Hi Nancy. Yes, lilacs certainly do grow in Maryland. I have a "President Grevey" in my garden and plan to get many other cultivars.

They grow here, but it's the Southern end of their range, and they don't like the humidity -- many will have trouble with mildew. Plant them in a place with good ventilation, and morning rather than afternoon sum.

That said, I love my dwarf "Miss Kim", my tree lilac (syringa reticulata "Ivory Silk") and the old-fashioned purple ones I brought back from my folks' place in Rochester NY.

LynnT

Hey Lynn,
I didn't realize you were another ex-Rochester type. I lived across the border in Wayne county until I was 13, when we moved into Brighton. For the next 6 years, I had the privilege of living within a reasonable bike ride of Highland Park, with all its lilacs and rhodies!
Nancy, I second Lynn's comments; also, look at what she's growing. The Korean lilacs tend to have less problem with mildew than the classic French/Persian lilacs, and that may also be true of the S. reticulata cultivars. (Is it so, Lynn?)
I've got Fr. Fiala's book on lilacs, also my beat-up book from plants class at GW, and will look to see if there are specific cultivars recommended for the mid-Atlantic and points south.

Robin

G'Day!

- Nancy, will you be able to make the MAG Spring Swap? (You want to, you really do!) If you can, let me know and i can researve a couple-few white lilac babies for you. These are suckers from my big momma thicket of white lilac, so although small, they have older roots and will grow strong and sturdy, eventually forming a thicket as big as you let it grow.

- my old-fasioned purple doesn't cast up sucker-babies any more; i understand that younger plants do, and older ones don't. The purple, which i haven't yet been able to successfully root cuttings from, is probably a hundred years old, a door-stoop planting by the foundatins of a small shop that once stood by our house.

- For a great overview of what lilacs you can grow here, visit the National Arboretum. They have a whole section of lilacs, showing the entire range of colours, scents, and sizes. In season, the perfume can be overwhelming. Incredible display!
(my favorite part of the Nat. Arb. is the knot and herb gardens.)

- Happy gardening,
-vlad

Having looked in vain for the detail I wanted in my resources, I was going to point you to the Nat Arb also. Their web site may even have a list of suitable varieties, tho' going there is much more fun!
One thing that I did notice in Fr. Fiala's book was the reminder that lilacs don't like acid soil. Annapolis area has much sandier soil than we have over here in Northern VA, which takes care of the drainage issue, but it's still acid, so you may have to plan on liming the soil for your lilac.

Hey Gardenpaws, I grew up in West Irondequoit (near that dairy farm on Titus Avenue; Durand Eastman Park was my back yard) and had a lot of friends in Brighton. I wonder if you knew any of them, or even their siblings. I hate to ask, but when did you graduate? 1974 for me, no big deal here in being nearly 50. Did you know any Oseroff kids? I rode at Mickey Way's barn out at Jackson & Plank (was that Pittsford?) and have fond memories of driving by the "Colgate Devility School" as my dad called it to visit Highland Park in the Spring.

Don't know anything much about the reticulata lilacs yet; I got this one on sale last Fall at Meadows Farms (couldn't resist $40 for a 3"-caliper ten-foot B&B tree) so we'll see how it does. Miss Kim is doing pretty well, though.

Hey Vlad, can I have a white lilac baby too? Or better yet a dark-purple rootling? My pale-purple is fading, even though I've tried rejuvenation pruning. I'll try laying in some line or fireplace ashes this spring. I've also heard that lilacs appreciate a bucket of water with about a half-cup of peroxide mixed in, to aerate the roots. Anyone else heard of that one?

Lynn

Lynn,
I may know some siblings of your friends - I graduated from Brighton in 1968. I haven't really kept in touch, tho' we did have a get-together locally last year so I have some idea who's in the DC area. You and my sister may have acquaintances in common, as she's 7 years younger than I but ran around with an older group (as I also did).
Plank Road has a familiar ring to it - was part of our route home when we lived in Walworth, as my father was teaching at Allendale at the time. He eventually shifted to Williamson, and then finally to Eastridge (East Irondequoit).
I won't ask what your father's religious views were, to produce such a comment!
If you're interested in continuing the get-together and old home week, perhaps we should do it by private email, since a lot of it won't be gardens . . . tho' Rochester does much better in that line than I realized when I first lived there.
The reticulata lilacs are somewhat mildew-resistant, definitely trees, gorgeous bark like a cherry, and pretty flowers (but not for smelling - too close to their privet relatives!).

Happy lilac-growing and -smelling to all!

Robin

G'Day!

