THE LILAC ZONE

'De Miribel' is said to be one of the very best deep violet lilacs and I have to agree. This lilac is so rich in color and is a real beauty! Admittedly, I was worried that this lilac was not going to be an actual 'De Miribel' because the cultivar is hard to find and I had purchased it from a nursery that doesn't cultivate their own lilacs, but I was in luck this time. Having seen a true 'De Miribel' in a private collection, there is no doubt that this is the real deal. Yay!

This photo is huge but 'Charm' is deserving of being highlighted like this. This pink cultivar is aptly named and I love it. LOVE IT. In fact, I think it is one of my top two favorites. The flowers and panicles are immense and the color is extraordinary. I can't express enough how thrilled I am to finally have this variety!

'Sculptured Ivory' is a Father Fiala cultivar whose flowers are impressively large and whose petals are pure in their whiteness. This lilac only produced one bloom, but the bloom was incredible. I can't wait to see this plant once it matures. I can only imagine how beautiful it will be!

Just when I thought 2017 was one of the slowest years to date in regards to first-time bloomers, 2018 was even slower. One of the factors contributing to this is that 2 of the 5 lilacs that bloomed for the first time ended up not being true-to-name. Fortunately 1 of the 3 that did bloom for the first time was 'Charm', one of my absolute favorites and after several disappointments trying to obtain this cultivar, this particular shrub proved to be the real deal! Making this season even better was that the 2 others that bloomed were also spectacular and undoubtedly are going to be two of my favorites going forward!