i once hand ripped a common lilac from mother earth.. cut the large root to fit in a pot .. with just a few hair roots ... and stuck it in a couple of inches of old used media ... and stuck it in full bright shade ... and ignored it for 2 years .. with little or no water.. after the watering at planting ...

it wasnt pretty.. but it didnt die.. and in 2 years.. rooted down into the soil ... and then i ripped it out again .. lol .. and planted it where i wanted it ....

since your has leaves.. i would keep it moist for a few weeks.. and then i would water it when it needs water.. not necessarily keeping it soggy ... insert finger and find out when the media is drying.. and then water ...

i would keep it potted for summer ... to grow roots .. and then i would plant it in fall.. when the leaves fall off ...if we knew where you were.. we could suggest the proper planting time ....

i would not feed it again ... until maybe next spring.. if you insist on such.. personally.. lilac never need fert. imo ...

NEVER take off canopy on any plant ... even a damaged leaf can make food by processing sun/light ....

its a different issue if they fall off them selves .. and if they do.. but the roots are working.. it will releaf ...

again ... we dont really care what it looks like.. this summer .. as long as it has leaves.. the roots are alive ...

try not to kill it with too much love.. hence my story above ...

see link on proper watering.. and how to plant.. when the time comes ...

ken

https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub

Ken-

Thanks for the information! I live in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Our zone is 5b-6a I believe. So plant in the ground in Late Oct. or early Nov.? Thanks for the link too!

Julyguy

Floral- By loads of water you mean keep the pot moist and don't worry about over watering if kept in the pot during the summer?

I just remembered to ask if I should keep in in full sun or partially shaded? I have the pot under the outer edge of the Korean Lilac Bush to give it some shade- good or bad idea?

Thanks again to Floral and Ken

Don't worry about overwatering as long as the mix is free draining and the pot has holes in the bottom. I can't answer about the shade because where I garden hot sun isn't much of an issue. I don't know about where you are,

Indiana has strange weather. It can change instantly but can go from mild to very hot with anything inbetween. I will try and keep it with both sun and shade and see how it works.

Thanks!

I'm down south of Indianapolis, and where I am, I would keep a new transplant in partial shade - at least for the first few weeks. Especially with this ridiculous heat wave of 90° weather in early May!

Good Id

Good idea, that is my thought too!

Thanks!

Interesting use of language there, julyguy. To you 'mild' means cooler than usual. To me it means warmer! Tells you a lot about our respective climates ;-) 90f would be an aberration temp where I live. Today our high is forecast as 59.

when mature .... lilac is best in full blinding hot sun ... unless you like powdery mildew.. lol ...

plant it when the trees turn color.. or the leaves fall off the lilac ... and then put in a giant stick or marker.. so you know where it is in spring ...

when the deciduous trees start turning color ... its a clue that ma nature is shutting down your area for winter ... so any time around then is the time .. any time when nights are cooling.. is the key ...

for now.. keep the pot out of the sun... the pot itself can get too hot.. roots prefer cool ... i would prefer bright shade ...a perfect spot would be pot in shade and plant in sun ...

roots continue growing until ground freeze .. if you have that ... and for me.. that is around 1/1 ... so i would like 6 to 8 weeks of root growth/settling... so i would plant it in mid sept or so .. thru mid october ...

the bottom line.. frankly.. is anything but june/july/august.. to be most bulletproof ...

your welcome

ken

btw .... england ... 60 degrees north ... i am about 44 degrees north ... and i might guess you are 40 degrees north .. and go figure.. flora is z8/9 ... know why ... its called the north atlantic drift ... the atlantic is a giant heat sink.. and the water moves the heat .... making those peeps 2/3 the way to the north pole.. much more temperate than us.. go figure .... [the only reason i know this. is there is a sign in mid MI on the highway .... that says its the 45th parallel ...] .. its the same as why chicago is cold z5... and on the other side of lake MI is z6 ... but apparently.. i digress.. wildly ... tooo much coffee ... lol ... most useless info of the day ....

Wow- I need to contemplate that information! Thanks for your planting suggestion as well.

Well, Floral mild can mean different things depending on the time of year. But 80's is unusually warmer to hot at this time of year. 86 today with mid 70's forecast for the rest of the week. Looks like we won't have a normal spring and will move right into summer. I've got grass seed planting to do and too much rain now as well. So goes the Indiana weather!