Lilacs in Florida???

Has anyone tried to grow Syringa Vulgaris - Lavendar Lady or Blue Skies 'Monore' in Florida? I have a catalog that says they will grow "lavishly in warm climates because cold winters are not needed to stimulate production" Even though we have Crape Myrtles, they have no fragrance, their only down side.
Let me know!

Well I adore lilacs, but according to http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/67662/index.html we are still too warm.
Also CATALOGS LIE. They will tell us things to get us to buy.
Check the vendor in the Garden Watchdog.
sidney

What Sidney said: I have never seen lilacs here. Nor Forsythia, which I miss.

I don't think it will work. I wish more nurseries/breeders would extend the definition of "hardiness" to come up with varieties that can stand our heat.

Mary

True. I have taken to finding nurseries that are based in Florida. That seems to be my only guarantee that what they sell will grow here. Florida Gardening just doesnt fit in with the rest of the South. There are sooo many books that look like they would be good, until I notice that it was written by someone in GA or the Carolinas. We need more Florida specific resources!

Thanks for asking the question, AnaM. I've seen the same note on some of the lilacs offered in catalogs and wanted to try them, but it seemed too good to be true, so I never took the chance. The Zone guides seldom take into account our ever present high humidity. The borderline of Zone 8b/9a seems to run right through my yard on the hardiness maps. I find some of the plants rated for 8b can't stand the hot, humid summers and some rated for 9a freeze to death in the winters. But I think the main thing the Zone definitions don't seem to consider is the ambient humidity and the amount of rainfall. A lot of plants rot here that might grow in a dryer climate in a Zone with the same temperature range.

Jeremy

Having grown up in the north, I remember our house surrounded by Lilacs and peonies and when I moved to Fl I thought I would be able to have those plants around me - WRONG! I've experimented with a couple of different types of Lilacs and peonies that say hardy to Zone 8 - some that have even stated hardy in Zone 9 and just wasted my money.

Juja,

I also remember growing up with lilacs and absolutely love the fragrance and beauty of them.

30 years of being deprived of lilacs, I just this spring discovered Wisteria. I know there is a lot of wild as well as tame wisteria up in your area and I was thrilled in May when my DB and DSIL honored me with a Chinese Evergreen Wisteria. This one has been blooming all summer and also has that wonderful fragrance.

You might could get you "fix" by growing these.

Molly
:^)))

Molly,

Arent they considered invasive here in FL? And, do you mean that wisteria smells like lilacs?

My mom lives in NY and every spring she tells me of how lovely her lilacs are growing and how heavenly the scent. My own memories are of going to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens when I was a child and I will never forget the scent. Especially how the different colors had slight variations. MMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmm So, even if they might be invasive, I am sure I could prune the living daylights out of a wisteria if it means getting back that scent that haunts my memories!

Juja,
I try some plants that say Zone 9 but like Jeremy said, they just dont seem to take into account our high heat and humidity. The poor things seem to melt away in no time. I am in a pickle of a zone - too cool for many true tropicals and too warm for many others.

I am having such a hard time finding plants that are specific to Florida and/or our climate. That is why I wish we had more comprehensive resources: catalogs, books, etc for Florida - maybe divided by zone, Northern, Central, Southern.

One day...

Ana

Ana,

The wisteria that grow wild here, or rather up in your areas are invasive. Take a trip down to Apenberrys in the Orlando area. They carry the Chinese Evergreen wisteria there. The fragrance is very much like the lilacs.

While you are there at that nursery, you will find a gazillion plants that will grow in your area and they are all stunning. http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/531646/

They talk about that place here. Apenberrys does have a website, I just can't put my hands on it just now.

Molly

Ana - I seem to have a very bad case of Zone Denial - I am guilty of trying to grow tropicals in pots and carrying them into my house or greenhouse for the winter - I know eventually I will not be able to do this - but...
I've experimented thru the years and have found alot of beautiful plants - some native and some not that have taken to Florida's challenging weather - what is your yard like - Full sun or shade or both. Do you want flowers or just different types of foliage?

Juja,
I am really interested in flowers that have fragrance. I like nothing more than being able to sit on the patio and take a nice deep breath of naturally perfumed air from the fruits of my labor. I usually have a west to east breeze and occasionally the other way. The only time we get a northern or southern breeze is if a storm/hurricane is coming. :(

As for the yard, it usually gets full sun. I have on the east that gets sun from mid day to sunset (neighbors viburnum hedge), the south side gets part shade from a willow tree (not too big and definately not full, more like dappled shade) and that moves with the sun, the west side gets full sun all day (neighbor has no fence) and the north side gets some shade in summer when the sun is on the other side of the house, but in winter, gets full sun. I hope all that makes sense... I should probably post some pictures to make it more clear...

I already have some bushes, but they are either young or just unscented flowers - crape myrtle, ixora, pretty but dont smell... I tried the zone denial thing, too but the weather never got cold enough for long enough. I love daffodils and tulips, lilacs and hostas, apple trees and cherry trees. Sigh, I guess I will just have to continue to visit my family in New York and pray I dont get stuck in a late spring snow storm!

