For those gardeners with limited space, there are some species with a habit smaller than the common lilac. The Rouen lilac (Syringa chinesis) with large clusters of violet blooms has smaller leaves and a more graceful habit than the common lilac, which tends to be upright and stiff. Also, the Persian lilac (Syringa persica), the littleleaf lilac (Syringa microphylla and Syringa meyeri ‘Palabin’), all stay much smaller than the common lilac and work well in restricted spaces.

Lilac Cultivars

• Syringa x chinensis var. alba – single white
• Syringa x chinensis ‘Lilac Sunday’ – single, light purple (Arnold Arboretum Introduction 1997)
• Syringa x chinensis ‘Saugeana’ – single, lilac/red
• Syringa x hyacinthiflora ‘Anabel’ – early double pink
• Syringa x hyacinthiflora ‘Asessippi’ – early, single lavender
• Syringa x hyacinthiflora ‘Blanche Sweet’ – early, single whitish blue with a hint of pink
• Syringa x hyacinthiflora ‘Evangeline’ – early, double magenta
• Syringa x hyacinthiflora ‘Excel’ – early, single lilac
• Syringa x hyacinthiflora ‘Maiden’s Blush’ – early, single pink
• Syringa x hyacinthiflora ‘Mount Baker’ – early, single white
• Syringa x hyacinthiflora ‘Pocahontas’ – early, single dark purple
• Syringa x hyacinthiflora ‘Royal Purple’ – early, double dark purple
• Syringa x hyacinthiflora ‘Sister Justina’ – early, single white
• Syringa josikaea – late blooming species, single lilac
• Syringa x josiflexa ‘Agnes Smith’ – late, single white (Dr. Owen Rogers Introduction 1970)
• Syringa x josiflexa ‘James Macfarlane’ – late, single pink
• Syringa x josiflexa ‘Royalty’ – late, single purple
• Syringa x julianae ‘George Eastman’ – single, reddish pink, small leaf (Richard Fenicchia Introduction 1978)
• Syringa x laciniata – cut leaf lilac, single lavender
• Syringa meyeri ‘Palibin’ – Dwarf Korean Lilac, single lilac
• Syringa meyeri ‘Dwarf Arnold’ single lavender, compact
• Syringa microphylla ‘Superba’ – Little Leaf Lilac, single pink
• Syringa oblata ‘Betsy Ross’ – early, single white
• Syringa oblata subsp. dilatata ‘Cheyenne’ – early, single blue burgundy fall foliage
• Syringa patula ‘Miss Kim’ – late, single lavender burgundy fall foliage
• Syringa x prestoniae ‘Donald Wyman’ – late, single purple
• Syringa reticulata – Japanese Tree Lilac – single white flowers in June
• Syringa reticulata ‘Ivory Silk’ – selected cultivar of Japanese Tree Lilac
• Syringa sweginzowii – late blooming species, single pink

