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Northwestern Gardening

Lilacs didn't bloom this year!

12 years ago

I have some fairly new lilacs, I put them in the ground the spring before last. I have Syringa Vulgaris (purple, yellow, and purple w/ white edges blooms) and Syringa Pubescens "Miss Kim." There are 4 different sites that these are located, most somewhat sheltered, but all full sun. Last year the yard got ignored because we were planning a wedding. Both last year and the year before, the plants bloomed but not heavily. I attributed this to them being young plants. All appear to be very healthy and vigorous and green and happy. No blooms at all though. I definitely didn't prune them last year. I hardly had time to water, and definitely was not good about weeding! The neighbors 2 houses down have a bush that's covered in glorious blooms, yet nothing for me.

What could have gone wrong?

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Comments (10)

buyorsell888
12 years ago
My 'Miss Kim' has only a few blooms too....
Embothrium
12 years ago
Spotty results are usual, many lilac bushes in this area are not smothered in bloom every year. However, if your care was lacking last year that might have affected bud set. The better they are doing, the more strong shoots that set flower buds they will be producing.

Note that, unless there's been a change I'm not aware of it's patula instead of pubescens.
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Sounds like they are getting too much sun during the summer. That, in turn, made you water them a lot too (daily!). Hydrangeas prefer to have evenly moist soil, as periods of wilting and too much water could make the plant kill the invisible flower buds that develop in July-August and open in Spring. For the sake of comparison: Under normal conditions, you would not need to water daily (unless these are in pots). I water the soil about twice a week with drip and give them about 1 gallon of water per watering in cool times and 1.5g per watering in the summer. Also, the last two winters have caused cases of no blooms on many mopheads and lacecaps. Either the temps got too cold and-or wild temperature fluctuations broke the plant's dormancy so a cold snap then hit that killed the invisible flower buds. Hard to tell what really happened after the fact but many people have been complaining about bloomage the last two growing seasons. I am down in Z8 and got nary a bloom two winters ago (Winter 2013-2014). Last winter was slightly better but still, quite a few of the mopheads/lacecaps/oakleaf hydrangeas did not bloom. Basically hydrangeas that bloom on old wood were hit hard. Of course, I do not winter protect them so that did not help. Evenly moist soil, 3-4" of mulch and winter protection may help both of us in this upcoming winter. By the way, your winter forecast due to El Nin~o calls for unusually warm winter temps and, if these extend for several days, that could break dormancy so, be on the look out for this problem in Winter 2015-2016 and consider winter protection. Normally, that is not needed in your zone and mine but winter protection helps with the no bloomage issue. Planting hydrangeas that bloom on new wood gets around that issue altogether. Lastly, do not prune after the end of June thru blooming time. I would also consider transplanting them to a place where they get morning sun and afternoon shade. That is what they prefer. If you do not have time for that now, consider doing it in Spring then.
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Comments (2)
Hemerocallis aka Day Lily but not actually a true Lily since it isn't in the genus Lilium. Your theories about overcrowding and/or lack of light could both be right.
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oliveoyl3
12 years ago
My Miss Kim blooms when the common lilac is done, so yours might not have bloomed yet.

Corrine
laurell
Original Author
12 years ago
bboy - Sorry. I'm going off of the name that was on the tag and matched up well to my super old SWGB, so it may be an old name.
greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
12 years ago
Wasn't a very good year for lilacs for me, either.
Plus, a couple cold nights zapped the growth on three of four lilac bushes.
Blooming was spotty and light after that.

Josh
Embothrium
12 years ago
Looking at the Hillier manual I'm reminded that julianae, microphylla and patula are presented there as subspecies of Syringa pubescens.
laurell
Original Author
12 years ago
Just today (I've been wantonly gazing at the lilacs daily for the last week or so) the "miss kim" decided to begin showing signs of buds. Strange because I was beginning to become concerned that it may be getting choked out by strawberries despite the fantastic bushy appearance.
reg_pnw7
12 years ago
Lack of care last year, when they were still new, could definitely contribute to lack of bloom this year.

Miss Kim blooms later than the others, as well, noted above.

Once they are established they are quite drought tolerant in our climate but yours aren't established yet, so they need some water over the summer.

The lilac across the street from me doesn't bloom well most years because they insist on pruning it into a square box. One year they left it alone and it was covered in flowers. This year? there's one flower, deep inside the square. There oughta be a law ...
Embothrium
12 years ago
>The lilac across the street from me doesn't bloom well most years because they insist on pruning it into a square boxHow vulgaris!
nwrose
12 years ago
Any idea when to expect suckers to bloom? My large deep purple Frech Lilac died but left me with 6 or 8 nice suckers which are about 5 years old and maybe a spindly 3 feet tall. They get a good 6 hours of sun and are well watered, if not too well. Their feet are covered with a matt of lamium...would that be a problem?
My thought is to pull, er dig one out and find it a new home somewhere else in my yard; ie, better drainage, more than 6 hrs sun, no lamium. Any thoughts out there?
Smiles,
D....

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