Karen - I have had a couple lilacs here for awhile and I've clearly noticed a "biennialism" with them... Ie., one year they go full blast and the next they will have a much reduced bloom. This sort of cycle is often common in shrubs and trees (particularly fruit) and I think it's because of the energy expended one year on flowering (and what would have been seeding) - perhaps due to optimum conditions at the time, where the next year it spends more time growing flowering/fruiting stems to recover from that previous blowout. In any case, lilacs set their buds some time during summer and into the fall so perhaps a little fertilizer boost and some judicial pruning at that time might help with encouraging more branching bud set for the next year to try to reduce the biennial bloom habit. It's usually recommended that lilacs get 1/4th - 1/3rd of their branches pruned (right after bloom) to encourage a denser habit and later flowering.

I have Syringa palibin and really enjoy it. it seems very fragrant and comparable to the vulgaris only not quite as strong. It's a good substitute. The shrub is much more attractive to me. It has a different leaf, smaller. It has a nice rounded shrubby form rather than a lanky, leggy heavy form. It doesn't sucker. It has some fall color which is nice. And I've had no problems with it and no mildew and very little care. And it blooms in less than full sun.

I have the "Fire ball" one...although its actual name is Euonymus alatus "select". I've had it for 3 years now. It is still only a foot tall. :( I am going to give it a few more years though, because last winter it got mowed over by deer, so I figure it gets a 2nd chance. It doesn't look like it has much - if any - die back this year though. It is in quite a sheltered south-facing location. As for fall color...I had so-so color the fall before last...last year I didn't have any fall color at all. It really depends on the fall I think. If it stays warm and then suddenly we get a bunch of frosts, the leaves just die green. If we have a long fall of cool nights, you'll get good color. So it won't be consistent. Overall, I'm a little disappointed with it...if nothing else, it really is a single purpose plant for me. It looks very plain throughout the summer, so it's only season to shine is fall in my situation. I don't really look at the garden whatsoever through the winter to enjoy its bark. BTW - I second Hykue about your questions, nutsaboutflowers!(I hope you don't mind if I start calling you "nuts"...I like typing shorter names!) Somebodies got to keep things hopping around here.

I have seen 3 old fashioned lilacs bloom in north east Ga. There were very few blossoms on the bushes and they got a lot of mildew. They smell wonderful. I grew up as a child with lilacs in central NY and miss them. I have tried the southern lilacs but they don't have the right fragrance. If you find one that smells good and blooms well let me know.