Some of it is shriveled, the rest looks like fall color.

Which is just other pigments showing through when the masking green color breaks down anyway.

As the roots go, so goes the top. If you think there is an issue dig around in the root zone and see how things look.

One thing I see is that you have turf coming right up to the base of the shrub. You may see a marked improvement if you get the grass away from it, mulch the newly exposed area.

though you may live near de nile river ...

its fall ... that is why it is turning color ...

fall color is variable .. year to year ...

ken

Thanks for the reassurances! Never seen much fall colour on any lilac bush, even here up north (not near the Nile ken) Like I said, it showed up quite a few weeks ago, before any "normal" tree showed anything, hence my concern. Thought maybe it could be a known disease.

bboy, If I don't get nice foliage in the spring, I'll look at the roots. Right now the temps are not conductive to gardening (rain, and in the 40s). And I'll remove the grass and mulch in spring for sure. My landscaper did it on the newly planted stuff, but not my "old" stuff, don't know why, but then, it's easy to fix.