Lilac Having Trouble Leafing Out

I have two lilacs, both fairly large and in containers. I am planning to plant both in the ground now that I moved and have some land to plant. One of my lilacs got flowers and leaves in May. The other lilac usually flowers and get leaves a little later, but it didn't do either this year. There is only one cluster of leaves on one of it's stems. I checked the other stems, and they don't seem to be dead as there is green tissue. It's possible that it got too dry and the stems are slowly dying? Should I trim off all the stems that are still bare with the hope that new stems will come up? Since I'll be planting them in the ground today or tommorrow, I can root prune if that is advisable. Here's the sickly one:

Here's the other one last May:

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

How much of a chill period did they get? Syringa need a winter chill to overcome winter dormancy and set buds, and that's why most of them are only noted to zone 7 or 8. Some species require a shorter period than others. Do you know what species they are?

I'm thinking that in your zone 10, they aren't getting either the dormant period or the winter chill?

Hi Joan,

Thanks for meeting me here and helping me. They get the winter chill that they need to overcome winter dormancy and flower in my area -- at least they have for the last six years that I have had them. They've flowered for the last five. I think the sickly one is 'Beauty of Moscow.' I'm not sure about the other. This is the first year that 'Beauty of Moscow' didn't flower and completely leaf out. I know that typically only the warm weather lilacs are supposed to grow here, but I've had success with these for some time up until now.

They might have gotten too dry last fall when they weren't dormant yet. We had some fierce wind and hot dry spells. It looks like a few leaves started to come out this spring, but they shriveled and dried up. Maybe one handled the dryness better than the other. I'm just wondering if I should cut the branches off that have no leaves or wait a bit longer.

Here it is in April of 2007.

I'm not sure whether you should trim off the branches with no leaves or not. Did they ever have leaves this year? If so, then I wouldn't trim them off until next year to see if they leaf out again or not. If they didn't have leaves at any time this year, then they are probably dead branches.

One thing with lilacs is that the only time you really should prune them is immediately after they flower. Next years blooms will appear on this years growth, so if you prune too late you may be cutting off next years blooms.

Not to be too much of a smart aleck, but...I don't see that pruning off "this year's growth" will be a problem for Clare_CA on those lilacs.

I wouldn't prune anything that still shows some greenness with a scratch test, but I would keep these plants evenly moist if you want any chance of them living. They very well could sprout new growth from latent buds at the base of the plant or from along the roots. Thus - DON'T ROOT PRUNE EITHER. It is almost never a good idea to reduce the root system of a plant that has suffered dieback of its stems/branches, or has been pruned severely. The plant needs roots to absorb water and nutrients to feed the growth of new stems, like a plant needs new leaves to photosynthesize to provide the necessary ingredients to regrow roots after digging/transplantation.

I believe the excess dryness you described has led to the current predicament. I, too, am amazed that common lilacs have survived (much less grown and flowered) for five years in zone 10.

Hi,
I would prune back to green wood, and cut the dead branches right to the trunk, this will hopefully encourage some growth. When you plant give them some bone meal, don't root prune. Lilacs don't like to be in wet soil, so just keep it moist and let it dry a little between waterings. For now I wouldn't worry about next years blooms, when pruning, just try and get it going. I hope this helps.

Thanks so much for your replies and help with my problem. The scratch test does reveal that the bare stems are still alive so I'll hold off on pruning for now. The large root system is very dry, and I agree that is the cause of my predicament. When I plant it today, I'll give it a good soaking with some water and Vitamin B1 to see if that helps. I'll be sure to report back my findings. I planted the other one yesterday in the ground so I think they'll be much happier than in containers.

I probably can't grow all lilacs here in Zone 10, and these lilacs go dormant probably more from dryness than cold. Everyone that sees them in bloom is surprised. LOL! Strangely enough, the warm-weather lilacs like Lavender Lady, California Rose, and Angel White seem more reluctant to bloom than these others.

Just to show you some pictures, this is 'Angel White' that took quite a few years to produce it's first bloom. I had to leave it behind when I moved.

I think this was the 'Lavender Lady':

This is the one that I'm trying to I.D. if anyone knows.

Here's a close-up.

Thanks again for the help:-)

Oh, almost forgot. Here's the formerly glorious and soon to be again 'Beauty of Moscow':

What area are you in ? I've seen lilacs at nurseries here with pitiful blooms on them, but I doubt they'd grow very well on the coast.

