I just won a Miss Kim Dwarf Lilac in a raffle. It's only about a foot tall now, but the tag says it will grow 5 feet tall and 3 feet wide. I'm moving into my first apartment in a month and will have a third-floor balcony with direct sunlight for half the day. Is it feasible to put this in a pot? How big of a pot would it need? Will it not grow as big if I put it in a smaller pot? Any other tips on how to take care of the plant?

Thanks!

Looks like someone has posted about this before. I googled on this as well, (Miss Kim Dwarf Lilac container) and found others who had grown it in containers, though sounds like you'll need to do some pruning on it.

Hope the link helps. I love the smell of lilacs, I'm envious if you have that on your balcony. :)

She comes back every year and doesn't ask much. I've had her on my patio for about eight or ten years. When I got her at Lowe's (on the bargain cart), I repotted her right away. She had blooms on her and they fell off or died or something like that. I thought I killed her. But she came back and more beautiful. She went through one pot change and probably needs another.

I've never pruned it. Of course she had some hail damage one year and a large hanging pot fell on her one side another year so I guess that's pruning(?).

But she is beautiful and smells so sweet. Try one and good luck!

Larrie

For your Miss Kim, I would start it in a 12-14" pot; that should hold it for 2-3 years, I think, before it might need repotting. Make sure you use potting mix, NOT potting soil in your container. Or if you have the inclination, you can check out tapla's conatiner mix over on the Container Forum. For over the winter, you'll want to mulch the pot well and pull it closer to the building walls. Spraying it with some Wilt-Pruf might be helpful as well.

You are gonna love that plant.

PV