For daily wit & wisdom, get the Almanac newsletter.

Planting and Growing Lilac Bushes

purple Yankee Doodle Lilac flowers

Huge blooms, wonderful scent.

Image Credit:
Wally Patrick
Botanical Name
Syringa spp.
Grown as
Perennial
USDA Zones
3a
3b
4a
4b
5a
5b
6a
6b
7b
Toxicity
Non-toxic
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Partial Sun
Water Needs
Moderate
Height
6-10 feet
Spread
6-10 feet
Soil pH
Neutral
Bloom Time
Spring
Summer
Flower Color
Blue
Pink
Purple
Red
White
Yellow
Special Features
Container-Friendly
Cut Flower
Fragrant
Attracts Butterflies
Attracts Hummingbirds
Attracts Pollinators
Deer-resistant
Rabbit-resistant
Resilience
Cold Hardy
Drought-Tolerant
Plant Type
Shrubs and Bushes
Written By: Catherine Boeckmann Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Lilacs truly smell like spring! Lilacs are among the most carefree spring-flowering shrubs and provide a sweet, haunting fragrance, too! Learn how to plant, grow, and prune your lilacs.

Lilacs, said to symbolize the joy of youth and associated with spring’s awakening, are hardy, easy to grow, and low-maintenance. Although they can reach heights of 5 to 15 feet (or more), depending on the variety, the ideal lilac shrub produces flowers at eye level—all the better for enjoying their sweet fragrance.

The common lilac, Syringa vulgaris, is well loved for its toughness, reliability, and fragrance. In fact, lilacs are so tough that they can grow for 100+ years, often outliving the homes they were planted around. The fragrant flowers are good for cutting and are attractive to butterflies.

While the blooms are usually lilac/purple in color (from very pale to very dark), there are also lilac varieties in white and cream and even pink and yellow. Individual flowers can be single or double.

In northern states, lilacs bloom for about 2 weeks from mid- to late spring. However, there are early-, mid-, and late-season lilacs, which, when grown together, ensure a steady bloom for at least 6 weeks.

Planting

When to Plant Lilacs

  • Like most shrubs, lilacs can be planted in either spring or fall, although the latter is preferred.

Where to Plant Lilacs

Lilacs thrive in fertile, humus-rich, well-draining, neutral to alkaline soil (at a pH near 7.0). If your soil is in poor condition, mix in compost to enrich it. (Learn more about soil amendments and preparing the soil for planting.) Choose or prepare a site that drains well. Poor drainage or pooling water can cause “wet feet,” potentially leading to root rot, stunted growth, and/or failure to flower. Test soil drainage by digging a hole 8 inches in diameter and 12 inches deep. Fill it with water; if it does not drain within an hour, choose another spot.

For the best blooms, lilacs should be planted in full sun, which is defined as at least 6 hours of sunlight each day. Given less, they will not flower as well. 

How to Plant Lilacs

  • If you’re lucky, a friend will give you a sucker, or offshoot, of the root system of one of their plants. The sucker will look pathetic at first, but dig a hole, backfill it with soil, and stick the sucker in. Then, water and wait. In 4 or 5 years, you’ll be rewarded with huge, fragrant blossoms.
  • Transplanting nursery-bought lilacs is also easy. If it’s container-grown, spread out the roots as you settle the plant into the ground; if it’s balled or burlapped, gently remove the covering and any rope before planting. Set the plant 2 or 3 inches deeper than it grew in the nursery and work topsoil in around the roots—then water in. Then, fill in the hole with more topsoil.
  • Space multiple lilac bushes 5 to 15 feet apart, depending on the variety.

Growing

  • Each spring, apply a layer of compost under the plant, followed by mulch to retain moisture and control weeds.
  • Water during the summer if rainfall is less than 1 inch per week.
  • Lilacs won’t bloom if they’re overfertilized. They can handle a handful of 10-10-10 in late winter, but no more.
  • After your lilac bush has finished blooming, spread some lime and well-rotted manure around the base. Trim the bush to shape it and remove suckers at the same time.

