May 12, 2008

a glossary of favorite lilacs

I AM HALFWAY THROUGH a long season of lilac blooms that started before the first of May this year and looks to have another 10 days to go, weather depending. Meet the gang (wish I had scratch-and-sniff technology here for you).

: Syringa vulgaris 'Agincourt Beauty'

: Syringa vulgaris

: Syringa vulgaris 'Marie Frances'

: Syringa vulgaris 'Little Boy Blue'

: Syringa vulgaris 'Sensation'

: Syringa vulgaris 'Wedgwood Blue'

: Syringa hyacinthiflora 'Mount Baker'

: Syringa hyacinthiflora 'Blanche Sweet'

: Syringa vulgaris 'Avalanche'

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19 Responses to “a glossary of favorite lilacs”

Bonnie on May 12th, 2008 3:49 pm

Wow, the variety of colors is really gorgeous. I wish we could smell them. No such luck on having lilacs in Austin, so I’ll have to admire from afar.
gardenboy on May 12th, 2008 4:02 pm

Bonnie, For lilacs that may bloom in your area, check out the ones developed by Descanso Gardens in Pasadena, California. They are low-chill varieties that don’t need a long winter chill period to set buds and flower.
Amy on May 12th, 2008 4:17 pm

I planted “Sensation” and “President’s Grey” last spring. They are just beginning to bud and I can’t wait to see them bloom for the first time.
Andrew Ritchie on May 12th, 2008 4:17 pm

All those lilacs can mean a nice batch of lilac wine!

4 GALLON BATCH:

3 lbs. of lilac petals, no stems or greens
10 lbs. sugar
4.5 tbs. acid blend
1/2 tsp. tannin
4 gallons water
3 tsp. yeast nutrient
2 campden tablets
Red Star Premier Cuvee yeast

1. Place flowers in a large stainless steel pot with 2 gallons of hot water, almost boiling, let stand 1/2 hour.
2. Pour flower/water mixture into fine mesh nylon straining bag and into a 5~6 gallon plastic fermenting bucket with 2 remaining gallons of cool water and crushed campden tablets, stir well and place lid on and let stand for 24 hours to kill off any wild yeasts.
3. Next day, add remaining ingredients, SG will be close to 1.090, T.A. .60%, PH 2.8, be sure to rehydrate yeast and add to must, keep warm @75F. to start fermentation…it starts quickly.
4. On day two, squeeze out the flowers and juice from the nylon bag and discard pulp and let fermentation proceed. Let the batch slowly ferment at 62F. for 2 ~ 3 weeks until dry….it’ll be a milky, peachy/rosy color with a very light fragrance. Should take about 3 ~ 4 months to fully clear, rack 2 ~ 3 times during this period and add potassium metabisulfite between rackings to stabilize.

Not my recipe, but it looked intriguing…if slightly complicated.

Bonnie, if lilacs fail, there is always the Crape Myrtle - a cousin of the lilac that grows in the south, but they are not fragrant.

-Andrew
Brent on May 12th, 2008 5:24 pm

The lilacs on the farm should be in full bloom by this weekend. (We are quite a bit further north than you are).

Thanks for giving us a glimpse of things to come.

I may just have to try that lilac wine.
margaret on May 12th, 2008 5:29 pm

@Bonnie: Welcome, and good thing Gardenboy chimed in to help…he’s a pretty smart cookie.
@Gardenboy, muchas gracias, as ever.
@Amy and Brent: sounds like you are both in for a treat any minute. (And Amy, my ‘Sensation’ got so gigantic–yikes! Like 15 feet tall now.)
@Andrew: Party boy!
leslie land on May 12th, 2008 9:14 pm

Andrew,

Ever-faithful google turns up a slew of lilac wine recipes, as I found out when Bill tried to unearth the one he used @ 25 years ago and couldn’t. Some are a tad easier than the one you quote and knowing him, I’m sure the one he used was in the easier column.

All the recipes say it’s ready to drink in a year or two, but the only vintage I’ve ever tried was that ancient one, when it was about 15 years old, and it was AMAZING, probably the best homemade wine in my experience.

