Your lilac is still young and is probably still adjusting to its new area and microclimate. I have had mine keep buds for awhile before opening - if anything because it might have suddenly gotten cool and they slowed down. Alternately, if there's a long warm spell, they will open quite readily.

Mine are also in suspended animation...I think it was the early heat then cooler weather. The good news is that they will probably last longer. Some varieties go later too, like the double flowered, mine are always a few weeks later than the single. Jenny maybe you can answer this question...I have been taking suckers from my Beauty of Moscow lilac, and while the transplants are growing and healthy, they have no blooms. They are only 1-2 years old, and the tallest is maybe 4 feet tall, and only 2 branches wide, while I swear the parent plant is about 15 feet tall. Will they bloom when they get bigger? My cutting from Miss Kim got blooms when it was only 12 inches high.

Here is a link that might be useful:

My lilac bush is doing the lame thing. Everyone else in the neighborhood has blooms but mine don't look like they are even ready to pop. I realy think mine are even looking worse as the days go by. I was wondering if I should give it some rose food to give it a bloom boost.

Some lilacs bloom later than others--Miss Kim, for example. Mine are still heavily budded but not blooming, same as last year.

wangshan - those are beautiful lilacs!!!! Yes, it may take some time but your little babies should bloom one day. Sometimes they end up blooming earlier than if you tried starting a plant from seed.

All of you in the MW have been under the influence of some chilly weather lately and I think a few days of warm will pop the buds - and if not that, they will gradually open and you'll actually have a longer bloom period out of them. My Miss Kim came out all at once last week, literally overnight, for the first time since I've had her (about 7 years). Usually she's slow to open flowers, with one or two fully opening a day. But we had a bunch of very sunny dry days in the upper 70° Fs and that popped her fully open in a day. Since both of my lilacs are permanently in containers and not in full sun, they have come out a bit later than the ones in the ground. But even then, my Miss Kim is at least a week ahead of her usual bloom schedule due to the mild winter and no late frosts. My James McFarlane hasn't fully opened buds yet, although I noticed 1 panicle opening now.

Wow that wafting fragrance is great though!!!!