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