Given the quality of most homemade wine, that’s not really saying much, but if you have plenty of lilacs and a cool cellar you might want to go for it.
elizabeth on May 13th, 2008 9:23 am

i wonder if i can go around my neighborhood and pilfer enough blooms for a batch of wine…
every yard has some except mine.
teaorwine on May 13th, 2008 2:03 pm

Lovely! Are all varieties grown on your property? I believe I am able to
smell the fragance right here.mmmm.
margaret on May 13th, 2008 2:08 pm

Teaorwine: Yes, all in the yard (and a couple of others that weren’t ready yet for their photos the other day).
Lisa in CA on May 13th, 2008 8:58 pm

There is nothing like the fragrance of lilacs. We have a large bush planted under my daughter’s bedroom windows and in the warmer evenings it is just delicious!
margaret on May 13th, 2008 9:03 pm

Welcome, Lisa. I just took a trip to your blog and can see that you have a passion for plants, which reminds me of someone else I know around here. ;-)
I am so glad that you stopped in. Come again soon!
M.
susan on May 14th, 2008 6:34 am

A great selction, I will be planting some this year. Yes I wish it was scratch and sniff.
Kristi on May 14th, 2008 5:57 pm

My coworker brought a bouquet of Syringa vulgaris ‘Sensation’ and put it on her desk. It is so stunningly pretty.
margaret on May 14th, 2008 6:23 pm

Welcome, Kristi. Isn’t ‘Sensation’ unusual? Yum. I enjoyed my visit to your website just now, by the way…chamomile tea! Sounds like a good recipe.
Margaret
carillon on May 17th, 2008 9:59 pm

Margaret - have you ever heard of any lilacs that will bloom in Phoenix? Being from MN, these, along with peonies, are the two plants I really miss - for their fragrance, of course.
Carillon in Phoenix
margaret on May 18th, 2008 5:04 am

Welcome, Carillon, to A Way to Garden. To my knowledge, even the most heat-tolerant lilacs on the market still will not bloom in your combination of heat and arid conditions–specifically they want more winter chill period than you can give them. Not even the Descanso Gardens introductions like ‘Lavender Lady,’ which work in LA, nor the National Arboretum cultivars like ‘Betsy Ross’ and so on that work in the Deep South. One of the big wholesale nurseries, Monrovia, has a great tool on its website–you can filter browsing its plant lists by your USDA Hardiness Zone (I believe you are Zone 9; I used one of the Phoenix Zip Codes, not knowing yours) and the American Horticultural Society Heat Zone (Zone 11 is where you land from the zip code I used).
All that said, I found some info from the International Lilac Society website that may be of interest, about a member “experimenting” in Tucson and then in Vail, AZ, and having some success with ‘Lavender Lady’ and other lilacs. Here’s where to link to that article.
The good news is that the climate you now live in has so many wonders that cannot be grown in MN (or here!) that I urge you to spend some time exploring catalogs like High Country Gardens for a real treat, to see the range of possibility.
Jeff on June 21st, 2008 8:11 pm

I was tricked into planting 27 of the Wedgwood Blue as a noise barrier for the front lawn.

This spring I passed a huge hedge of lilacs every night as I walked the dog. With temperatures hovering around 50º and a touch of dampness in the air, the perfume would hit and cling.

I threw money at my online bulb company late one night. The seedlings arrived. I paced them out - planting them on a waning moon just to be goofy. They are thriving, but…

I’ve created the perfect OCD craziness. I know I will have to rake through the hedge to get leaves to the curb this Fall. Because of this, I can’t mulch the area until I’ve raked.

I have to clear grass away from each plant. I’ve murdered one baby with the weed wacker, so it’s a weekly weeding job.

I have a rain barrel to keep them and the new roses healthy this summer. Because I’m a genius, I installed the barrel on the other side of the house. I’ll be toting buckets.

Sorry that this has been a lengthy whine. I’m asking experts to tell me I should mulch the lilacs, creating a bizarre path in the front yard.
margaret on June 21st, 2008 8:23 pm

Welcome, Jeff. Your comment made me smile–especially the OCD part. Aren’t we all when it comes to plants?
Not sure how to visualize the obstacles exactly–where the hedge is, where the leaves fall (and from what) that will get stuck there, etc. I am queen of the tarp and tip bag, meaning devices I can drag along with me wherever I am cleaning up and then just drag (ever fuller with junk) to the next spot and eventually to the heap (I don’t give my leaves away at the curb, I compost them).
So not sure how to advise…let me know! You can also always ask a question in our Forums.

