Lilacs are treasured for their incredibly fragrant and beautiful blooms that herald the arrival of spring. Their flowers make excellent cut flowers, perfuming a home or event with their heady scent. Not all lilac varieties are ideal for cutting, however. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the best types of lilacs for cut flowers, top cultivars to grow, and tips for cutting and arranging lilacs.
Lilacs belong to the genus Syringa and are part of the olive family There are over 25 species, with hundreds of cultivars available. Lilacs are deciduous shrubs with a rounded form and grow 5 to 15 feet tall on average The blooms appear on panicles in spring and early summer before the leaves emerge. Flower colors include traditional lilac-purple along with pink, magenta, blue, cream, and white.
Why Grow Lilacs for Cut Flowers?
Lilac’s extremely fragrant blooms make them one of the most desirable cut flowers. Here are some of the benefits of lilacs as cut flowers:
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Intoxicating fragrance – The scent perfumes bouquets and floral arrangements.
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Striking colors – Range from soft pastels to vibrant magentas that pop in arrangements
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Spring blooms – Provide fresh cut flowers in late spring when selection is limited.
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Abundant blooms – Each shrub produces dozens to hundreds of blooms for cutting.
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Lasting vase life – With proper care, bouquets can last up to 7 days.
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Easy care – Lilacs are unfussy, low maintenance shrubs once established.
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Versatile – Use in mixed bouquets, mass arrangements, corsages, and more.
Tips for Growing Lilacs for Cutting
Follow these tips to maximize lilac bloom production for cutting:
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Select early, prolific bloomers.
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Plant in full sun with good air circulation.
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Prune annually after flowering by removing spent blooms.
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Provide well-drained, fertile soil.
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Water deeply once per week during growing season.
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Fertilize in early spring with balanced organic fertilizer.
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Disbud blooms for larger, showier flower clusters.
The Best Lilac Varieties for Cut Flowers
When selecting lilac varieties for cut flowers, late-bloomers with large, abundant blooms and intense fragrance are ideal. Here are top picks:
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Common Lilac – The classic with nostalgic scent and true lilac-purple blooms.
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Sensation Lilac – Two-toned purple and white blooms with sweet, spicy scent.
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Madame Lemoine Lilac – Creamy white, fully double blooms on large clusters.
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Miss Kim Lilac – Compact variety with ice-blue blooms and spicy scent.
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Katherine Havemeyer Lilac – Lavender-pink, heavily scented double blooms.
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Primrose Lilac – Pale creamy yellow flowers on long clusters.
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Ludwig Spaeth Lilac – Deep magenta blooms up to 12″ long on large panicles.
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Charles Joly Lilac – Reddish-purple, double flowers with intense, wine-like fragrance.
When and How to Cut Lilac Blooms
Follow these best practices for harvesting lilacs:
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Bloom timing – Cut when 1/2 to 2/3rds of florets have opened on the panicle.
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Time of day – Early morning is ideal while stems contain the most water.
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Tools – Use bypass pruners or hand pruners to cut each stem.
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Length – Cut stems 8 to 12 inches long. Remove leaves from lower half of stem.
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Angle – Cut stems at a 45 degree angle to maximize water uptake.
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Conditioning – Place freshly cut stems in warm water for several hours before arranging. Recut stems and replace water daily.
Arranging and Caring for Lilac Bouquets
To enjoy your lilac bouquets for as long as possible:
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Use a clean vase and fill with fresh water and floral preservative.
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Arrange lilacs in a cool location out of direct sunlight.
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Refresh water every 2-3 days and recut stems by 1-2 inches.
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Mist blooms occasionally with soft water spray.
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Remove spent blooms promptly to encourage new buds.
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Enjoy the fragrance! Lilacs will fill a room with scent.
With their abundant, fragrant blooms in a range of colors, lilacs make exceptional cut flowers in spring. Follow the tips above to grow and harvest cut lilacs for bouquets and arrangements that you’ll treasure.
What the Plants are Like
Lilacs are deciduous. To use them as a screen, the best performance will be in the late spring -fall season.
