THE LILAC ZONE

In my mind, the "fun" of seeing a lilac bloom for the first time involves 2 things:

1. Validation that the plant that you have is actually what you were led to believe it was. Considering it can take over 5 years for some lilacs to bloom, a lilac collector's patience is really tested. Seeing a bloom for the first time can go one of two ways. For instance:

Seeing bloom for the first time, "Martha Stewart" - an uncommon cultivar purchased as a 2" high starter plant years ago and supposed to be a single blue with violet overtones = NOT FUN!

Why was seeing this bloom not fun you ask? (You might argue that this is a pretty beautiful bloom. I don't disagree - but note that the petals are double.) This is definitely not 'Martha Stewart'. Grrr!!!!

For your reference, this is 'Martha Stewart'. Hopefully you can see the difference. This cultivar produces large panicles of "thick"-looking single bluish florets.

Seeing bloom for the first time in 2014, 'Rochester' - a notoriously slow-growing lilac , difficult to obtain and arguably one of the best white lilacs ever cultivated = FUN!

One of the most exciting things about this hobby is seeing a lilac bloom for the first time. I have been able to afford my hobby because I acquire lilacs at a size that is more affordable to me. About 75% of my collection, in fact, have started out as suckers. When the buds start plumping up on a cultivar that has never bloomed before and we begin seeing the telltale signs (that tiny cluster that looks like grapes revealed under folded leaves) that this year there will be a bloom, a feeling of excitement runs through me.  (Yes, I may be a certifiable whacko but at least my vice is relatively harmless...)

2. Finally getting to see the bloom of a cultivar that I have only seen in photos or until now have only read a description of. Very often, the colors of lilacs in photos can be somewhat inaccurate, depending on lighting or the quality of the camera used. Even the printing company can inadvertently cause the color of lilacs to appear different than they really are. Because of those factors, there is nothing better than experiencing the real deal!

​What makes lilacs even more interesting is that I have just noticed in the past year or two that the first time a lilac blooms, the bloom may not necessarily be representative of how the blooms will appear later on as the shrub matures. This has clearly been the case with 'Savonarole' and others. Because of this, I plan to periodically update photos and cultivar descriptions on the site when appropriate.