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Who's Gardening Here?

from martha to just margaret
I was so blessed to visit and document many of the nation’s finest homemade gardens for 15 years for ‘Martha Stewart Living,’ first as its garden editor and then as editorial director for the company. The list of places we were proud to publish included my own upstate New York home a few years back. Take a tour of how it looked then. Want to know more about me? Or read what Anne Raver said in June in The New York Times, calling A Way to Garden “the best (garden blog) I’d ever seen.”
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July Garden Chores

All based on my Zone 5B Berkshire/Hudson Valley location; adjust accordingly.

JULY STARTS OUT as Throw In the Trowel Month here, but then summer shapes up and the heat-lovers have their day. All is forgiven! Keeping up with watering and weeds tops the to-do list, with planting and other more macho tasks (other than mowing my steep hillside) at a minimum.

FIRST, THE HAIRCUTS: Many perennials (euphorbia, some true geraniums, ribbon grass) do better the second half of the season if cut back hard. Others need just deadheading. Annuals that grow leggy can often benefit from a chop job, too. Do some experiments. Sometimes a plant can’t look worse, and you probably won’t kill it. :-)

MAKE A PASS through each bed each week, since weeds are not just unsightly but steal moisture, nutrients and light from desired plants. Top up mulch in all garden beds if washed or worn away to help in the plight.

IF YOU ARE IN JAPANESE BEETLE territory, handpick (as with other obvious pests like tomato hornworms) in early morning and drown in a can of water to reduce infestation. Plan to try to reduce grub population with nematodes.

GARDENS NEED an inch of water a week from you or the heavens. Check your rain gauge to make sure they get it, and remember: soak deeply in the root zone, don’t spritz things with a sprayer now and again like you’re washing the car. That’s a garden no-no. Pots need extra attention, especially smallish ones in sun, and they also need regular feeding. Be alert!

TREES & SHRUBS

STOP FEEDING woody plants. Promoting more soft growth in high summer isn’t good; time for them to start moving toward the hardening-off phase of their cycle. No more eats till earliest spring.

TREES ARE especially vulnerable to drought, particularly the oldest and the youngest (those planted in the last few years). Water deeply, as with a Tree-Gator. Ugly…but better than not watering the kids!

ALWAYS BE on the lookout for dead, damaged, diseased wood in trees and shrubs and prune them out as discovered. Ditto with suckers and water sprouts.

SPRING-FLOWERING shrubs like lilacs reach the end of their pruning window after July 4th here, otherwise risking damage to emerging buds for next year’s blooms.

THROUGH MONTH’S END, softwood cuttings of Buddleia, Weigela, Rose-of-Sharon and roses, among other shrubs, can be taken to propagate more plants inexpensively.

VEGETABLE, FRUIT & HERBS

STRAWBERRY BEDS may appreciate rejuvenation now.

KEEP GARLIC AND ASPARAGUS well weeded. Garlic may start to fade and topple by later this month or next, as harvest time nears. When several lower leaves yellow, try carefully lifting a head or two to judge readiness, before lifting all to cure during a warm, dry spell in an airy, sheltered place. Let asparagus ferns grow till frost to feed the underlying crowns.

CONTINUE SOWING carrots, beets, radishes, lettuce, dill. With salad greens, select heat-resistant varieties, and sow small amounts every 10 days. Direct-sow a short row of bush beans every two weeks through month’s end, and another mound of bush cukes and zucchini right now.

FOR PEAK FLAVOR, harvest basil, sage, marjoram and oreganos, mint, tarragon are best harvested just before bloom. Start more basil from seed for combining with those September tomatoes, and dill for late pickles. Harvest lavender, rosemary and chamomile as they flower, blossoms and all.

FLOWER GARDEN

SOW VIOLAS (and pansies where they overwinter) in flats indoors for set-out in fall, where they’ll appreciate a protective mulch after the ground freezes. Fall-planted violas bloom earlier next spring.

PRUNE RAMBLER ROSES and once-blooming climbers now, after their flowering period.

MANY PERENNIALS and biennials can be started now from seed, then set out in the fall into nursery beds.

I MOW THE foliage of my ripened daffodil drifts around July 4th. Deadhead faded perennials unless they have showy seedheads (same with bulbs), or you want to collect seed later (non-hybrids only).

ARE ANNUAL VINES getting the continuing support they need, whether twine, wire, lattice?

