| Description | Ludwig Spaeth (Syringa vulgaris) is an heirloom Lilac being around since 1883. Has dark red purple, fragrant flowers. |
|---|---|
| Pronunciation | (si-RING-gah)(vul-GAIR-iss) |
| Plant Type | Shrubs Deciduous |
| Hardiness Zone | 3-9 |
| Sunlight | full, mostly sunny |
| Moisture | average |
| Soil & Site | average, avoid wet soggy sites |
| Flowers | panicle-like thyrses of single red-purple florets, fragrant, later blooming |
| Fruit | seeds in loose clusters of brown beaked dehiscent capsules |
| Leaves | simple, green leaves, may suffer from powdery mildew in the fall, best planted where it has good air circulation |
| Stems | has raised lenticels |
| Roots | fibrous |
| Dimensions | 10+ by 6+ feet (HS), too large for use near the house, best used as specimen plants or in shrub borders, can be used on corner plantings as long as given 6-8 feet from the corner |
| Maintenance | There are many different ways to prune a Lilac. The most drastic is to cut them down to the ground. Using this method I have had ones sucker back and regrow while others that didn't make. You can cut out the old stems and let the new suckers fill in thinning them to the desired amount. On many old plants we have removed all the suckers and left a few of the old stalks. Pruning them up to bare base stems, turning the plant into a small tree. Width can be controlled by pruning them back 1-2 or more nodes. Drastic pruning may delay flowering a few years. Since Lilacs bloom on next season’s wood, prune after they are done blooming |
| Propagation | division of suckers, softwood cuttings |
| Native Site | Lilac is native to Europe and has been in cultivation since the 16th century. |
| Cultivar Origin | Spaeth, 1883 |
| Misc Facts | An old heirloom variety. AKA: Andenken an Ludwig Spaeth, Souvenir de Louis Spaeth |
| Notes & Reference | #01-Manual of Woody Landscape Plants (Michael Dirr), #104-Lilacs “A Gardeners Encyclopedia”(Fiala) |
Cart
