Syringa, also called lilac, is a genus of 20 species of deciduous, low growing trees, usually found in woodland from S.E. Europe and E. Asia. They are grown for their pyramidal or conical panicles of small, tubular flowers that appear from mid spring and are usually very flagrant. Their color vary from white, pink, red to magenta, lilac or even blue and can be simple or double. You can cut and bring indoor the lilac flowers, put them in a vase and enjoy the spreading of their flagrance all aver the house.
They will fit well in any type of garden, grown as a shrub border or as specimen trees. The bushy trees of lilac grow rapidly and quite upright and are fully hardy. Sometime, the late frosts may damage new growth but it will recover.
They will grow in almost any type of soil except the extremely acidic ones, but will love to grow in fertile, humus-rich, well-drained, neutral to alkaline soils. Lilacs don't grow well in lowlands where water tends to collect for prolonged periods of time. Find a place in full sun for your lilac and mulch regularly. Fertilize them in early spring and again just after flowering with an all-purpose fertilizer, watered in well. They also need supplemental water during periods of drought.
Young and newly planted lilacs need to be dead-head before fruits and seeds form to preserve its energy for growth. If you want to propagate the lilac, sow seeds in containers in a cold frame as soon as they ripe or in spring. You can also take greenwood cuttings or layer in early summer, graft in winter or bud in midsummer.