Inter Specific Hybrids

• Syringa ‘Bailbelle’ TINKERBELLE™ - wine buds, deep pink flower, small leaf, compact grower, fragrant (Bailey Nurseries Introduction 2000)
• Syringa ‘Baildust’ FAIRY DUST™ - single, fragrant pink blooms, compact plant 2002
• Syringa ‘Bailina’ THUMBELINA™ - pale pink blossoms, compact grower
• Syringa, ‘Bailming’ PRINCE CHARMING™ - deep wine red buds lavender pink flowers, compact grower, fragrant 2004
• Syringa ‘Bailsugar’ SUGAR PLUM FAIRY™ - very compact plant with rosy-lilac flowers 2003
• Syringa JOS'EE™ - deep rose flowers, sporadic fall re-bloom
• Syringa ‘Minuet’ – late single purple
• Syringa ‘Miss Canada’ – late, single deep pink
• Syringa ‘Red Pixie’ - Max Peterson Introduction
• Syringa meyeri x Syringa julianae – single deep pink, compact plant
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Common Purple’
• Syringa vulgaris var. alba ‘Common White Lilac’
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Adeleide Dunbar’- double dark purple
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Albert F. Holden’ - single purple, with a bi-color effect
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Alvan R.Grant’ – single red-purple in bud opening to purple flowers, fragrant (Richard Fenicchia Introdictuon 1995)
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Arch McKean’ – single dark purple, very large florets
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Atheline Wilbur’ – semi-double orchid, rose, violet
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Avalanche’ – single white
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Charles Joly’ – double dark purple
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Charles Lindbergh’ – single violet-blue (Richard Fenicchia Introduction 1988)
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Dappled Dawn’ – single blue, variegated foliage
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Dwight D. Eisenhower’ – single, multi-petaled blue (Richard Fenicchia Introduction 1969)
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Edith Cavell’ – double white
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Fiala Remembrance’ – double white
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Flower City’ – single violet/purple (Richard Fenicchia Introduction 1983)
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Frank’s Fancy’ – single purple (Mezitt Introduction 1991)
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Frederick Douglass’ – single, multi-petaled, buds purple-violet opening to blue-violet flowers, fragrant (Richard Fenicchia Introduction 1996)
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Frederick Law Olmsted’ – single white compact (Richard Fenicchia Introduction 1988)
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Katherine Havemeyer’ – double pink
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Krasavitsa Moskvy’ (Beauty of Moscow) double white, pink buds
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Ludwig Spaeth’ – single dark purple
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Margaret Fenicchia’ – single, buds red-purple opening to purple-violet, fragrant (Richard Fenicchia Introduction 1997)
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Marie Frances’ – single multi-petaled pink
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Mechta’ (Dream) – single blue, lilac
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Miss Ellen Willmott’ – double white
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Mme. Lemoine’ – double white
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Monge’ – single dark purple
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Montaigne’ – double pink
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Nadezhda’ (Hope) – double blue
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Prairie Petite’ – single purple, low compact grower
• Syringa vulgaris ‘President Grevy’ – double blue
• Syringa vulgaris ‘President Lincoln’ – single blue
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Primrose’ – single white, yellowish buds
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Sarah Sands’ – single lavender with a white edge
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Sensation’ – single lavender with a white edge
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Sesquicentennial’ – very fragrant single violet (Richard Fenicchia Introduction 1988)
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Wedgwood Blue’ – single blue
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Wonderblue’ – single blue, compact grower
• Syringa vulgaris ‘Yankee Doodle’ – single dark purple

What to Buy

Lilac plants are sold as named varieties (‘Primrose’, ‘Lucie Baltet’) or as a color class (purple, white). Whether to buy plants by color or name depends on the wishes of the purchaser. A named variety has specific characteristics that can be described and listed in catalogs. For specimen planting or specific characteristics such as resistance to mildew, this would be desirable. For a general group such as a screen or for background use, color classes alone may be enough. With either named varieties or color classes, the greatest flower color emphasis will be achieved by including two contrasting colors such as white and a dark shade.

Plants for sale are offered in many sizes and conditions. The best size to insure success is a nursery grown non-grafted (own root) plant 2-3 or 3-4 feet tall in a container or with a ball of soil around the roots. Such a plant will have been prepared for transplanting and is big enough to establish quickly and produce a good floral display (in approx. 2-3 years). Larger sizes either balled or burlapped or in containers can also be purchased if instant effect is needed.

Smaller sizes will be less expensive and this may be desirable where many plants are to be purchased. However, small plants, including suckers from an established shrub, must have a year or more in a plant nursery where extra care can be provided until the plant reaches 2-3 feet. At that size they can be moved to the permanent location. Bare root plants must also have extra establishment care. Frequently, plants ordered from catalogs and sent through the mail will arrive bare root (without soil around the roots). These can be very good plants but extra attention must be given to watering, weeding and feeding for the first two years to get them off to a good start.

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