| When you choose a lilac you are planting a shrub that | | | | dark green foliage provides the perfect backdrop for |
| is part of our American heritage - some have even | | | | the exquisite powerfully fragrant, lavender pink |
| called the lilac the "apple pie of shrubs." Thomas | | | | florets that will cover the dense bush from head to |
| Jefferson planted lilacs at Monticello and lilacs greeted | | | | toe. Expect it to bloom in May-June, with lighter |
| guests as they entered George Washington's flower | | | | rebloom in later summer and fall, extending the |
| garden at Mount Vernon. Poet Walt Whitman's elegy | | | | season and allowing you to enjoy its beauty and |
| to Abraham Lincoln, "When Lilacs Last in the | | | | fragrance twice during the year. Foliage turns bright |
| Dooryard Bloom'd" evokes an image of a lilac bush | | | | yellow in autumn.Unlike other common lilacs, the |
| that may be familiar to many:In the dooryard fronting | | | | Dwarf Korean Lilac blooms profusely at an early age |
| an old farm-house near the white-wash'd palings, | | | | and is not susceptible to powdery mildew. Expect it |
| Stands the lilac-bush tall-growing with heart-shaped | | | | to grow four to five feet high and wide, the perfect |
| leaves of rich green, | | | | size for a perennial border, foundation planting or |
| With many a pointed blossom rising delicate, with | | | | shrub border foreground. No matter where the |
| the perfume strong I love, | | | | Dwarf Korean Lilac is planted in your garden, it is sure |
| With every leaf a miracle - and from this bush in the | | | | to be a standout year after year.Planting and |
| dooryard, | | | | CareThe Dwarf Korean Lilac is one tough plant, a real |
| With delicate-color'd blossoms and heart-shaped | | | | survivor. Over ten years ago we planted some in |
| leaves of rich green, | | | | wooden planter boxes that were fabricated over a |
| A sprig with its flower I break.French and Dutch | | | | black top parking lot in full sun. These planter boxes |
| colonist first introduced lilacs to the United States, | | | | never get any supplemental water, only what mother |
| carrying them during their long journeys across the | | | | nature provides. Every year the lilacs bloom |
| Atlantic Ocean. Lilacs soon found themselves all over | | | | profusely, hold their leaves all summer without |
| North America, arriving by saddlebags and coach. | | | | browning, rebloom in the fall and never suffer any |
| Today there are over 2,000 named varieties of lilacs | | | | winter die back. After the drought of 2002, I |
| thanks to many industrious and passionate breeders | | | | expected the lilacs to be totally dead. When I drove |
| all over the world. Our feature plant this week is the | | | | by in the spring of 2003 they were in full bloom, just |
| Dwarf Korean Lilac - the most useful of all the lilacs, | | | | as they have been every year.For best results, plant |
| and Alan's favorite of all the shrubs we grow. It is | | | | in early spring. Lilacs require at least 6 hours of direct |
| easy to grow and maintain, making a beautiful and | | | | sunlight per day. Plant in good, well-drained soil. Water |
| welcome addition to your garden.The Dwarf Korean | | | | regularly until established and during the summer. |
| Lilac (Syringa meyeri Pablibin) | | | | Prune old blooms away immediately after flowering |
| The Dwarf Korean Lilacs' parent, the Syringa meyeri, | | | | to encourage more blossoms. Fertilize with Bulb-Tone |
| is named after Frank Meyer who discovered it in a | | | | at planting and again in the spring. Click here to view |
| garden in Beijing, China in 1909 and sent cuttings | | | | the Dwarf Korean Lilac on the Carroll Gardens |
| home to the United States. Many lilacs are offspring | | | | website.Alan Summers, president of Carroll Gardens, |
| of the Syringa meyeri, but the palabin Dwarf Korean | | | | Inc., has over 30 years experience in gardening and |
| Lilac is the smallest and most delightful. The clean, | | | | landscape design. |