Plant of the Day: Common Lilac - Syringa vulgaris 'Wedgwood Blue'
Photo of Common Lilac - Syringa vulgaris 'Wedgwood Blue'

Photo courtesy of Missouri Botanical Garden

Uncommon Lilac


Native to eastern Europe, the common lilac has migrated far and wide in the 500 years since Ottoman gardeners sent plants to their peers in Europe. In North America, for example, the lilac arrived in the 1700s and can now be found growing wild from Arkansas to Hudson Bay and British Columbia to Nova Scotia.


When gardeners love a plant, they share it. That explains in part the travels of the lilac. A hardy, reliable deciduous shrub that flowers generously, it earned its ticket. The flowers are prized as much for their perfume as their profusion, in fact, renowned for the sweetness and strength of their fragrance.


Nursery folk share credit for spreading the lilac. They learned early to keep an eye on their nurseries for new colors, leaf shapes, and plant sizes. So today we have hundreds of choices. You can glimpse the profusion by roaming the site of the International Lilac Society. Better yet, find a copy of Lilacs: a Gardener’s Encyclopedia, by Father John L. Fiala, who, over a long career, bred many cultivars of lilacs (and crabapples, but that’s a different book).


By Mark Kane - the Groundskeeper, YourGardenShow.com

Copyright © 2012 YourGardenShow.com

Want to read more about this plant and other varieties? Click here for the Common Lilac - Syringa vulgaris 'Wedgwood Blue' Plant Page!

Plant Photo Tagging - How it Works

Video by Tom Finerty, founder YourGardenShow.com

Plant Photo Tagging allows you to turn any garden photo into a rich tapestry of what you have planted. It’s fun, informative, and helpful to others visiting your garden. As you photo tag, you can easily add plant names from our database and/or make notes about anything you’d like. To get started, sign-in and go to your Garden.


Click on any image in your garden's slideshow Carousel to get to full-view mode. Click on the “Tag” icon just below your photo and you are ready to tag! Simply click and drag your mouse over a plant or area you’d like to highlight or tag. A pop-up box will appear and ask for either a plant name or a note - add one or both, then click “tag” and you’ve just tagged your garden!


Write and tell us your suggestion for a "How it Works" video:
how-it-works@yourgardenshow.com


For more info contact: help@yourgardenshow.com

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Plant of the Day archive

Siberian squill

Snowdrop

Douglas fir

Norway spruce

Common Lilac 'Marie Frances'

Common Lilac 'Wedgwood Blue'

Manchurian lilac 'Miss Kim'

Red mulberry

White spruce

Striped squill

Scotch pine

Frazier fir

Colorado Spruce

Hardy Pecan

Asparagus

Beet

Brussels Sprouts

Globe Artichoke 'Imperial Star'

American Hazelnut

Black Alder

Seven-son flower

European larch

Maidenhair tree

Butterfly weed

Creeping Zinnia

Garlic 'Spanish Roja'

Garlic 'Georgia Fire'

Garlic 'Persian Star'

Garlic 'Asian Tempest'

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Gourd

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Dwarf pear

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Potato

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American elderberry

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Sweet Potato

Sedum

Blackberry

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Mache

Japanese falsecypress

Sweet Autumn Clematis

Japanese Anemone

Carrots

Hot Peppers

Cilantro

Okra

Peppers 'Cal Wonder Orange'

'Cherry Pink' Tomatoes