Good places to find/buy lilacs?

Hi! We are new to Dave's Garden and having a wonderful time reading the wealth of information available! What wonderful, knowledgeable people you are! I've noticed that there is great information on the best places to buy roses, hydrangeas, rhodys, etc....all of which we are taking careful note of(!)...but I have't found anything yet on lilacs.
My passion for lilacs started in my grandmother's garden and has grown through the years as any proper obsession should. We are lucky enough where we are to be able to grow both lilacs and crepe myrtles....crepe myrtles are easy to find here in Oklahoma...lilacs are pretty much limited to three or four varieties locally.
I'm sure that you good people have good experiences to share (or poor ones) that will give us some new venues to try. Thank you in advance, Jaymie

There is a tab above called PlantFiles. Click on that and do a search for lilacs. Often times an online supplier will appear for a plant you are interested in. From there go on over to the tab above that says Garden Watchdog and do a search for the vender and any comments about the nursery should appear that have been posted by other members.

I read everything about a nursery available in Garden WatchDog. I must admit that comments posted have stopped me dead in my tracks from placing orders... who needs the hassle. On the other hand, I've been turned on to some great online nurseries that I wasn't familiar with at all that had good solid reputations that I found only becauser they appeared at the top of listings within the PlantFiles for plants that I was interested in purchasing. Two way street.

Other than that, if you know which Lilacs you are interested in purchasing and care to list them, people will try to share with you where they have purchased them here in this thread.

Ooops, just realized you are new, big warm welcome to you. Glad you joined.

Welcome to DG! Another good way to check is to go to the Plant Scout tab. Finding a particular plant is exactly what it's for. You can check out the Garden WatchDog after you see what places have lilacs available. Hopefully someone will answer with exactly the experience you're looking for. In the meantime, we're glad you joined Dave's!

Here's a firm full of fine folks, and they sell some exceptional Syringa.

http://www.songsparrow.com/

http://www.songsparrow.com/2006new/plantlist.cfm?type=Woody%20Plants&startrow=176&pageType=plantlist

If you speak/email with them, they may even have some special things not listed.

Continued good growing with a fine genus.

Aha!! I knew if I asked the right question to the right people....... thank you so much! Obviously just didn't know which "buttons to push", but now I've had a lovely time looking around in the right places. The right map works wonders!!
Probably the ones I want most are to add whites and yellows to our plantings...but it becomes sheer folly to say "just" this or "just" that after looking at pictures and listings! Never did have any self control with a garden catalog in front of me!
Some people have warm fuzzy childhood memories triggered by the smell of baking cookies, etc. Mine? By having a grandmother who was a consummate gardner, could grow anything...in SW Oklahoma of all places...and always had a garden that was a fairyland to a small child. She started my family's lilac hedge with cuttings from her own, and I loved to cut great bowls-ful, put them in my room and revel in the scent! I still love to cut great lots of them and bring them inside to revel in them...and I am, ahem, no longer a child...by a LONG shot! Aren't we fortunate to be gardeners? !!!!
Thank you again, Jaymie

Strangely, Wal-Mart has common lilac for sale in thier garden center here. It's the kind in the plastic bags (like roses). Lilac is not even supposed to grow in my zone.

jayles:

Yours are the stories we all love to hear related. May your lilac collection grow as abundantly as each generation of your family, and may they all appreciate its current sweetness as well as its history.

Try something a little different ie. Cutleaf Lilac http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/55586/index.html

jayles Welcome to DG. You will love it here. Soooo much to do.......
I planted lilacs around our deck when we built it about ten years ago and you should see them now........ They are beautiful and bloom every spring and smell so good cut and placed in a big glass or vase. The foliage is attractive all summer too. I have common lilacs, hybrid french lilacs and Ludwig Spaeth(spelling is wrong!) lilacs that I bought from local name brand gardens centers. They were small, cheap, but grew each year to my delight! The first time they bloomed was exciting to me. You will love your lilacs I'm sure. There is so much variety out there to chose from. Old fashioned lilacs(common) smell great but I like the growth of my hybrids best and they smell good too.

cuckoo

This pendulous/weeping form (more often found under the name Syringa julianae 'Hers' in catalogues) is another way to enjoy this varied genus.

http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/77359

My favorite nurseries for mail order lilacs are Syringa Plus, and Select Plus International Nursey. Look at the Select Plus for sheer number of different lilacs. I absolutely love lilacs!

Syringa Plus was founded by and is still operated by Roger Coggeshall, the retired propagator for Arnold Arboretum. He is a true lilac guru, as is his business partner, Evie King.
You can reach them at:
lilacs@syringaplus.com
Guy S.

Wow! We had to be out of town for a couple of days....and had all these great messages and information when we got back! Thank you all so much!
Viburnum: What a sweet thought! If my granddaughter stays true to form, my grandmother's love of lilacs (and all the other things she grew) will pass intact to the fifth generation! Can't think of a better legacy to pass on to a child, can you?
Thanks also for the news on the weeping form...I've never heard of it, but I will know soon!
Growin: I'll be looking up the cut-leaf version also!
Thanks to all of you for your ideas and your good thoughts....I'm sure we'll have more questions as we go along.
Gardeners are the best!
Jaymie