Try afternoon shade and a lot of lime.

There's an article on lilacs in a recent magazine. Once again it states that Miss Kim is the lilac for the South.

GGG

I picked up a discount rack Miss Kim from Lowe's late last summer. As with most of last year's purchases, I didn't think it survived the drought but I saw some new growth a few days ago. Hopefully the cold didn't hurt it too badly. I'm new to growing it so I can't really give you any reviews yet.

Danielle

I've got some unidentified baby lilacs that survived the summer and the drought here. They come from Tennessee, but I wasn't sure whether they'd survive or not. I'd even go so far as to say that they're thriving!

Wish I knew the variety.

I have grown Cutleaf Lilac (Syringa x laciniata) for about 25 years and it has survived many misfortunes and still manages to bloom each year, although the flowers aren't
particularly fragrant.

In addition to the the well known 'Miss Kim' & 'Blue Skies',
there are several hybrid cultivars developed at the Descanso Arboretum (near Los Angeles) that require fewer winter chill hours to produce flowers and are relatively free of diseases & pests, such as powdery mildew and borers.
'Angel White'. 'California Rose', 'Blue Boy', 'Lavender Lady'. 'Dark Night', 'Sylvan Beauty', 'Chiffon' & 'FK Smith'
Monrovia Nurseries sells some of them and your local nursery may stock them.

Some say that Lilacs need afternoon shade in the South, but I haven't found that to be necessary.
Choose a sunny location, in neutral to slightly alkaline soil(use Lime if necessary) and supply sufficient moisture for a couple of years, until established, after that, they are moderately drought tolerant. Plant 5-6 ft. apart to allow for growth and good air circulation. If pruning is necessary, do so very soon after blooms fade, as they bloom on old wood. Removing spent blooms can increase flower bud set for following year. Fertilize sparingly, low Nitrogen(N) content is recommended.
Plant 2-3" deeper(no more!) than soil level in the pot or B&B and apply mulch ( straw, leaves, bark, pine needles, etc.).
Since you are not suffering water woes under the present draconian measures applied to your northern neighbors, now would be a good time to plant. :Rb

I have one lilac that was already here when we bought this house, so I don't know the variety. But it had ONE bloom on it last spring, and that one bloom perfumed our entire back yard! I appreciate the info about Miss Kim liking our climate, so will definitely try to find one.

It's a really boring lilac though. It's s. patula and the pretty lilacs are the french hybrid selections from Syringa vulgaris.

Anyway, it's regularly carried at all the box stores.

Anyway, it's regularly carried at all the box stores.

Yes, catering to all the transplanted northerners that miss theirs (understandably so!).

I can't really tell entirely without crumbling them but it does look like the freeze the other night got the buds on my Miss Kim. I hope not though!

I planted 5 lilacs a few years ago. This spring one is finally blooming! I'm so excited. It's in almost full sun, so I think the bloom factor depends on how much cold weather we get over the winter. This winter we had regular cold days.

I also think they take a few years to get going, so you'll have to be patient.

It's not Miss Kim. The collection I bought had:

Lavendar Lady
Ludwig Spaeth
Nadezhda
Primrose
Lilac sensation

I'm not sure which one is blooming, but it's either Lavendar Lady or Ludwig Spaeth because the blooms are lavendar.

wow, 5 years til blooms? I dont know if I'd have the patience for that....and the possibility exists that the home we are in now, is not our "permanent" home, we are still considering building a home.

so, I guess I'll just have to keep dreaming and wait...OR, maybe if I got one I could put it in a big container and that way I could take it with me?

What is it about the lilac that you particularly want? The color? The fragrance? To grow a shrub that does not thrive in your zone to prove it can be done? They struggle in Atlanta. I noticed nobody from middle Georgia responded.

My father's fav flowers were lilacs. We lived near Rome, GA. When I moved just south of Atlanta, I took sprouts of the old, huge lilacs at home. The shrubs lived, they even grew. Each winter I went out and scrutinized the branches for signs of buds forming. Through a couple of decades, there were usually a few bud clusters. Maybe one would make it to open a few florets IF the winter was cold enough and spring was late enough. Eighty miles made a lot of difference in climate. We didn't successfully grow many Indica azaleas where the lilacs grew well, either.

I've moved on, literally and figuratively. These days I delight in what grows lush and green and has abundant blossoms, still remembering fondly the lilacs of another time. I long for peonies, too, and remember how wonderful a big bouquet on the dining room table smelled on Memorial Day.
Nell

Nell,
I suppose that what I would want is the fragrance, the color too, the ability to cut them and put them inside...I have not been around lilacs for many many years...this past may we went on a cruise to alaska with a stop over in Victoria, Vancouver Island...and we came across a very quaint street and a darling home with one in front, in full bloom, as I approaced (from a half block away, I could smell the fragerance, but didn't see the bush....