How to Prune Lilacs

  • Lilacs bloom on old wood, so it’s critical to prune in the spring right after they bloom. If you prune later in the summer, you may be removing the wood. Note: If your lilac flower clusters are getting smaller over a few years, it’s time to prune!
  • Every year after bloom, remove any dead wood. Prune out the oldest canes (down to the ground). Remove the small suckers. Cut back weak branches to a strong shoot. Cut back tall canes to eye height.
  • The ideal lilac shrub has about 10 canes. If your lilac is old and in really bad shape, remove one-third of the oldest canes (down to the ground) in year 1, half of the remaining old wood in year 2, and the rest of the old wood in year 3. Another option for old lilacs is to chop the whole thing back to about 6 or 8 inches high. It sounds drastic, but lilacs are very hardy. The downside to this option is that it takes a few years to grow back. The upside is less work and more reward, as the lilac will grow back, bursting with blooms.
  • It must be recognized that severe pruning results in the loss of blooms for 1 to 3 years. For these reasons, a wise pruning program aims to avoid severe and drastic cuts by giving the bushes annual attention.
  • Good Sucker Sense: Gertrude Jekyll, the 19th-century no-nonsense English horticulturist (1843–1932), advocated a strenuous exercise: “When taking away suckers … it is better to tear them out than to cut them off. A cut, however close, leaves a base from which they may always spring again, but if pulled or wrenched out, they bring away with them the swollen base.”

Pests and Problems

  • Prone to attack by slugs and snails.
  • Powdery white mildew may appear after a summer of hot, humid weather. It may be unsightly, but it does no harm. Ignore it.

Types

For early flowers, try Syringa x hyacinthiflora hybrids; they bloom 7 to 10 days before S. vulgaris. Its fragrant blooms attract butterflies and hummingbirds.

The most common and fragrant lilacs are of the S. vulgaris variety:

  • Try ‘Charles Joly’, a double magenta flower, an early bloomer.
  • Mid-season lilacs include ‘Monge’, a dark reddish purple, and ‘Firmament’, a fine blue.
  • Late-season beauties include ‘Miss Canada’, a reddish-pink, and ‘Donald Wyman’, a pink-purple flower.

Uncommon types/varieties include … 

  • S. x ‘Penda’ Bloomerang Purple: flowers in spring, pauses, then flowers again from midsummer through fall.
  • Although common lilacs love cold weather, a few thrive as far south as Zone 8, including cutleaf hybrid S. x laciniata, with fragrant, pale lavender flowers, and S. pubescens ssp. patula ‘Miss Kim,’ with pale, lilac-blue blooms that fade to white.

Small Lilacs
For gardeners, especially those in urban spaces, who just don’t have the room for the traditional larger lilac, there are compact varieties! They’ll even grow in a container on your patio or balcony.

  • ‘Baby Kim’ grows only 2 to 3 feet high (and 3 feet wide) in a nicely rounded shape with purple flowers that attract butterflies. Extended hardiness from Zones 3 to 8.
  • ‘Little Lady’ (S. x) is a compact lilac that matures to 4 to 5 feet tall and wide with dark pink buds that open to lilac-pink flowers. Hardy in Zones 2 to 7.
  • ‘New Age Lavender’ and ‘New Age White’ (S. vulgaris) are super-compact, growing from 4 to 5 feet tall and wide, and bred for mildew resistance. Their fragrant flowers attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Hardy to Zone 4.

See more lilac varieties!

Wit and Wisdom

  • To improve the flowering of lilacs, keep the grass from growing around them. A 16- to 24-inch circle of landscape cloth placed around the bushes and covered with bark or stone will keep the grass down.
  • Force a winter bouquet from cut branches of lilac. Bruise the cut ends and set them in water. Spray the branches frequently. Keep them in a cool place until they bloom, then move to a warmer area for display.
  • Poet Walt Whitman thought of lilacs when Abraham Lincoln died: 
    ”When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom’d … I mourn’d, and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring.”
  • Lilacs supposedly symbolize the joy of youth. Learn about more flower symbolism here.
  • The lilac belongs to the olive family, Oleaceae.
  • Lilacs are the state flower of New Hampshire.

Shrubs and Trees

About The Author

Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann

Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, stargazing, and gardening so it’s not surprising that she and The Old Farmer’s Almanac found each other. She leads digital content for the Almanac website, and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana.

Read more from Catherine Boeckmann

More Like This

Comments

<span>Bruce</span> Fri, 03/10/2017 - 18:42
Hi there, I am new to growing lilacs, but bought 4 Katherine Havemeyer 10cm high plants about 4 or 5 months ago and planted them in pots. New leaf buds would open out and up the plant would grow. They grew straight up quickly to the current height of about 50cm. But 4 or 5 weeks ago they completely stopped growing up, and started very slowly forming small, tight, different buds at the top of the stem. Are these FLOWER buds forming on such a young plant? And should these be clipped off, to enable the plant to continue growing quickly, instead of all the energy going into flower development? Thanks for your help, Bruce
<span>Mandy</span> Wed, 11/23/2016 - 09:11
I just planted a root this summer. It is abut 12" tall. Do I cover it with a bag for the winter? What do I have to do to keep it from freezing or firing?? Thanks!
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Tue, 11/29/2016 - 12:00

Lilacs are generally fairly hardy, but if you live in Zone 5 or colder, your new plant may benefit from a little protection as it is becoming established. If your lilac is planted in the ground, not a pot, then you might want to add about 3 to 4 inches of shredded bark or shredded leaves, or compost as mulch to protect the roots and help prevent heaving. Keep any mulch a few inches away from the trunk, though, to discourage rodents from nibbling on the trunk over winter. Remove the mulch in spring after all threat of severe frost has passed.

