I would try to get them to take 'em back, especially if they knew your address and sent plants inappropriate for your zone. Alternatively, do you have a friend/family in a colder zone you could give them to?

I would check with local nurseries or public gardens to see what lilacs work in your area; they can have a really hard time in hot, humid summers. Hope it works out, we've all made mistakes in ordering the wrong plant/from the wrong company, don't let it discourage you!

Jim

Jim

some of them do o.k. in north alabama, zone 7, but most of them will not grow well for you in zone 8b. i have tried several of the "heat-tolerant" ones without success in the east-central part of the state. i read an article by steve bender a few months ago in southern living magazine where he listed 3 new (hybrids?) that had tested well in their gardens. i want to say 'blue skies' was one but not sure. maybe you could research those back issues and find the ones he recommends.
personally, i think i won't try one again.

That's what I was afraid of. :( Oh well. My folks live in Ohio and are coming to visit in August. If I can manage to keep the plants alive that long, I will send them home with them. Bummer for me, but I'm sure my mom will be thrilled!

Here in California we have Descanso hybrid lilacs bred to bloom despite lack of winter chill. They were developed at the Descanso Garden in southern California.

I don't know how they would do in a warm, humid climate; we have a warm, dry climate. Descanso hybrids include Lavender Lady, Angel White, California Rose, Chiffon, Dark Night, and Sylvan Beauty. If you want to try again, it may be that one of these would work for you.

Rosefolly

sweethomealabama,

I recommend that you try Lavender Lady. I am in a zone 8a, north georgia; so I know my climate should be very similar to yours. I bought her last fall, and didn't get a chance to plant her in the ground. So I put her in a larger pot, and when the spring came and she started to bud out, I put her in the ground.

A few weeks later around April 10th, I got my first flowers. I was ecstatic because I had never smelled a real lilac before.

Any way, the same year that I bought Lavender Lady in the fall -- I had purchased an old french lilac at walmart in May that is not supposed to grow where I live-- it was supposed to be hardy to zone 7 (according to the books). However, I figured that they were selling it for a reason, so I gave it a try.

To make a long story short, It grew very well even though we had horrendous weather in 2007-- (EXTREME heat and drought). In August the leaves looked terrible, and when the fall came it went dormant almost immediately.

The next spring (2008), it woke up around the end of march/beginning of April; and rather then sending out leaves first, it quickly send out tiny dark purple cone-like clusters. These were the flowers, and they opened shortly after my Lavender Lady blooms had begun to mature.

So the zone-pusher did bloom, although right after it bloomed it declined quickly and never returned to normal. I can say that the scent of the old French lilac, 'Belle de Nancy', had a much more delicate, beautiful perfume than lavender lady. This fall I planted Blue Skies, from Wayside Gardens, which I think they say is hardy to zone 9. We'll see how that turns out.

I wonder if putting a big block of ice near the root zone during the hottest days of the year would help? Just my 2 cents.

FWIW, I have a white lilac that did terrible this year, it's been established for at least 4 years, and it didn't like the drought we've been having. I did throw some water on it to keep it alive, but it went dormant asap this fall, like most of the trees around here did.

I am in coastal southern California (zone 10) and have a lilac growing with minimal care. The important thing is that it is planted in a spot that receives some morning sun, and then for the rest of the day is shaded except for a sliver of time between 1-2:00 where it receives full sun. Too much direct sun, especially in the afternoon, would dry out and bake the plant's leaves in this climate. Last year I consistently gave it water during the summer and it bloomed abundantly. I'm not sure what variety Lilac I planted, but I think it's 'Monore'.

Keep in mind my climate still has a coastal influence, I think it's important that there not be any exceptionally warm days during Winter for the plant to get its adequate chill in this climate zone, so this may not necessarily work for more inland areas, or places with higher average Winter temperatures than we have (even if you are also in zone 10, the zone classification is not based on average temperatures but rather minimum temperatures)

The leaves of the Lilac got scorched in late Summer, but that's only because it's so dry and hot here that time of year. Then it started leafing out again in October.