It was just a heavenly smell...and yes, it did bring back childhood memories...same with the peonies...my grandma had them both in abundance...

I did find a peonie that I planted and it's coming up..I will only hope that it will survive here...

This is the house I saw....doesnt' that make you drool?

Oh My. I can imagine the scent!

I didn't notice you are in mid-Georgia. It will be a bit more difficult. But try some of the ones that are good to zone 8. Maybe it will not take too long for you if you get good sized speicimens to start out with.

(PS, Southerners will never understand what it is about Northerners and lilacs).

We tend to find comfort in things that are 'like home.'

You can apporximate the effect with plants that will grow here. Vitex makes a nice small tree with boo'ful flowers that attract butterflies. There are some lavender crape myrtles that are pretty for summer (I have some ancient ones called 'Lilicina'). There are an abundance of lilac-colored azaleas blooming now.

You can't reproduce the fragrance, though. Not even with 'lilac water.'

Off-topic, I ran across your GH photos on the GH forum. It's shaping up beautifully. The pergola is going to be a crowning touch. I was lucky to get the greenhouse, much less decors. The other day I opened the doors when the wind was high and a panel blew out! I saw it, found all the clips, put it back quickly and closed the doors, LOL.
Nell

There is no lilacs where I grew up however I falled in love with them when I was student in Russia for 7 years. I remember the fragrant and beautiful color of lilac in the small park right in the center of Sankt Petersburg, next to Kazanski Plaza, Ermitas and Neva river... People seating in stone bench, reading and conversing, eating ice screem... and watching lilacs in the May and June days. BTW there is also white nights in Sankt Petersburg, I never slept and just wondered the whole nights enjoying the lilac aroma...

I have had a notalgia for Lilacs. So I ordered couple of them 3 years ago from Spingnursery site (pricey too, I don't recommend). They survive but don't do well in my backyard. No flower yet.

I did more research last year and know that it's too hot and humid and acid solid in GA don't help lilac at all. Somepeople reports they have lilacs grow and bloom in GA. That sounds like a myth, but it's true. There are type of lilacs for the south, growing well in GA, even in Texas. They are:

- Blue skies
- Lavender lady
- Miss Kim (too tinny flowers)
- Excel
- Vesper Song
- Old Glory (new variety)
- Declaration (new variety)
.....

I bought several Lilacs for the South from this website:
http://www.spi.8m.com/hyacinthifloracat.html
Lilac for the south is refered as early season lilac.

Good Luck!

I live in NW Florida (zone 8b, near Pensacola in Santa Rosa County, and am successfully growing the BLUE SKIES variety of lilac developed by Monrovia Nurseries in California. Blue Skies does not need a dormant season (or hard winter) in order to survive and I can be a witness to that fact. I ordered the plant from an online catalog (Wayside Gardens). When it arrived, it was in a long narrow box and the stem was only about a foot long, with on a few leaves. It looked pitiful. That was in early April of 2006. By the next year, the plant had grown another foot, leaved out in early March, and had two beautiful small, fragrant clusters of flowers! It is now an extremely healthy plant. I attribute my success partly to SOIL AMENDMENT! Blue Skies DOES NOT LIKE GEORGIA RED CLAY! I had my husband dig a hole very wide (about 3-4 feet, very deep, again 3-4 feet deep. We set aside the clay soil from that hole and mixed 2 bags of sand with two bags each of Black Cow manure, peat, and Miracle Grow Garden soil and mixed in a shovel of the clay for good measure. This mixure makes a great garden LOAM which lilacs love! I watered the little guy every day for almost three weeks after he was planted. Then if it did not rain on any given day, I watered him again until the spring rains began. The other essential is garden lime sprinkled lightly around the base in the early spring (actually mid February in zone 8b)! Then I sprinkle Osmocote fertilizer around the base in late February.
My lilac blooms in early/mid March. I am looking forward to this March when I am thinking that I will have more and larger clusters of flowers and that the plant will grow another 2 feet or more. Baby this plant in Georgia, and I am sure you will have the same results. The winters should not harm this plant at all because even though they do not need a cold (northern)dormant season, they still enjoy the chill!

SantaRosa Gal

Forest Farm (www.forestfarm.com), an excellent mail-order nursery in Williams, OR, offers several of the heat-tolerant lilacs developed by Descanso Gardens. Wayside Gardens (www.waysidegardens.com) in Greenwood, SC, also lists _Syringa vulgaris_ 'Blue Skies' and 'Lavender Lady' in its current catalog.

Desperate, not desparate.