After any leaves have fallen and the plant is dormant, or if you are expecting a moderate to severe frost, you might also gently wrap the seedling in burlap "cylinder" and fill with mulched leaves or straw. Leave the top of the cylinder open. (If your lilac is grafted, be especially sure to protect the bud union with mulch.) Do not use plastic, as the lack of air circulation may invite disease, and may make the interior too warm. If your plant is by your home's foundation, you might also want to place an A-frame stapled with burlap, or similar protection, over the plant to prevent it from becoming crushed by heavy snow falling from the roof, etc., if that is a possibility in your area. Remove the cylinder and mulch, and the A-frame, in spring, after threat of frost has passed. Hope this helps!

 <span>Kelly</span> Fri, 10/28/2016 - 15:25
I have an old lilac bush that is growing very close to my house. We need to do some foundation work now before the winter sets in and I am wondering if it's possible to save the bush somehow and relocate it somewhere else on the property. Is it too late to up-root it with any hope of it surviving?
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Tue, 11/01/2016 - 09:58

Hi Kelly,

Though the dropping temperatures are not ideal for digging your lilac, it is not impossible. When you dig it out, do your best to keep as many roots on the shrub as possible. Dig a wide circle around it and slowly work it out of the ground making clean root cuts with loppers (in other words, don't just rip it from the ground, be gentle). Wrap the roots in burlap and water it. You can hold it over in a warm mulch pile. Dig a hole into a yard of mulch (many nurseries will deliver material to your property), preferably located in a tucked away area, where wind and snow damage are at a minimum. Bury the roots and about half way up the plant in the mulch. Do not water anymore. The shrub will look like it is dying but hopefully the root zone will live, go dormant, and bounce back in the spring. Only replant when the ground has completely thawed and there is no chance of a late spring frost. Hope this helps . . . best of luck!

 <span>Leah</span> Thu, 10/27/2016 - 08:45
I have two small Lilacs that i bought at Lowes. I planted them on the west side of the front yard first because it said full sun. Well, they got burned pretty bad so i moved them to the east side. After i trimmed all the leaves off of them that were burned they began to grow new leaves. The leaves are not smooth in texture, they are more like bumpy leaves. Is this normal? None of the leaves are smooth. I cannot remember if the first ones were smooth or not. But i was just wondering if this is something wrong? They look healthy otherwise.
<span>Patricia</span> Sun, 09/18/2016 - 09:24
I would like to know how big these little plants need to be before planting in the ground and how to care for them during the winter until ready for planting in the ground. I live in IL, North West of Chicago. I have transplanted one of the rooted plants into a small pot and it is growing fine outside. How should I care for it during the winter? Thank you!
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Tue, 09/20/2016 - 14:14

Because lilacs must go through a cold dormant period, you should leave your pot outside in a protected area, such as up against the house. Put a thick layer of mulch around the base of the plant. And, before the first hard frost, gently lay a piece of burlap over the plant for added protection. In the spring, take it out of the pot to assess its roots. If they are healthy with a lot of smaller "feeder" roots, go ahead and plant it when the ground has thawed.

 

 <span>Rona</span> Sun, 09/11/2016 - 10:23
I live in Windsor Ontario Canada,I have two years old tree,had few bloom this year ,it was fine last year ,but as we know this summer was very hot and humid .its mid September but my Lilac tree's leaves look shrunken and dry ,and branches look dry and diseased(it has very small spots on it )I am confused ,is its weather change or some kind of disease or it my be the fertilizer which I was putting in my perineals beside this tree,so I sprayed a little bit in lilacs root too. I never took care of tree before.please guide me.thanks
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Tue, 09/13/2016 - 12:39

Hi Rona,

That sounds like a water-related issue. Insufficient water results in distorted and wilting leaves. As for the spots, sometimes when a plant is stressed it is susceptible to disease. It could be a foliar fungus but it is hard to say without seeing it. It's unlikely fertilizer is to blame. Take a few cuttings of the leaves to a reputable nursery to see if they can identify the problem. And water regularly until late fall. Hopefully it will bounce back after the dormant season.