When I lived in California I had lilacs in San Jose (Zone 8) but not in Santa Barbara. (Tulips are pathetic there also - but roses are spectacular).

Of course there are always "microenvironments" where things can happen out-of- zone.

Good luck with your lilacs but I think you are 'living on the edge' to have them at all!

I do think I've been in a nice micro-environment -- at least at my last residence. I moved to a location about a mile away, but it is a little higher elevation and a little more inland. I'm in Camarillo in Ventura County. It gets down to about 35 here for brief periods in the early morning before the sun comes up in the winter, but it mostly stays in the 40's at night during the winter. Santa Barbara gets a little colder in the winter than we do and a little cooler in the summer. I know Descanso Gardens has lots of lilacs. I know I can't grow tulips, but roses are easy here. Maybe these lilacs that I've chosen are known to need less of a chill factor?

Well, one is planted in the ground, and the other one will be soon. I'll report back on my progress. Thanks again for your help.

I know there's a group of lilacs known as the Descanso hybrids which don't require as much winter chill to bloom. I don't remember the specific cultivar names for them though so I don't know if that's what yours are or not.

Hi Ecrane, the Descanso hybrids are the 'Angel White,' 'California Rose,' and 'Lavender Lady.' I have tried those, but my mystery one is a double flower that I bought from Forrest Farms years ago. I don't think I have the receipt anymore that shows what I ordered, but it would have been a highly fragrant one. I've searched for names of doubles that look similar, but none of them are ringing a bell. Whatever it is, I love it.

Well, I don't believe it. I just pulled out a folder of plant receipts and found the Forest Farm receipt. It says that I ordered Syringa x hyacinthiflora 'Blanche Sweet' and Syring vulgaris 'Krasavit Moskvy,' aka 'Beauty of Moscow.' I also ordered Syring vulgaris 'Little Boy Blue,' but I think I lost that one during a transplant long ago. I didn't think my mystery one was 'Blanche Sweet' because I thought 'Blanche Sweet' was a single flower.

I just did a Google Search, and 'Blanche Sweet' is indeed a single so I was sent something else. It does look close to one called Syringa x hyacinthiflora 'Annabel,' but it's probably difficult to identify a cultivar from a picture with any certainty.

And now for the rest of the story...I found the problem with my lilac yesterday when I went to put it in the ground. I found that the lower half of the root ball had rotted. The bottom of the container was very wet, and there was a smell of bacteria. It seems that, without leaves, the water that I had been giving it was just causing the rootball to rot. I should have known better. Now that it's in the ground with fresh well-draining soil, I think it will come back.

Good Luck to you, Clare_CA. I think in my area we take lilacs for granted, they're everywhere!!

Reading how someone is trying so hard to save one made me stop for a minute and think about all the lilacs here in Buffalo and the surrounding area. They literally grow like trees here.

Good Luck with that Lilac, Clare _Ca.

smileymom: I grew up in the north and lilacs, juneberries (amelanchier), and spring time tulips were habingers of the seasons -- along with fall colors. None of these do well in the South. There are dogwoods, sweetshrubs, the ceanothus in Santa Barbara and of course the Magnolia Grandifloras in the South. Every place has its specialties.

Thanks, Smileymom and Gloria. I too take stuff for granted that is everywhere like Hibiscus and Bird of Paradise. I think you can probably grow anything anywhere as long as you manufacture the right conditions if they don't exist naturally. There just isn't anything that smells quite like a lilac other than lilacs so they get a place in my garden. I so appreciate everyone's help in helping me save a tree that is important to me:-)

aaah... hibiscus, magnolias, and oh, to be able to grow gardenias!

But no lilacs, or tulips, or delphiniums, or lupins, or ...... .

Or apples!

This message was edited Jul 22, 2009 6:20 PM

Smiley, I bet you can do gardenias in containers pretty easily. I had mine in a container for a long time before planting it.

Gloria, I have two apple trees, and they do quite well here. I have a Ultra Dwarf Fuji Apple and a Ultra Dwarf Golden Delicious Apple. Maybe these are low chill-type apples. Lilacs do well here too in the right environment. It turns out my lilac's problems stemmed from sitting in wet soil rather than other environmental issues. Lilacs bloom here about the same time as the wisterias.

They are beautiful with an unforgettable fragrance.