My lilac died :-(

This was the bare root Old-Fashioned lilac that I got from Gurney's. It sprouted a lot of nice green leaves, and then little by little the leaves wilted and died.

I'm bummed. I really wanted a line of lilacs by the fence between me and my newest neighbor. Lilacs are almost impossible to screw up, but I certainly seem to have done it.

Maybe it was dead when you got it - root dead, that is. The little leaves could have started with no roots to further their growth. Or maybe you planted it too deeply, or didn't mix the soil properly, or maybe scale insects or the drought many of us seem to be experiencing took it out. Dig it up and try an autopsy -- see if the roots ever grew into the backfill soil.

Don't give up. But try buying one from a lilac specialist like Syringa Plus, or at least from a local nursery.

Guy S.

I'll look into Syringa Plus. Thanks.

The weird thing is, that little lilac was about the only thing surving through our drought. It's when it finally began to rain (and all the other plants heaved a sigh of relief and started greening up), that it began to wilt, first one clump of leaves, then the other.

Sorry to hear that! Did your other lilacs perk up or are you still having problems with them too? I don't think you should give up on your row of lilacs, I would try planting them again sometime other than the summer--I know we talked about this in one of your other threads but I'll make the point again because I think that could have significantly contributed to the problems you had. If you plant them in the fall or as early in the spring as possible (fall would be better at least in my area, but yours may be different) they'll have a chance to get established a little better before the summer heat hits them. Planting in the summer is sort of like Russian Roulette...if you manage to get the watering just right, your plant has a chance to survive, but because of heat, sun, etc and having young roots that aren't able to take up as much water, it's very difficult (and in some cases close to impossible) to get things just right. I've lost a number of plants that are supposedly easy to grow because I did this and I've promised myself I'm not going to do it again! Only fall planting for me from here on!

And like W_H, I live in zone 5a. I don't blink an eye when it comes to planting container grown plants. In fact, it's my favorite time to plant. I refuse to do it in fall. I've lost way too many plants by planting in the fall. I think living in zone 5a and living in 9b makes a huge difference.

We had a spell of cooler weather and a LOT of rain, and the lilac that I thought was going to die actually perked up. It looks a little bit like a palm tree. The leaves on the lower half are dead or dying, and the top leaves are all cut up by the leaf cutter bees. They really did a number on this poor thing.

But the leaves have stopped drooping, and it's perking up. I haven't watered it for a week because the soil down deep is still damp.

The Dunbar still looks scorched but it's hanging in there. But I really thought the little bare root lilac would be the best of the lot. It really took off at first.

I have two more on my picnic table that are doing fine. I am going to plant them in the fall, or at least late summer. This time I dig a BIG hole and be sure to untangle the roots.

Good news about the James McFarlane lilac. I went out there to look at it today. It got up to 112 degrees today, but the lilac didn't droop! I was looking at it thinking maybe I should prune some of the dead branches off, then I looked closer.

The "dead" branches are sprouting! Buds, shoots, and leaves are coming out of where the dying leaves are.

I guess its roots got sorted out, and it decided it was going to make it.

I am thrilled about that. I think it's actually going to live.

The Old-Fashioned bare root lilac, though, still looks like a goner. I'm thinking of leaving it there to see if it comes back in the spring. I don't know. It may.

Here's a picture of the lilac taken yesterday. I think you can see the new growth.

And here's a pic of the subject of this thread.

Gurney's suggested using a root stimulator, but I'm not sure what they mean by that. I have some that you dust cuttings with, but I don't want to dig up this poor baby to dust the roots.

I poured the last of last week's rain water on the lilacs. That should keep them for a couple days.

There is a liquid root stimulator that you can buy and mix with water and water the plant in with it. I have been using some on different young plants that are going into the ground for the first time from a pot. Look at Lowe's, that is where I bought mine. It is in a yellow plastic bottle.