lilacs in north texas

Any way to keep lilacs blooming all summer in North Texas?

i would love the answer to that question, also. i bought a Texas Lilac at a local Lowes this winter. according to the tag it is supposed to bloom all season. it was labeled as a Texas Superstar plant, what ever that is! lol anyway, it is growing and putting on leaves, so we will see.

tracie

Tracie - you have a Vitex, sadly the best thing we can get to a lilac and it will give you several flushes of blooms if you dead head the flowers.

Tutroy - what zone are you in? Lilacs need a zone 7 really to live and they need chill hours. You are north of the DFW Metroplex so you might be able to pull it off. Here in the metroplex it is next to impossible to grow a lilac. Lilacs will not bloom in the summer heat we have here, even in Oklahoma City at my inlaws place they grow wonderful lilacs but they only bloom in the spring and every so often in the fall. Sorry :-(

aggiegrl,
I planted my lilac spring 2006. It looks good for a short while in spring but trouble just keeping it alive in the (normally) hot summer of '06. (we had an incredibly cool and wet summer in 2007, but it still wouldn't bloom after May). Since you're in Lufkin, I'll be interested if your acid soils help (we are alkiline as h___!)

Thanks, MitchF--it figures. We keep trying to bring different types of beauty to places where nature has already defined what beauty is.

Sad but true - I had two lilacs from my wifes grandfathers tree - after three years of seeing them in pain each year I sent them but up to my inlaws. Lilacs and holland tulips are just something I have given up on - for now!

a Vitex, huh? why do you say sadly? is it not that impressive? keep in mind, i am a southern girl and have never seen, nor smelled a real lilac! :)

as far as tulips, i planted my first ones this winter. about 300 were species tulips and should come back. the other few hundred i am treating as annuals, but boy are they pretty! i guess it is a tradeoff. the north is jealous of our mild winters and we are jealous of some of the plants/bulbs that they can grow that we cant.

tracie

just started blooming for me: Tulip Creme Upstar

I had a lilac bush when I was growing up way up north(Canada) It only bloomed in the spring for a couple of weeks. It was a heavenly scent! I guess you would be lucky if it bloomed in the fall again.

I have been watching your tulips.. I long for them here, but with bulb prices I would need them to come back for me. The species just dont do it for me.

Vitex is a great plant - just not a lilac - if or when you ever smell a real lilac you will never think of the vitex the same. I grew a lot fo them here - 7 at one point, just for the flowers.

the Vitex is supposed to grow really fast and get up to 10+ ft. my newly planted one is about 2 ft tall. do they really grow that fast? oh, btw, i was never really interested in tulips, but i got them 75% off at Lowes and couldnt resist! ended up being about $2 for 40 bulbs, not bad, even if they are really an annual in our climate. i just like trying new things, and it just makes me smile to see them bloom!

tracie

please consider persian lilacs.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1444/

Vitex do grow that fast.

lovetropics - do they have the same smell and will they take the heat here? Do they need chill hours like other lilacs tend to need?

Hi Mitch,
persian lillacs have same smell and can handle our AZ full sun and tolerate our mild winters. I am guessing that it will also do well in your area. Worth considering and it will bloom in summer months. There is also one (little leaf variety) that my frinds are raving about which is in bloom now(spring) but I have not smelled it yet.

Will have to look into them - great tip thank you.

There are lilacs that are supposed to do well in the south....such as "Miss Kim" or "Lavender Lady". You could try one of those.

I discovered a lilac blooming today in the yard of an old house on the ranch we bought last summer right in the middle of Texas. The bush is at least six feet tall and as wide, but not full and the blooms are not large. It is in the shade of two pecan trees, whose leaves add acidity to our very alkaline soil. I am going to give it TLC and see what happens.

How wonderful - what a great suprise.

Lilacs (syringa vulgaris) don't bloom all summer anywhere, they bloom spring only. There are some lilacs, bred in Southern California, that need very little chill to reliably bloom in zone 8. I have one syringa vulgaris 'Blue Skies', that will grow and bloom. A neighbor down the street from me (I'm in Dallas) has one that does well.) Look for 'Descanso Hybrids', named after the gardens outside LA , CA, where several warm climate lilacs were crerated.

Some literature says syringa laciniata will grow and bloom with little chill, but I don't have any experience with that one.

Interestingly, lilacs LIKE alkaline (within reason) soil.