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Hi, I have 2 lilacs on my yard within 20 feet of each other. Both produced blossoms this year, but while the one is now blooming beautifully the other plant's flowers have shrivelled up and died. In other ways the plant seems healthy, and the leaves are opening up. Any idea why the flowers didn't bloom?

Not quite following, you said they both produced blossoms. You mean the one made flower buds, but the buds never opened up?

Any conditions different between the two trees? Are they the same age?

The plant that is struggling is a lilac tree that was given to me. I assume it was pruned to be a tree. The flower blossoms shrivelled up rather than opening. There are a couple of blossoms that might still open. I thought the leaves would be OK, but there are shrivelling up as well. The plant looks to be drying up starting from the tips of the branches. I have studied the plant for bugs and have looked at the dying leaves but nothing visible is attacking it.

My second lilac is a bush, and yes I received them at the same time. they are about 20 years old.

Wow, 20 year old plants. They should be very well established and thus very sturdy. Usually older lilacs like that don't get bothered by very much. They are prone to powdery mildew, but in established lilacs, that is mainly a cosmetic issue and doesn't really damage the shrub. By the end of the season the powdery mildew can lead to leaf curling, but in my experience, it does not show up early enough to ever bother the flower. And you can see the grayish powdery marking on the leaves and then they start browning a bit when they curl.

Are the shrivelling leaves browning at all? You said it looks like it is drying out. What makes you think it is drying? A picture might help at this point.

I can really only think of a couple possibilities. Perhaps for some reason it actually is drying. That would mean something happened to the soil/ drainage to keep water away from it, or something happened to the roots, so they aren't uptaking enough water. You could check this possibility by putting a hose on slow trickle next to it and just leave it for 24 hrs, see if this perks it up any.

The other possibility would be some kind of wilt/ disease. Do the curled leaves have any black or brown spots? Is it dropping any leaves?

Hi, I just went out to check my lilac again, with the way the sun was shining on it I noticed fine spider webs. I have now sprayed it for spider mites, hope this will work. There are new leaves about to bud, so maybe I have saved it...I will keep you updated. Thanks for your help.

Well, I wasn't really any help. But thanks for coming back to let us know. A lot of times people don't bother to do that, once they have an answer, either from us or on their own. So there are all these unfinished stories sitting around here. Let us know if the treatment worked and your tree does better.