If this lilac does well at all--it would be in the northernmost /colder areas of zone 9A.

Perhaps you have a microclimate on your property that will allow this plant to thrive anyway.

However, I read an article some time back describing the experiments and hybridization at Washington (DC) Botanical garden where they has some Lilac varieties that needed less chilling hours to bloom. I still had not seen any of those varieties released to commerce.

I think I had 2 problems - not only was the heat too great, but the soil around here is very acidic and the lilac likes alkali soils.

I would be very glad if anyone had any good news regarding lilacs in the south!

I have a very strange microclimate niche. our town is in a river valley, which means the earth here stays warmer but the air whips through faster and colder. My house is at the end of a cul-de-sac, in an oak grove, at the top of a hill with a creek at the bottom of it.

Basically I think I have some of zones 6, 7 and 8, depending on which side of the house I'm planting on!!!! full sun wet, full sun dry, wet shade, dry shade, southern exposure....you name it, I got it. So basically i'm planning to plant whatever I want in the area of yard that seems closest to its home zone:) Or should I stick closer to Zone 7 recommendations?

I would love to try a lilac here in hot Texas. I'm going to wait with the hopes of reading more about these *new* lilacs.

I did succumb to ordering a Chinese Peony tree, which will be delivered in the fall. It is supposedly able to deal with our weather.

By the way, coming from California myself, I can tell anybody interested that ceanothus are no substitute in appearance (the inappropriate name makes them seem wholly inadequate instead of the wonderful native shrubs they are) or fragrance; and the acid soils and humidity here are probably guaranteed to kill them even if the soil is amended. At the very least I would expect them to be awfully unhappy. Even back in California they can be rather tricky to grow well in a domestic garden setting.

http://spi.8m.com//hyacinthifloracat.html

I wish we could grow Ceanothus in this region more than I wish we could grow lilacs. I always go ga-ga over them when I am in California. I tried one a couple of years ago, but the minute we had some rainfall during the Summer, it bit the dust. I believe there have been some efforts to select good varieties for the Southeast U.S. - so maybe someday there will be good ones to try.

I have been told by a number of people, with experience, S. vulgaris is the Lilac to grow in the south...zone 7-8. Supposedly, the species Lilac can take the warmer climate. However, I know Lilacs like a more neutral to alkaline soil so if you have acid/clay soil this will be a problem. I've also been told to provide afternoon shade. Unfortunately, I learned all of this after I planted Miss Kim and she died! I now realize I didn't give her a proper site.

Has anyone tried these yet?

I was really excited to see some blooms, and I think they're gorgeous! It does have a nice smell. However, I do have to practically put my nose in the flower to smell it. I wouldn't say that you smell the flowers through an open window or as you walk by the flowerbed, but then they just started opening up too. I'm really hoping to get more fragrance out of it.

I wanted to post pics, but I don't see a way of uploading them. Do you have to have a photobucket account or something? My tree is so tiny - maybe 2-3 feet tall. I really thought it would have to grow more before blooming, so I was thrilled.

I would love to see a photo of your Blue Skies. I've tried it in Orlando Florida and had no luck with it at all. Now our Tar get stores have started carrying a variety of lilac. The plants look great but they don't include a variety name so we don't know if it's worth a try or not. Lots of transplanted MidWesterners & Northerners here and we all miss our lilacs and peonies.

Kate

By the way, the blooms are dying already. :( But I did find that when they opened up more they had a wonderful fragrance that you could smell just walking by the flowerbed. So all in all I am happy with this lilac. I just wish they bloomed year round!

Kate

Take care!

I sprinkle a small amount of lime around the base of the plant in mid February and fertilize it with a sprinkle of Osmocote granules the first week in March and again in October. I water the plant twice a week (a good soaking)if it has not rained.

I think that trying to grow this variety in zones 9 or 10 may be pushing it a bit as the leaves on my lilac have turned brown around the edges and are crisp and crumble (leaf burn) by the very end of our hot summers here in NW Florida. Perhaps those of you in Orlando may try filtered light or part shade.

Just putting my "two cents" in here so that those of you in zones 9 and 10 know what to expect.

BdN was also a zone-pusher, whereas LL was not. Because of this, BdN gave up and severely declined after her bloom, while LL thrived. When BdN bloomed, she bloomed heavily; but her flowers were small, she gave out almost no leaves, and her scent was weak.)

This year LL is about 1.5 feet tall, and has about 20 flowers that are growing larger by the day.

I planted a Blue Skies last fall, and it looks great.

In short, I completely recommend Lavender Lady to anyone in southern zone 8 and cooler. I know that all the charts in the catalogs and books rate where I live as a zone 7, but I have been keeping track of the temperatures for the last 3 years, and I am certain that extreme NW GA (at least the White [the city, not county]/Sutallee area are a hardiness zone 8 and a heat zone 8.)