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Lilac Shrubs - common vs. french hybrids, growth rate?
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Posted by kimcoco Zone 5, Wisconsin (My Page) on Tue, Nov 10, 09 at 23:49
| I was considering a false spirea, but think I'd like something a bit taller to block a view.
How slow is the growth rate for the common lilac? How tall can you usually find at local nurseries? I don't mind planting a 4 foot shrub and waiting for growth, but a 2 foot shrub wouldn't do it for me.
I already have a common lilac in my yard, love it besides the powdery mildew and pastel purple, but we have it trimmed up like a tree with a rocking chair underneath, very English gardenish and quaint.
Do the growth rates differ between the common lilac (syringa vulgaris) and the French Hybrid cultivars? I'd like to get the same height and growth habit from a French Hybrid with a deeper color, maybe pink, or white. Suggestions? |
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RE: Lilac Shrubs - common vs. french hybrids, growth rate?
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| MY EXPERIENCE is that though the french have a significantly different scent... they are about half the size of a regular lilac .... sparser in flower.. and not as reliable ... meaning.. if i have an 8 x 8 no name purple lilac.. it will scent half the yard in any given year .... my french is about 5 x 5 .... will not perfume a large area.. and frankly i have to search out and stick my nose in a flower group to smell it ... mine was here when i bought the house.. so it is no-name as far as i am concerned.. no experience with a named hybrid hope that helps.. ken |
RE: Lilac Shrubs - common vs. french hybrids, growth rate?
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| I think there may be a bit of confusion in terminology :-) "French" lilacs are just selected cultivars of common lilac, Syringa vulgaris. Originaly the term was used to refer to many modern double flowered forms developed by Victor Lemoine but it is frequently used now to refer to any of the common lilac cultivars. There are of course hybrid lilacs but much of what is grown and sold as French lilacs are just named selections of common lilac. Most will grow with a similar rate and to a similar size. The straight species tends to be a larger shrub and could come to size faster. Fragrance is variable depending on both siting and cultivar but I've grown a number of the modern French cultivars and all have produced an intense fragrance. My favorites are 'Mme. Lemoine' a double white, 'Adelaide Dunbar' and 'Charles Joly, double deep purple, and 'Sensation', a single magenta with a white edge. |
Here is a link that might be useful: common/French lilacs
RE: Lilac Shrubs - common vs. french hybrids, growth rate?
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- Posted by kimcoco Zone 5, Wisconsin (My Page) on
Thu, Nov 12, 09 at 1:13
| Thanks to you both for the feedback. I checked with a WI nursery today, they said the common lilac will have a faster growth rate than the hybrids. I'm leaning towards the common lilac, Alba since I already have the common purple (here when we purchased our home), and I like white. But the deep purple/pinks are stunning...we need more acreage at our next home! 1/8 acre isn't going to cut it. Ken, I agree about the scent. I have mine trimmed up to an arching tree form with a rocking chair underneath, hubby's favorite place to relax, the scent is wonderful. Gardengal, I was looking at the file on your link - The nursery I spoke with can get me a ball & burlap 4 foot lilac shrub - wondering if I should ask if it's own root or if it's grafted, or does that even matter? Upon researching lilacs, I came across an article that said MOST lilac shrubs are grafted. What's the difference? Thoughts, feedback??? |
RE: Lilac Shrubs - common vs. french hybrids, growth rate?
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| Grafting is just a means of propagation and commercially, one can get a grafted plant to market faster and at a better size than a seed or cutting grown one. And depending on root stock used, grafted lilacs can avoid the suckering that is so common with Syringa vulgaris. Both grafted and non-grafted plants have their pluses and minuses but I doubt it makes much difference to the home gardener. Except for the suckering feature, if a non-suckering root stock is used. FWIW, various types of rootstocks are common to grafted lilacs, even things like privet and ash. And just so we are on the same page - the French 'hybrids' are just intraspecies crosses of S. vulgaris. They are not hybrids in the true botanical sense of the word but rather forms of S. vulgaris selected for specific flowering, color or fragrance attributes. |
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