Grump, my grandmother had a huge lilac in her side yard. I had a small one from hers in another yard that did pretty well and did bloom. I also had one they called a french lilac and it did much better. Now what the name was I have not a clue.

I have 'Miss Kim' and I think this is the first April in three years that a late frost didn't kill off the buds! Last night's frost didn't do any damage, so I have high hopes for lilac clusters soon! :-)

Cameron

I am in GA and have Miss Kim too. I covered it when we had the last 2 nights of freezing temps. It has quite a few blooms this year and they are about to burst. It is in full sun. I have a neighbor that isn't having much luck with her Miss Kim and we think it doesn't get enough sun. I read the other day that you should fertilize right after blooming and again in summer, which encourages more leaf and in turn more bloom. So I'm going to try that.

I had 'Miss Kim' at my former home in AL and it bloomed faithfully every year. I also like the fact that compared to common lilac (Syringa vulgaris), it's a much more compact grower.

Persian Lilac/Syringa persica will grow and bloom in the south. It is native to Iran. Get one at Lowes.
Donna

I planted a white one on the north side of my house 14 years ago it blooms every year. I live in Georgia. This year it has many small seedlings at its feet.

Thanks, Donna and Susanne, for enlightening us on the possibilities. Does the Persian lilac come with a turban?

Hi Grumpy, I had heard we are on the southern end of growing lilacs here in SE TN. They are in the older gardens here. The one I have is the old species, Syringa vulgaris. It was a freebie from the Arbor Society for joining and was a wee pencil sized stick when it was planted. That was twenty years ago. It was moved to our present house in 1996 and has been moved several times and divided a few also since then. This year was its best bloom ever. The cool wet spring has allowed the blooms to last for over a month, usually it is just a few days.
Frances

My Yankee mother-in-law selected a Miss Kim for me and it has been fabulous! It survived a dog chewing it to the ground, and gives a profusion of blooms every year (right now finishing up in Huntsville, AL). It's only about 6' tall (fully mature) and a nice round growth.

Thank goodness we can't all grow the same things regardless of climate, for how boring that would be.

Re: the chaste lilac (vitex), in some parts of the country it's considered invasive and not recommended for planting. Austin is one of those places.

I think it is fun defying the odds and growing plants that normally would not grow in your zone. Of course we in the south are fascinated with some plants that grow in the north and many of the northerners are the same about plants that grow in the south. This makes gardening exciting. I remember bringing in some fuschias to try to grow. Imagine what they did... they curled up and died......SOB But that hasn't stopped me from looking for ones that might like the tropics. I discovered that there are tropical ones as well after searching the internet. So I say, never say never, when it comes to plants. They can defy the odds.

Pam, isn't Vitex one of the Texas Superstar plants? How come they chose an invasive plant? FYI, it's not invasive at all in the SE.

Islandgal, you are so right. I just keep killing plants until one of them finally lives and I can claim it as a victory.

Live in SW Pa. and have a lilac that my mother called a double french variety. When mom's house was torn down 3 yrs. ago, the demo guy dug me out apiece that fell apart into 2. They'd hacked it to about 2 ft. high. Planted in Nov. and following spring it was still alive. Last spring, it bloomed, much to my surprise. Didn't expect blooms til this year or next. I can't tell you how thrilled I am cause my grandmother planted that lilac in her new yard in 1929. I'd tried a couple of times to move pieces and they all died. I know this about Southern gardening, and I don't qualify but wanted to tell that story to those who might appreciate it. All my gardening has been trial and error and have lost a bunch of times, but keep going anyway. Have a great day.

Victoria,

Thanks for sharing your story. For the record, the Grumpy Gardener likes hearing from people all over the world, inlcuding Pennsylvania. As soon as we make contact with gardeners on Mars, I expect them to chime in too.

I knew a man who got a lilac to bloom in Houston. He watered it all summer with ice cubes. Years later I called to see how it was doing. He said he gave up on that a long time ago. He had switched to natives!

If you want lilacs that bad, just buy cut ones from the florist. Lilacs don't belong in Houston anyway. Oleanders do.

My neighbor here in Greensboro, NC has what she calls "an old heirloom lilac" that came from her mother's yard. Blooms beautifully. Thanks for the info about the necessity of a cold period. I didn't know that.

As always, the Grump is here to serve.

Chiming in from LA here (not quite Mars, but defintiely an entirely different planet than my beloved Dixie) and we can get Miss Kim to bloom, but here blossoms have no fragrance. Does she smell any better back home??

No, LA isn't quite Mars. It's more like Saturn. Lots of Saturnalia going on. Anyway, 'Miss Kim' definitely isn't as fragrant as the big French lilacs. You have to stick your nose up to the blooms to really notice them.

Say hello to Kobe for me! I taught him how to do the 360 dunk.

Seems to me that crape myrtle looks a lot like lilacs, from a distance.

Eva Longoria looks a lot like Carol Burnett, from a distance.

How do Buddleias do in your area? they resemble lilacs about as well as anything and they are also fragrant.

Buddleias, aka butterfly bushes, do great in the South. However, their fragrance simply can't compare to that of lilacs.

I live in Greenville, SC (zone 7b) and was recently given a cutting from a "southern variety" -- no clue which one -- lilac. Where will it work best (sun-wise) and what should I do to the soil?

A lilac needs full sun. I don't know what kind of soil you have, so the best thing I can say is make sure it's well-drained. You might add a cup of lime to the soil when you plant it.

DEAR GRUMPY GARDNER: I'M GETTING MARRIED NEW YEARS EVE. MY FUTURE WIFE WANTS TO CARRY LILACS DOWN THE AISLE BUT WE LIVE IN DELRAY BEACH,FLORIDA (SOUTH FLORIDA). I KNOW LILACS DON'T BLOOM IN FL BECAUSE OF THE HEAT. WHERE CAN I HAVE THEM SHIPPED IN FROM WHERE THEY WILL ARRIVE ALIVE AND NOT DEAD OR WILTED? PLEASE ADVISE ASAP.

THANK YOU

Wow, Ed, she just had to pull your chain and pick the hardest flowers to find in Florida on New Year's Day, didn't she? I feel your pain. I think you're going to have a tough time with this, because these lilacs would probably have to be shipped from Europe and forced into early bloom, because they normally bloom in April and May. I did a cursory search of the major mail-order florists, like Pro Flowers and FTD and couldn't find lilacs. I suggest you call local florists and see if anybody thinks they can get lilacs At the right time. You may have to subsitute something easier. What about blue hydrangeas?