LILACS-Time to Dream!

I have decided to put 4-5 lilacs on my roadside berm next year. This winter is my time to shop and dream. Can anyone recommend varieties for zone 5 or lower and good places to get large plants?????

Here is a link to the Arnold Arboretum for info of lilacs for New England. I''m not sure about sources yet.
Cindy
http://www.arboretum.harvard.edu/plants/lilac_ne.html

Thanks, Cindy! Almost all of the ones I was researching were on their list! I'm interested in Beauty of Moscow (pink buds, white blooms), Primrose (yellow buds, cream blooms), President Lincoln (blue blooms), Sensation (purple petals with white edges), and Ludwig Spaeth (single red purple).

They all sound beautiful, boojum.
I especially like the subtle two tone colors, like Beauty of Moscow or Primrose, where the buds are a different color. They look so pretty when some are open and some are in bud.
I've also seen some of the smaller ones, like Miss Kim, growing around here and they are pretty nice too.
Good luck in your search!
Michael Weishan (sp?) of Victory Garden says you can never give them too much lime. I have the common syringia vulgaris and too much shade to get them to bloom well. I'm moving them around, giving them tons of lime, and hoping for the best. If I have any success I'd love to get some of the more special ones. I have a pretty good book on lilacs if there's anything I can look up for you. It's an older, classic reference, so wouldn't mention new varieties.
I would dearly love to go to the Arboretum someday for Lilac Sunday!

Thanks for your interest in all this oceangirl! Maybe I'll mix in some dwarfs like Kim next year! I didn't know about the lime. I trimmed my common lilac "tree" late last year so it didn't bloom, or maybe it needed lime. Maybe your book would talk about this. I know that spent blooms should be deadheaded to encourage the next year's bloom. I also have a nice dark red (not much scent) that was here that got brush hogged 2 years ago by mistake. It must have liked that because it's speading into a clump and I am thrilled.

Didn't know about the Lilac Day. I should check on the website.

My annual ritual is to get to the High Ledges 2 miles away on June 1st week to see hundreds of pink ladyslippers and a few clumps of yellows.

I think if your tree didn't bloom for just one year, it was probably the pruning. They need to be pruned, the old wood should be removed regularly, leaving 2 or three main growing canes and a few of the strongest suckers to grow up and replace the wood as it ages. Timing is everything with that, because you can cut off next year's buds if you prune too late. Just after flowering is ideal. (unless it's a new late flowering variety) My book says to remove the spent flowers every year because they can really use up a lot of the lilac's energy for the next year's blooms.
The most important things they stress are excellent drainage, good "corn growing" soil, full sun at least 2/3 of the day, no root competition, and keeping an eye on pests. The recommend lime every 3rd year (different from Victory Garden). And they say to top dress older plants with good soil to repenish depleted nutrients.

Nice clump of ladyslippers!
I have never seen so many together like that!

I recently heard something about the "Bridge of Flowers" in Shelburne Falls. Have you been there?

Thanks for the info, oceangirl. I didn't know about the top dressing.

I lived a block down from the Bridge of Flowers for 12 years. I still own the house. Actually, my street is lined with lilacs!! There was a white on my property by the river. And I planted a twig of the common in the side yard which is now a good size. When I was first putting in a garden there, I bought many plants at the Bridge of Flowers sale each year. The Bridge inspired many to create their own gardens in our town.

Sounds like you need to visit the Bridge of Flowers and the High Ledges and the Glacial Potholes around June 1!!

The Potholes.

More B of F in early spring.

If your tree didn't bloom this year, I'm not surprised. None of ours did here either, trimmed or untrimmed. If your spring was anything like ours, it was the cold we had with all the frosts that got what would have been blossoms. We didn't have any wild fruit either for the same reason. Frosts too late in the spring. I think next year it will be just fine if we have a somewhat normal spring.

I don't think we had frosts in spring (what a drag!) but I remember lots of rain!

Thanks for posting the pictures of the Bridge and the potholes- what an interesting place you live in, boojum! I will have to come see it all. June 1st is the busiest time of year in the trade so I probably won't be able to, but you never know! I can dream, and I'm glad I get to live vicariously through your pictures!

boojum,
Lilacs need sun to bloom. Last spring was lacking in sun! Infact the sun really didn't come out until the later half of June. Everyone had a horrible time with plants behaving as expected. lilacs (except the non-suckering Prestonian types) should only be allowed to keep old wood as it makes the blooms huge and awesome. However, when you first purchase a lilac as they are slow growing - let it grow! Let it make a bush with 6 or more stems. DO NOT, I repeat DON NOT PRUNE it except when it is in full bloom! Lilacs set next years blooms when the current year's blossoms start to decline. Weird - but that is their nature. They need FULL sun. They are not picky about location other than that and they need good drainage as well as not being real dependant on water. I know of no pests that like to eat the foliage either. If they were picky, then farmers would not have been able to grow them along hedgerows. Truth be known, in the old days if it didn't take care of itself, you wouldn't find a flower on a farstead because most of the time they had no time to tend to something you couldn't eat or sell. Old Wood on a Lilac can be kept productive for well over 100 years and if pruned correctly will grow into a definite tree of wonderful gnarled character in a century. Easy keeper, little irrigation and go for scents as well as color. Not all these newfangled colors have the rich scent you are looking for if the romance of lilacs is what you seek. Nothing else like that smell. One of my absolute favorite flowers should someone force me to choose (which I recommmend not to ask!)

Hi obsessed. Thanks for your info. I have grown several lilacs into tree forms and into clumps successfully. Have no fear, these new plants will be in lots of sun all day-that's why I chose them as my screen. And as a screen, I don't plan to restrict their growth to tree forms, but encourage them to spread. I usually don't prune old wood-I like when they get gnarly and thick, so I probably won't follow oceangirl's book on that. :)