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.
http://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...
http://trgovina.vrtnar.si/images/grmovn ... 418815.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.

http://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.