
Syringa penda Bloomerang - blooms twice in one season. In spring and then again in late summer.
Fragrant purple flowers.