ORDER BULBS to get varieties you want (see Sources). Remember our “early, middle, late” mantra when doing so.

PREPARE NEW beds for fall planting by smothering grass or weeds with layers of recycled corrugated cardboard or thick layers of newspaper, then put mulch on top.

EDGE BEDS to make a clean line and define them, and keep edges clean with regular fine-tuning with grass shears. A clean edge makes a big difference.

HOUSEPLANTS
Houseplants, including amaryllis, can spend the summer outdoors, in a sheltered location with filtered bright light (not direct sun). Feed regularly.

LAWN
Don’t bag or rake clippings; let them lie on the lawn to return Nitrogen to the soil.

COMPOST HEAP
Don’t let the heap dry out completely, or it will not “cook.” Turning it to aerate will also hasten decomposition, but things will rot eventually even if not turned.
In Brief

genetic reversions in progress
THERE APPEARS TO BE A REVOLT GOING ON around here. A mass reversion, to be specific…so far noted in four plants who have changed color on me. What’s a gardener to do?

why I count birds
I LEARNED RECENTLY that I am one of 50,000 people (a million total so far) who submit monthly bird-watching checklists to ebird.org, a joint program of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Audubon. That number is up from only 5,000 a month just three years ago (and you can make it 50,001 if you sign up to help). But why bother?

loving to hate white flowers
I KEEP SAYING I hate white flowers, but then I see them all over the yard and think, hey, I must have planted them, so what’s up with that?

when the godlight shines
YOU KNOW IT WHEN you see it, and I call it the godlight. That heavenly slanting light that turns things, well, heavenly. Have a look—and tell me if it’s been shining on you lately?

twist-off ticks
I AM COMING IN everyday with at least a tick or two on me; not embedded, thankfully, so far, but it's only a matter of time. But I am prepared. Are you?

foliage fetish
ASK YOURSELF with every plant you consider buying: how are its leaves? Flowers come and go, but leaves stick around, so they had better be good.

body-count update
SOME OF US confessed early on to having lost some plants to winter, but what’s up and croaked since? I can’t believe everything’s just gone perfectly…anyone ready to confess?

can-do pruning
REPEAT AFTER ME: I can prune. I can prune. If you follow this simple method for starters, your woody plants will thank you.

the ‘other’ peonies
JUNE IS PEONY TIME, the big raucous kind of peony time, but not long ago another kind of peony you might want to consider adopting did its subtler, wonderful thing.

which lilac to plant?
SO MANY LILACS, so little space. Browse a glossary of some of my favorites before you shop—maybe you’ll like them, too.

non-blooming peonies?
ARE YOUR PEONIES not cooperating—is there not a good crop of flower buds, and you don’t know why? This came up on the Forums, and here’s the dish.

gone, but not forgotten
ONE OF MY FAVORITE spring bloomers, Hylomecon japonicum, poked up through the soil surface the last week in April for a showy couple of weeks. Learn about this little-grown but easy perennial.

anything but forsythia
I guess I have a thing against forsythia…even though I have several specimens of it along the fringes of my property. But there are better choices for spring color among shrubs.

surprise (avian) visitors
If you make a garden for birds, or even plant a crabapple or two (or ten), you never know who’ll show up.

gourd of all gourds
DON'T GET ME STARTED on Cucurbita, the genus that includes pumpkins and squash and some gourds. But rather than digress into a thousand-word rant here on my truest loves, let me just say this: nest egg (as in ‘Nest Egg’ gourd).

magnolias to love
THEY’RE MEMORIES NOW but I couldn't garden without magnolias. Want to know more about the queen of the spring-blooming trees?

a cage supreme
READY TO END your relationship with tomato cages that are barely tall and wide and strong enough for half a healthy tomato plant? Try these.

order in the garden
I AM LABELING my plants, I am. As memory fades, out comes the label machine, just in the nick. Saved by the Dymo. You can be, too.
Buried Treasure

I NOTICE THAT BLOGGING results in some rich but buried treasure: great stuff in a comment thread you may not see; interesting topics on the forums that perhaps you haven't visited.

Subjects ranging from feeding and pruning Hydrangeas and pruning clematis, to entertaining (read: ranting) lists and lists of garden no-no’s (not just mine!).

Pick a click, and enjoy. Better yet, CHIME IN yourself. Up in the nav bar…that's right, GO FOR IT: our Q&A FORUMS.