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>Julie Timson</span> Mon, 05/09/2016 - 18:48
How do the roots grow? How far away should I keep it away from my septic? Thank you
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Tue, 05/10/2016 - 13:53

Lilac roots are shallow and spread about one and half times the width of the bush. If you plant the lilac about 8 feet from your septic system you should be OK.

 <span>Debra Potts</span> Sat, 05/07/2016 - 11:45
I live in the Chicago suburbs. We bought a Miss Kim at a nursery last May and planted it with the soil that they suggested. We followed all directions with the hole size etc.. After planting we had a very heavy rain. It is in full sun. We bought a moisture tester and I tested every week 4 to 6 inches down, and even further, and it always showed that it was wet (for weeks). Basically, the rain we received last spring allowed us to never have to water. When the blooms dried out, I cut them off. In Midsummer all the leaves shriveled up and turned brown. We also planted two hydrangeas nearby and they did the same thing. Now this spring, all three plants or dried up and just sticks. My hydrangeas are growing new leaves at the base of the plant as well as a couple teeny leaves coming out of the branches. However my lilacs show no sign of greenery, leaves, or any other growth. I scraped on a few branches and found no green. I am assuming it's dead, but I'm fearful of planting another lilac in this location. Should I leave it in the ground and wait to see? Do you think it was just the rain that flooded it out right after planting, and I should take another chance? This is the only area in my small yard for a lilac. As I noted, it does get full sun all day in this location. I really don't know what to do, as I have always loved lilacs, and really want to have one. Is there maybe a better, hardier type of lilac I could plant, and should I wait until fall to plant a new one, versus the spring? Do the nurseries even sell them in the fall? Thanks so much for your help
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Tue, 05/10/2016 - 13:33

Our guess is that the heavy rain and wet soil killed your lilac. Please see our planting and care sections at the top of this page. You may need to amend the soil with organic matter (compost or aged manure) to make it drain better. Lilacs can be planted in the spring or fall. See link below for some lilac varieties to grow in your region.

www.chicagobotanic.org/plantinfo/lilacs

 <span>Greg Thomas</span> Wed, 05/04/2016 - 14:00
I am a transplanted Michigander to the Ocala area of mid Florida. I'm missing my lilacs to the point that I am planning on visiting family in mid October and I'm going to return to Florida with a couple of Lilacs. I need your assistance on picking the shrubs with the most chance of thriving. What do you think?
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Wed, 05/04/2016 - 18:02

There's no point in bringing flowers that thrive in Michigan to Florida. They probably will not survive the heat and they need a winter.

Florida is not really lilac country, from what we have come to understand. However, there are some cultivars that tolerate condition in Alabama . . . and maybe they would grow for you. Look for S. x hyacinthiflora 'Betsy Ross' and 'Old Glory.'

Other alternatives —remember these may not be exactly like what grows in Michigan—could be cutleaf lilac and Syringa patula, aka Miss Kim and Manchurian lilac.

Google to find sources and other advice on them.

 <span>Alfadee</span> Tue, 05/03/2016 - 00:33
I live in Minnesota and was wondering if it is possible to grow Yankee Doodles and Sensation lilacs in 24" pots (25 gallons) buried in holes in the ground? My interest is to limit the growth to about 3-4 ft wide and limit the roots from spreading into the lawn. Would it be helpful to cut 6" diameter holes on the pot wall towards the bottom of the pot to allow for the roots to spread? Is this idea feasible at all? Thank you
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Tue, 05/03/2016 - 16:02

We have no experience in growing lilacs in buried pots but suspect that they will do fine. Just make sure that there are holes in the pot for drainage.

 

 

 <span>Natasha</span> Tue, 04/19/2016 - 16:15
I have 4 lilacs, they are over 8yrs old. I have barely been trimming them and this year I only have one really good lilac that has already produce a few blooms. The others look a little worn down. They only have like half of the leaves too. Do I wait until fall to cut them back or can I go aheafd and trim the branches that don't have any leaves??
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Wed, 04/20/2016 - 16:02

Ways to "bring back" your lilacs are not unlike getting them going. This is from the Planting tips, above, edited to suit your needs:

  • Grow lilacs in fertile, humus-rich, well-drained, neutral to alkaline soil (at a pH near 7.0). If your soil is in poor condition, add compost to enrich. DITTO for poor plants: Improve the soil, sprinkle with some lime to raise pH, if needed (check to see).
  • Select a site where your lilac will get full sun—at least 6 hours. If lilacs don’t get enough sun, they will not bloom well. DITTO for poor plants: have trees or buildings begun shading your lilac?
  • Make sure the site drains well. Lilacs don’t like wet feet and will not bloom with too much water. DITTO for poor plants. If you improve the soil (see first bullet here), also "wake it up" but raking/scratching it to loosen it and allow new additives to reach the roots.

This is from the Care tips above, edited:

  • Each spring, apply a layer of compost under the plant, followed by mulch to retain moisture and control weeds. HERE WE GO AGAIN! see above
  • Water during the summer if rainfall is less than 1 inch per week. ARE YOU DOING THIS?
  • Lilacs won’t bloom if they’re overfertilized. They can handle a handful of 10-10-10 in late winter, but no more. TOO LATE NOW FOR THAT BUT MAKE A NOTE.
  • 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. NOTE THIS ON YOUR CALENDAR, TOO.  Per the advice above, a little lime—note, a "sprinkle" now—will not harm the plants.

As for pruning, it's still early, still spring. See the advice above. (Yes, prune now.)