Lilacs

Introduced & Native

Common Lilac • Syringa vulgaris • Member of olive

family • Native to Balkan

peninsula • Introduced to

North America in 1700’s

• Colors include pink, purple, blue, red, white, yellow

• Hundreds of cultivars

Common Lilacs Like…… • Zones 3-7

– Need cold period for flower buds to mature

– Hybrids for warmer climates

• Full sun (> 6 hours)

• Good drainage – Don’t like wet feet

• Neutral or alkaline soil

Maintenance

• Add layer of compost & mulch

• Don’t overfertilize (won’t bloom)

• Infrequent watering, unless drought

• Prune right after they bloom

– Form flower buds in summer

– Remove dead wood, prune out oldest canes

Notes • Can take 3 years to

bloom after planting

• Relatively disease & pest-free except for – Powdery mildew

– Lilac bacterial blight

• Can propagate by sucker or offshoot

• Considered deer resistant

Varieties: Extend Bloom Time (still Syringa vulgaris)

• Early

– Charles Joly (1896), magenta

• Mid

– Monge (1913), purple

– President Lincoln (1916), blue

• Late (pre-1927)

– Belle de Nancy, pink

– Ludwig Spaeth, purple

Hybrids

• Syringa x hyacinthiflora

• Syringa reticulata – Late-Blooming, tree lilac

• Syringa x lacinata – Cutleaf lilac, different

foliage

• Syringa x persica – Persian lilac

• Syringa “josee” – Bloomerang, dwarf

rebloomer ®

California Lilac

• Ceanothus sp.

• Native to California

• Buckthorn family

• Approx 31 varieties in CA

• Flowers can be blue, white or pink

California Native Lilacs like….

• A little protection and watering when first planted

• To be left alone – Good drainage

– Don’t fertilize or use soil amendments

– Maybe some light pruning, but not really needed

– Water, pruning & good soil shorten life span & encourage browsing by deer

Trinity Ceanothus (blue, short)

• Ceanothus prostratus

– Squawcarpet

• Ceanothus pumilus

– Dwarf ceanothus

– Serpentine slopes

Trinity Ceanothus (blue, taller)

• Ceanothus integerrimus

– Deerbrush

• Ceanothus lemmoni

– Lemmon’s ceanothus

Trinity Ceanothus (white)

• Ceanothus cordulatus

– Mountain Whitethorn

• Ceanothus cuneatus

– Buckbrush

• Ceanothus velutinus

– Snowbrush

Hybrids • Ceanothus “concha”

• Ceanothus “joyce coulter”

• Ceanothus “blue jeans”

• Ceanothus x impressus “dark star”

• Bred to tolerate summer water, some pruning or heavy soils

• For more info:

– www.laspilitas.com

– Sunset Western Garden