Perhaps, rather than attempting to duplicate northern gardens, you might consider familiarizing yourself with more southern aromatics. You'll find a lot of nice substitutes with similar fragrances without having to push zones or travel to NY. For example...

Have you considered tea olives? (http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/1450/index.html - osmanthus fragrans) It's an evergreen shrub/tree with bitty white flowers that bloom usally late fall through early spring. In my yard, it's one of the few things blooming and smelling yummy in the winter. Part sun-full sun, they can take the summer heat and are virtually bullet-proof. I keep one in a pot (until I decide where it's final spot will be) and ignore it except for watering when it hasn't rained. They're really pretty drought tolerant. I've seen trees 10-15' tall in people's yards.

For spring aroma, I have confederate jasmine (http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/55230/index.html - Trachelospermum jasminoides), which also is evergreen and hides the ugly chain-link fence near the neighbor's yard.

And in late spring, there's always gardenia... ;>) In fact, if you are planning to come to the North Central Florida Roundup in Lake City, I will be bringing about a half dozen dwarf gardenias and you will be more than welcome to one. (They only get about 3' tall, but bloom like the big shrubs and smell just as nice.)

There's also honeysuckle for summer aroma, if you have a place where you don't mind a vine taking over compeletely.

And the ever-ubiquitious fine Southern Magnolia makes the whole block smell great! (If you've got room).

Night-blooming jasmine (cestrum nocturnum) smells wonderful at night! It isn't very cold hardy, but if you have a place to bring it in to overwinter....

and don't forget mirabilis jalapa. i don't think i ever want to go more than a month without smelling that wonderful fragrance in the evening. here in florida we are priviledged with smells! murraya paniculata is another one, flushes of bloom all year long and the smell is heaven. debi

Wow! I guess I didnt mention it - I have a Tea Olive, on one side of my patio to take advantage of the breeze. I just cut back using a machete (ok pruning shears) my honeysuckle because it did take over a whole corner. And, I just bought a Little Gem magnolia. It is about 3' tall now, but it should grow about 20' - 30'.

And I have given up on duplicating a northern garden a few years ago when they all melted over the summer. Now I have moved to tropicals and subtropicals.

But there will always be one plant that is near and dear that you just would love to have. Mine is a lilac. Maybe I could plant a lilac colored Crape Myrtle and spray lilac oil on it??? LOL

Mmmmmm, 4 O'Clocks sound cool, too...

Now, I love that idea with the Crape Myrtles... ;>)

BTW, I have tons of 4 O'Clocks and have been collecting seeds all summer. Yellow and sort of Magenta flowers on the same plants. Want some? I call 'em 7:30s because that's about the time they open at my place... just after the day's mexican petunia blossoms fall off. You'd think I planned it that way! ;>)

Sure! Thank you! Let me know what I need to do... And you have to get creative gardening here. If the cold dont get em, the heat will...

Yep, I only just discovered 2 weeks ago that 4 o'clocks have a lovely fragrance.

Molly
:^)))

When I moved to Citrus county I attended a gardening seminar at the Wildlife State Park in Homosassa. The lady that conducted the class started by welcoming us to Florida...then said "If you love and miss your Liliacs....go back home".

LizH sent me some Lilac's from her DH's grandfathers old home place...I have managed to keep them alive for about 4 years now...no blooms yet though! Jo

I just found this thread...I think it either needs to keep going, or one needs to be started for all "transplants" from other states who are trying grow out of zome plants....some work, some don't, and some work mysteriously if you alter their growing methods (like me growing hostas here in Orlando in only water, no soil)
Sure sure, we all have our zones, but I love finding out who has pushed that darn zone barrier just a bit, and gotten some things to grow despite the circumstances.
I finally resolved myself to really truly enjoy the tropical things that only grow here in Florida, that the rest of the states envy, and run with it. But every now and then...sigh...I miss daffodils....
:)
MerryMary

I usually try to push the Zone from plants that are rated for more tropical climes to my Zone 8b/9a garden and provide some winter protection. I have a Petra volubilis (so called Tropical Wisteria though it is not at all related to wisteria) native to Costa Rica that survives the winters apparently because I planted against my Podocarpus hedges and they provide protection from the winter's winds. On a really frigid night, I can drape some plastic over it. It bloomed for me the first time last Spring.

Going in the opposite direction for colder clime plants in our sub-tropics, I've tried to naturalize some Spring bulbs - mostly paperwhite narcissus which do bloom here annually when well established. My paperwhites grow splendid, healthy foliage each year (now is their current peak for growth), but out of the 400 bulbs I planted, I currently only get about 4 flower spikes! Hopefully, they will someday give me the December field of fragrant paperwhites I hold in my imagination. I've also found that the miniature yellow daffodill, Tete-Et-Tete will return from year to year and bloom even more dependably than the paperwhite narcissus. I've not found any tulips that can survive our hot, wet summers. They will bloom the first Spring after Fall planting, but then seem to rot in the ground.

I experimented this past season with some native plants from my home state of West Virginia: Bloodroot, Black Cohosh, and a few others (purchased on eBay from a supplier who promised they are cultivated from root stock and not taken from the wild). It will be interesting to see if they will come up this Spring.

Jeremy