Lilacs in December??

Iola, WI

I sure looks like it!

My neighbor told me yesterday her lilacs looked like they were going to go into bloom. We had some cold weather earlier this fall, but now we've enjoyed a few weeks in the fifties & sixties with no freezing at night.

The question is: How will this affect the shrub?? After all, these were the buds that were supposed to come next spring. No flowers next spring? Dead tree??

TIA
Sue

I wouldn't worry Sue as nature does strange things and pretty well takes care of itself' It's been a weather yo yo for many of our zones,my lilies are up as well as many other bulbs now' The poor geese are wearing themselves out going back and forth here too,lol' All I can say is que sera sera(whatever will be will be)Good luck to your neighbor and Merry Christmas' Sis'

Iola, WI

Thanks Sis! That's what I thought, then someone brought up the idea of the tree spending too much energy on blooms & not enough on root development. I told them I knew people that would steer us in the right direction. You have!

Great Holidays to you & yours,
Sue

Murfreesboro, TN(Zone 7a)

Sue, it might mean fewer (or no) blooms depending on how much the buds swell before you get some "normal" temps. But long-term, the shrub will be fine.

Cedar Key, FL(Zone 9a)

On the local news here ,they said that the plants that are trying to come out of their dormancy will be fine as long as we get gradual cold weather.They said if we get a sudden deep cold(-0) then the buds would probably be damaged and not bloom well or not at all in the spring ,but the plant will survive.Luckily,our weather has been getting gradually colder,but no deep freeze yet.

We all could have had a wonderful fall garden,eh? Hindsight,lol'

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