Any Luck with Lilacs in Zone 7 or 8?

[Toms92gp]

Have any luck growing Lilacs? My mom had one planted and it got to be about 5 ft and about 6 years old and died, but she had it planted on the sw corner of the house, probably not best for a cooler climate plant. I was thinking about trying one on the ne corner of my house. Any varieties that are more heat tolerant?

[Jess]

No problem with them growing here and we are a lot warmer than you (zone 8/9ish)
They are prone to quite a few diseases.
https://web1.msue.msu.edu/imp/modzz/00001425.html
Perhaps your mums plant fell prey to one of those. Try growing a non-suckering form and make sure your soil is good and healthy before you plant. I see no reason why you couldn't grow one.

[Toms92gp]

Actually that I think about it, the one at my moms was close to the drip line of the roof in clay soil, it may have drowned. My yard used to be a cow field then a hay field so its pretty good soil for the most part, I'm going to buy a couple to plant in early spring and give them a try.

[Jess]

Wonderful! I love lilacs.
The prettiest if you can find it is this one...
https://trgovina.vrtnar.si/images/grmovnice/4003479418815.jpg
So floriferous and no suckers to deal with. It is called Syringa meyeri 'Palibin'.

[hendi_alex]

Found this comment at rabbitrunnursery:

Lilacs generally grow in zone 3-7 however testing and breeding is being done to grow lilacs in warmer climates. We offer a few plants that can be grown successfully in zone 8. S. oblata 'Betsy Ross' is an early white, S. x h. 'Assessippi', an early fragrant lilac. S. dilatata 'Cheyanne', a low growing early blue. 'Red Pixie', a dwarf dark pink, and 'Miss Canada', a late blooming compact pink also are reported to do well in zone 8.

https://www.rabbitrunnursery.com/lilacs.htm

[KLParmley]

hello Toms92gp,

Wondering if you got lilacs planted this year. I put a couple off my back deck when I moved into this house 4 years ago and they are still going at it. They are 'common purple" lilacs, which I love the best. The drought last year abused them a little, but I still got some blooms this spring.

[bali]

Arent lilacs Cold weather plants?
Therefore the southern temperatures would not be good for them.

[KLParmley]

I guess it depends on where in the South. My great-grandmother's house in middle TN had a HUGE white lilac bush that covered th entire side when the house was sold in the 1980s.

A house I rented in Burlington, NC had one growing, an blooming, in the back yard, too.

How much blooms we get may depend on the winter we get, though.

[bali]

Thats possible too.. Arent there mountains there also , different elevations?

Just like Pennsylvania .....I am in western and we gets lousy snow an ice, where eastern pennsylvania gets almost nothing.......

So they are elevated differently too.

[KLParmley]

Exactly.

Nashville and Burlington are both in the flatlands, on opposite sides of the Smokies, outside of the piedmont.

Some years I have had more blooms than others. I haven't paid a lot of attention to the weather in those winters.

It has been pretty cold this Fall. I'll remember to report in next Spring.

[bali]

Sure it is fun to watch the plants else where.
I have plants an seeds from many states, joy to see different stuff.

Do you grow watermelon there ?

[KLParmley]

We can grow them here. I haven't yet.

We are plotting and scheming a vegetable garden next spring.

[bali]

That will be a good scheme.......

I know folks tell us how nice they grow down there.
I cant even grow a decent cantalope here.
Even pumpkins give me problems??????????

[i40and75]

At least a couple of friends have the Betsy Ross varietal and a local nursery has recommended it for my area (Knoxville). Zone 7 is at the southern boundary for common lilac. Note that lilac is one of the calibration species for the USA National Phenology Network, and my area is about as far south as the folks there are generally seeing lilacs. They need a number of sub-freezing days to have good flowering, as I understand matters.

[bali]

Your probably right .

Cold weather plant.

It was 64 º here in Pennsylvania today, and broke the record.. One time it was 62º.........Sure didn't make us mad.

[Caluna]

There are lilacs that do bloom up to zone 9.
You would want to be looking for hyacinthiflora, oblata, and reblooming lilacs.
There is a company in Canada that does mail order and have over 500 varieties and I have gotten great service from Select Plus Nursery. Look in their 'early lilacs' section.

Hope this helps!

https://www.selectpluslilacs.com/

[bali]

I purchased Joses last year .. They did bloom pink.

b

[ZoSoDragon]

I tried growing a persian lilac last year, supposedly they grow well on the Southeastern coast. In fact, garden centers here will only carry that one and the 'Miss Kim' lilac.


Anyway, after I planted it, we had a rainy spell for about 2 weeks straight. A few weeks later I noticed little spots all over the leaves...my poor lilac got leaf blight I don't know if it was because of the rain, or if it had the virus already...I ended up pulling it up this spring because it was so infected.

I'm so tempted to try the 'Miss Kim' variety, but am worried I will waste more money. I just really want a lilac...maybe if I plant it in a different spot it will do better? I don't know.

I'm from Canada, and we can grow great big lilac trees...I miss them.

[bali]

Wish I could answer that one ... Blight happens to our cucumbers in my veggies .......After a rainy spell then sun comes out .. fungus or something.

I don't have the answer.. But yes Lilac grows like a charm in zone 5 here also.

Planted little Josie ones last year and they are coming back already.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Lilac blight is bacterial, not fungal, so rain shouldn't be a causal factor... any apple orchards nearby? Some are using the lilac blight as bacterial counterculture to apple scab and such...bless them...

ZOSO, what zone are you? You should be able to do tree lilacs if you are still Zone 7...

HG

[tunia923]

In Southern California, we have a place called Descanso Gardens which have varieties of lilacs that do well in this temperate climate. We don't usually have the heat and humidity that some southern areas get, but these lilacs will bloom and thrive without the winter chill that some require.
If that helps...

[GeorgiaGirl]

Good news for my fellow Southerners -- there's a new cultivar called 'Tiny Dancer' that grows to about 5' tall, that was specifically bred for our hotter climate. Supposedly it does better here than 'Miss Kim,' which has thrived for my neighbor for 4 years now.

I bought one a couple of months ago and it bloomed BEAUTIFULLY, and so far seems to be hanging in there just fine even though we've had spells of unseasonably hot weather already. We'll see how she holds up this summer. I haven't been able to find any info online about this cultivar... I bought it at Pike Nursery, if you have one where you are.

[SewBusy]

I bought "Old Fashioned Lilac" from Gurneys.com. This summer will be its third here in Charlotte, NC. Its not growing terribly fast and it had one bloom last summer. Still a pretty little thing and its still alive and that is all that matters!

[Caluna]

The vulgaris lilacs are good up to zone 7.

There are two families that do very well up to zone 9. These two families are the hyacinthiflora and oblata family. These both flower every year and have red leaves in the fall.