The most common way folks propagate lilacs as pass-along plants is to dig suckers with roots attached. Lilacs have a habit of sprouting from the roots around the mother plant, and these sprouts can be dug, preserving as many roots as possible and cutting the connection to the mother plant with sharp clippers. Water the night before so the babies are well hydrated. Stow them in a plastic bag with a bunch of barely damp paper towels in the bag -- don't wrap the plants or wet it down, as that will cause rot. Seal the bag and the ambient humidity given off by the plant and the barely damp towels will keep it fresh, as long as you keep it cool as possible. Once you have it home, pot up and tent with plastic to keep the humidity high around the plant and keep it in the shade -- no sun. Keep the soil moist and be patient.

If your lilac doesn't have suckers, try tip cuttings of semisoft wood. Semisoft is when the stems are just starting to firm up and aren't quite so green and juicy. Take cuttings about 6-8 inches in length and keep them in a sealed 1 gallon ziplock freezer bag with a barely damp towel. Keep cool until you get them home and can stick them into a mix of 1/2 soilless potting mix and 1/2 perlite. Before sticking make a fresh cut on the bottom of each stem and dip the juicy end in talc-based rooting hormone. A strength of .3% or .8% is better for woodies like lilacs than the .1% usually found at garden centers -- go to AM Leonard on line (amleo.com) to order if you need it. A common brand is Hormodin, which offers these formulations. Once your cuttings are stuck, treat as above for the suckers: plastic tent, absolutely no sun, keep moist but not sopping, patience.

Good luck!

Marty

Thank you for the information, I appreciate it.

Another thing you might want to consider is how well the plant will do in our climate. Much of TN is now around zone 8a. This is pretty hot for this type of lilac. It likely will not preform as well here as it did in CT. Sorry about this possible bad news.