Hi Marg,
My Ivory Silk lilac tree didn't flower this year either! I was told when we bought it that as it matured it would eventually stop producing blooms. It was planted in my yard in August of 1990 so maybe it is just time. :( I have also noticed a few dead branches in it.
Lois

Wow! I have never heard that before. I did a fair bit of research before we bought ours, we bought one five years ago and the other one two years ago, and i never came across anything that said that. Since we haven't had them that long, I don't see why they would stop blooming. Guess I'll have to do some more research and find out why they would stop blooming! Marg

I got no blossoms at all on one of my japanese lilacs and only about 10 heads of flowers on the other. These are trees that have bloomed every year for at least 10 years.

There were some late spring frosts this year which may have killed the flower buds.

Never heard of any Ivory Silk Tree stopping blooming with age. My mother has one that is over 20 years old and it is still blooming.

My lilacs bloomed beautifully (I have a couple varieties). However, the buds on my snowball viburnum were mostly killed by that April cold spell.

Some lilac varieties bloom later (dwarf Korean), which means a better chance for a good show. Also placement makes a difference. I have the viburnum against a south-facing wall, which means that half the time it gets going too early.

well I am glad that no one else has heard of the ivory silk lilac losing its' blooms as it matures. I really do hope that the person that sold it to us was wrong. I now have hope for mine, and that this year was just a fluke. :)

I did some checking and I found out that some trees and shrubs flower in cycles. Another reason could be that a late frost got the buds. Hopefully it is just a cycle thing and we will have lots of blooms next year.
Greylady-gardener: I thought you might be interested to know that I emailed the nursery where I bought mine and asked them about the loss of blooms as the tree ages. They replied and said that they had never heard of such a thing.
Marg

Thanks, Marg. I am glad to hear that. I was sad to have them tell us that when we were looking for a tree and asking about that one. We bought it anyway as it was so pretty and would grow to be just the size that we wanted for that spot in our yard.
It had an amazing show of flowers last year....better than it had ever done and we were afraid that it was its' "last hurrah"!!
We are also seeing a lot of them planted on the boulevards along the streets and in gardens in mall parking lots......they are certainly more popular now than when we bought it....none of our friends or neighbours had ever seen or heard of it. Now our neighbours look forward to the show every year.

Hey guys, I too did not get any blooms on my Japanese Tree Lilac this year. We planted it in 2004 and had blooms that year and in 2005 and 2006. I was curious about it and just typed the question in google, which brought me here (which I was hoping for). I have three Annabelle hydrangeas in front of my porch (also planted in 2004) and last year one of the three didn't bloom, but bloomed again this summer, weird, huh?

Yeah my Liliac didn't bloom this year either. Not to worry, check back next spring.

with regards to lilacs - if you check the tree around this time of hte year, you will see buds forming. This will remain through winter. if for some reason these buds get diseased and fall off, then you'd have lost the blooms for the succeeding year. and it is also a good practise not to do any heavy pruning until you can recognize the budding branches lest you might prune the flowering branches by mistake. If any of you have rhododendrons' it's the same thing Right now next year's buds have been developed. No hard pruning until the succeeding year.

After not seeing blooms on my Syringa reticulata trees this June, I observed a tree nursery that has these Lilacs growing in rows and along fence rows. Only one or two of their trees had a few blooms on them. So I assumed the species was taking a break... due to environmental conditions or genetics.

A lot of Magnolias had hardly any blooms this year as well. It must be related to the weather because the trees were fine other than no blooms.

In Ottawa, in spring 2007, hardly any magnolias bloomed due to April frost. Not only in my garden but all over the city, including some very well sheltered ones that always put on a great show.

If you prune lilacs too late in the season or before they bloom in the spring, you cut off the buds. They form in last summer. The only time you can prune lilacs without losing blooms is right after they finish flowering.

Ed Lawrence (CBC radio - Ontario Today - available on your computer if you are out of province) advises that if your flowering shrubs are not flowering, to check your fertilizing practices. STOP fertilizing around them until they bloom - and it may take at least one full season to reduce the nitrogen in the soil around them so that they WILL recover and start blooming again. IF you must fertilize the lawn, shield the poor things so they don't get any more. You probably have lots of green growth - if that is so this is the remedy
Anne

I planted my ivory silk syringa reticulata (japanese tree lilac) in the fall of 2010. It bloomed beautifully in the Spring of 2011 and 2012. This spring, nothing. Dozens of trees of this varienty are in full bloom in my vicinity. It was well planted, gets 6-7 hours of sun, in a bordered, well-drained bed. Any thoughts?