Update on my lilac bush

Lilacs can also get borers and its possible, you got rid of those insects with the radically drastic pruning.

Lilacs are really very tough bushes.

Have you ever been in the country and seen old foundations where farmhouses once stood?

The foundation stones are often surrounded by lilacs!

I have 5 lilac bushes in a row outside my bedroom window. I added an everblooming lilac this year - I have gotten non-stop flowers since I planted it in May (I do deadhead it).

Just a thought for people who love lilacs and want a longer lasting season...

Lilacs benefit from selective pruning of their older stems. The idea is to allow the younger newer stems to do the blooming. As lilac stems age, they get less floriferous or flowers. Its best to selectively prune, cut each unproductive stem down to the ground and let the younger thinner stems do the flowering for you.

The same thing works with hydrangeas which also can benefit from selective pruning.

This past winter though in the NE, many plants didn't bloom in the spring as expected with the extended cold-- some plants affected were hydrangeas (the big leaf varieties or macrophylla), rhododendrons and lilacs.

Lilacs are real drama queens. Make sure yours is not sharing its space with other shrubs or plants.

On 8/13/2014 JustJazzmom said:

Lilacs can also get borers and its possible, you got rid of those insects with the radically drastic pruning.

That's what happened to mine. I had to cut one bush down to the ground (it's sending up new shoots) and another I thinned down to about a fourth it's size. Look for tiny round holes in the wood. There's a spray you can buy from the nursery to deter them.

I had a huge very old lilac in my yard that split in half during a rare ice storm about 4 years ago. The remaining half is still alive but just barely. I get a few blooms on it in the spring. Love the smell.