The common lilac, Syringa vulgaris, grows up to 20 ft. tall, if allowed. It can be maintained at a lower height, to around 12-15 ft. tall or less. Other types come in different sizes so they can fit in smaller areas or be used as smaller hedges and shrubs. For example, ‘Miss Kim’ grows to 8–9 feet tall. and ‘Dwarf Korean Lilac’ which grows to 4-5 ft. tall.
Lilacs spread by suckers. When you plant one it will spread wider each year, so be prepared for that. You can dig the suckers out and replant them if you like.
Lilacs are fairly long-lived, lasting 25 – 50 years or more if well cared for.
How to Grow Lilacs
Some varieties have been bred to do well in zones 2 and 9, and they can grow in zones 3 through 7. They need full sun.
Like fruit trees, lilacs need a certain amount of cold in the winter to bloom well. So a Los Angeles area botanic garden, Descanso Gardens, bred some varieties to bloom in their warm climate. They’re called the Descanso Lilacs.
Lilacs are quite easy to grow. They need soil with good drainage. On top of the soil, use an organic flower fertilizer. To make the soil more fertile and keep water in, mulch with good compost and wood chips.
Water deeply but infrequently. The roots like to dry out between waterings.
Do not keep soil too wet. Do not plant where there will be a lawn underneath, it will be too much water.
Lilacs can be troubled with powdery mildew. It’s not too serious because the bloom is over when they’re susceptible. But it is unsightly. They need good sun and good air circulation to help keep it at bay. Six hour of sun is necessary.
Pruning: Best bloom is achieved with proper pruning. And the best time to prune is after they bloom.
Lilacs bloom on second year wood. That means flower buds grow on new wood this year and bloom next year. So after your lilac has finished blooming, prune the flowering branch to a pair of leaves. This gets rid of the old flowers and makes room for two branches to grow and flower buds to form where there was only one.
This pruning produces more flowers and keeps the overall height of the plant to where you want it. These flowers will get so high on the bush that you can’t smell them if you don’t cut them back. If you need or want to prune back hard, you’ll have fewer blooms for a couple of years.
For the repeat bloomers, prune late in the dormant season. Cut the previous year’s growth to various lengths. If you want to keep the plant healthy, cut off a few of the oldest stems every year.
Best shrubs for a cut flower garden // Northlawn Flower Farm
FAQ
Do lilacs make good cut flowers?
What is the strongest smelling lilac bush?
How to make lilacs last longer in a vase?
What lilac blooms the longest?
Can lilac flowers be cut vertically?
The same principle works for lilacs only you also have to make a vertical cut at the stem bottom. The extra one or two vertical cuts provides a wider surface for water uptake, giving the lovely cut flowers a longer life in a vase. Also cut the lilac flowers when they are still in bud and starting to open.
How do you cut lilac flowers?
Cut them in the early morning or in the evening coolness. Since lilacs are woody and the flowers are on woody stems the flowers you’ll use a different method of harvesting your lilac flowers. You want to maximize the ability of water to travel up into the woody stem. Choose a spot to cut at a node of leaves on the branch. Cut the stem at an angle.
How do you take care of a lilac plant?
Fill a bucket half full of fresh, cool water, and have it at hand as you cut blooms. Pick flowers in the cool of the morning or evening. Lilacs open very little after harvest, so choose stems that have at least three-quarters of the flowers open. Next, remove all of the leaves so the plant isn’t putting its effort into keeping the leaves hydrated.
Do lilac flowers wilt?
Before adding your freshly cut lilac flowers to the vase, pluck off all the foliage that would be submerged. Leaves under or in the water will rot quickly, creating conditions that will cause your lilac stems to wilt faster. You can leave the uppermost greenery on the stems for a fuller arrangement.
When should you cut lilac flowers?
Cut your lilac flowers well before they’re fully open. Cut them in the early morning or in the evening coolness. Since lilacs are woody and the flowers are on woody stems the flowers you’ll use a different method of harvesting your lilac flowers. You want to maximize the ability of water to travel up into the woody stem.
Do lilacs need to be pruned?
The pruning you do depends on the age and condition of the lilac. Maintenance pruning is a light trim done on young lilacs annually to keep them in shape and blooming profusely. The focus is on removing dead wood and suckers, deadheading the flowers, and trimming a foot or so off the stems. Deadhead lilacs annually as soon as flowers fade.