Chinese Lilac
Syringa x chinensis

Northerners often lament that they don’t have much to brag about in the way of plants that grow better in the North than they do for their southern counterparts. Well, there is at least one such beauty whose story needs to be told. Lilacs are one of the most ubiquitous shrubs of northern landscapes, and yet so few northern gardeners realize that lilacs actually perform best in the North, and are often a dismal failure in hot southern climates, as they require the winter’s cold to properly set their flower buds. Now you know!

Chinese lilac is a hybrid shrub which combines the best features of a number of parents including the common lilac and Persian lilac. It is valued in the landscape for its very fragrant rich lilac-pink flowers in mid-spring which hang in loose panicles, giving the overall plant a graceful appearance. This will grow to be a large rounded shrub of 8-10 feet, and is suitable for use at the back of a border or as tall screening.

This shrub has some distinct advantages over the common and French hybrid lilacs. It maintains a better rounded form with branching and foliage to the ground, and it does not sucker. It’s narrow leaves are also held more densely. Because of these attributes, it makes an ideal trimmed hedge. However, prune only after flowering, as it sets the next season’s flower buds during the summer. Like all lilacs, it tolerates a variety of soils, and tends to prefer drier conditions, so don’t plant it in standing water.

A couple of cultivars are available and provide different colors than the original cross. These can be found in the Landscape Plant Search;

Saugeana – reddish pink flowers
Alba – white flowers