what is summer lilac?

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MaryE Baker City, OR(Zone 5b) Nov 26, 2002

Does anybody know what it is? A friend gave me some small plants of it that came up from root runners. The parent plant is about 4-5 feet tall, a shrub, blooms much later than lilacs she says. Could it be butterfly bush? The only name she has for it is summer lilac.

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Pardancanda "down the Shore", NJ(Zone 7a) Nov 26, 2002

Hi MaryE. Yes, I imagine summer lilac would be Buddleia, or butterfly bush. I do not know your zone, but here in 6/7 it may die back to the ground, but will regrow from the roots. Last winter was so mild it hardly even lost its leaves! John

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Lenjo Mount Angel, OR(Zone 8a) Nov 26, 2002

Hi Mary, I looked up summer lilac in the Sunset Western Garden book and it is indeed a buddleia davidii. Did she give you any idea what color they might be?

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MaryE Baker City, OR(Zone 5b) Nov 26, 2002

Thanks John, that was FAST! What colors does buddleia come in? This plant has lost it's leaves, it came from zone 4 where it has been down to 0 or below already.

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Pardancanda "down the Shore", NJ(Zone 7a) Nov 26, 2002

Flowers may be pink, lavender, purple, white, more rarely yellow. Often they will have tiny orange centers. They will attract butterflies and add late season bloom to the garden. Enjoy! John

PS Poor soil and hot sun are no probelms

This message was edited Monday, Nov 25th 11:22 PM

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MaryE Baker City, OR(Zone 5b) Nov 26, 2002

Thanks again John, and Lenjo. I don't know what color, I was just happy to get something different for my future yard expansion project. I also got a start of a tree she thinks is flowering crabapple, it came up from the roots about 6 feet from the tree. When the tree blooms it is pink, and then it makes little apples about the size of small cherries that hang on until the birds eat them in the winter. These things may spend a year in large pots until I get a fence and gate relocated. I'm expanding the yard into the horse pasture.

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Calalily Deep South Coastal, TX(Zone 10a) Nov 26, 2002

Sometimes a "Chaste Tree" vitex agnus-castus, is called a summer lilac.

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Pardancanda "down the Shore", NJ(Zone 7a) Nov 26, 2002

MaryE, you'll know which it is when the leaves come out, the Buddleia has simple leaves, the Vitex has dissected leaves like a Japanese maple. Vitex is also beautiful, blue-lavender flowers, or possibly pink. Flowers are less lilac in shape though.

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