Common Name: Manchurian lilac
Type: Deciduous shrub
Family: Oleaceae
Zone: 3 to 8
Height: 4.00 to 9.00 feet
Spread: 5.00 to 7.00 feet
Bloom Time: May
Bloom Description: Lilac
Sun: Full sun
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Hedge
Flower: Showy, Fragrant, Good Cut
Leaf: Good Fall
Attracts: Hummingbirds, Butterflies
Tolerate: Deer
Culture
Easily grown in average, medium, well-drained soil in full sun. Tolerates light shade, but best bloom is in full sun. Prefers rich, moist, somewhat neutral soils. Needs good air circulation. Prompt removal of faded flower panicles before seed set will increase bloom in the following year. Prune immediately after flowering.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Syringa pubescens subsp. patula, commonly called Manchurian lilac, is more upright growing than Syringa meryeri or Syringa pubescens subsp. microphylla and grows to 9' tall and as wide. Lilac-purple flowers,4-6" long, often occur in pairs, at the branch tips.
Genus name comes from the Greek word syrinx meaning tube or pipe in reference to the pith-filled but easily-hollowed stems of some genus plants.
Specific epithet mean downy or hairy.
'Miss Kim' is a compact, upright cultivar which grows 4-7' tall with a similar spread. Lavender to ice blue, sweetly fragrant, single flowers are arranged in dense, terminal clusters (panicles to 3" long) which cover this shrub in May (St. Louis). Elliptic to ovate, dark green leaves (to 5" long) turn burgundy (often attractive) in autumn. A good selection for southern climates.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems. This lilac is considered to be a low maintenance plant with excellent resistance to powdery mildew. Young leaves and flower buds are susceptible to frost injury in spring.
Uses
This compact cultivar has good mildew-resistant foliage and is a good selection for smaller areas. May be massed, grouped or planted as a small specimen. Good for shrub borders, foundation plantings, peripheries of borders or rock gardens.