- Lynn, of COURSE you can have a baby white lilac. Remember, lilacs hate to be moved, so it will sulk for a year, but it will grow.
- (i hope to have a dozen nice babies for the swap but won't know 'till i actually dig 'em.)

- As to the purple, that's the one i really want to propogate but haven't been able to root any cuttings of - yet. (Still practicing.) Did you want to try rooting a cutting? It is way too old to send up suckers. Sigh.

- Happy gardening,
-vlad

Vlad, have you tried air-layering the purple lilac? Maybe that would work.

Thanks for all the advice re lilacs! I really appreciate it. Sorry I didn't post a follow-up sooner - I was vacationing in Puerto Rico last week! Coming home to this winter storm was a real shock though. I don't know about making the MAG spring swap. I really don't have anything to "swap" yet, so I'm not sure if I would feel comfortable coming! Where will it be located? Again, thanks for all the advice/help. Nancy

Anyone who loves lilacs should definitely visit Lombard, IL during the lilac festival in May (one of those things you should do at least once). Besides the small town festival stuff--parade, lilac queen, etc--this town has a lilac garden with over 200 varieties of lilacs from all over the world. West of Chicago in DuPage county--we liked it when we lived there.

G'day!
- Nancy, you (and any other GardenWeb posters/lurkers) are most welcome to the Spring Swap; info on the MAG Spring Swap is located on the Exchange Page. (The link is right above the messeges on the regular MAG Forum page.) It'll be May 14 this year.

- Don't be shy about coming to the swap, even if you're "plant-poor" with little to trade this year. Many of us have major surpluses of certain plants; (you DO want some strawberry plants from my garden, right? They make a great "living mulch" underbedding around taller perennials, and i will have a hundred or more surplus in spring.)

- Also, you could just start up extra seedlings specifically for swapping. The easiest method is to make lots of cheapie pots (i use plastic yogurt containers with drainage holes punched in the garden), sink 'em in the bed and seed them along with the rest of the garden. Then, come swap-time, just lift 'em out, wipe of the dirt, and they're ready to got, with no potting up!

- Or, just bring something for the potluck picnic which follows the swap. Great folk, great food, great plants. But be prepaired to bring home plants you never knew you needed!

- Cecilia, yes, i have tries airrooting, but haven't succeeded yet. i've had a bit of success rooting OTHER lilacs from cuttings (thanks, Rita!), just not this plant. i think it may just be gettting very old and no longer be vigerous enough. Sigh.

- Happy gardening,
-vlad

I live in Northern Virginia and just received a Korean Lilac from a friend and planted it in our front yard, north side. It will get about 4-5 hours of morning sun each day. Will this be enough or should I move it? Everything I've read says it needs 6 hours. thank you!

Both my lilacs get about that much in summer and bloom fine. It may not be totally loaded down like full sun ones, but it should do okay.

Hi Nancy welcome to gardening I am in Annapolis and this is my first year gardening too. I have laid out an extremely ambitiously large garden bed. When things get established maybe we can do some trades?

-Annette

Hey Nancy, I have NO full sun in my yard and my Miss Kims do just fine.

Oh, I couldn't resist another interesting lilac I encountered at the spring sales: "Dappled Dawn" has green leaves speckled and streaked with cream. It is supposed to bloom pale-lilac, but mine is too young for that (though it'd be a prettier contrast with white or dark-purple blooms). I plan to put it in on a west-facing slope with Sambucus "Sutherland Gold" behind it, though both (as well as the sucker Vlad gave me) are still languishing in my Pot Ghetto. But I DID get two more beds dug last weekend...

By the way, the tree lilac (S reticulata) bloomed a few weeks ago -- I don't find the scent objectionable at all. But I notice the tree wilted easily in the recent hot spell; I had to water it more than the other recent transplantees. It's been so dry, despite last week's downpours; when I tilled up a new bed last weekend the soil was dead-dry three inches from the surface...

LynnT

I have a question about an old purple lilac tree in the garden of the house we bought 2 years ago. At first I didn't know it was a lilac because the few flowers were so sparse, but when I realized it was, I followed the "prune back 1/3" directions and last year there were, hmm, some flowers. This year I pruned a lot more, though unfortunately rather late because I didn't realize the pruning was supposed to be done right after flowering, so I pruned (another 1/3 or more!) in July. Now there are lots of nice new shoots all over the place because the tree is opened up to light, but some of the new leaves are turning brown/black around the edges and seem to be shriveling up. what did I do wrong (apart from prune too late?) I lightly dug the area around it (hoping to add some crocuses there) added lots of organic soil that I later realized had miracle grow added; maybe too much fertilizer there? or might this be a pest that needs spraying? The tree is in a pretty shaded area so I don't think it's a burning effect. I would love this tree to survive so any help appreciated.