Lilac

[halesie]

Hi, we have a lovely white lilac (at least that's what I think it is!) tree with what looks like a lot of growth in separate little trunks next to it - I've attached a photo.

It looks to me like the smaller "trees" are also lilac as the leaves look identical - does anyone know if that's right and if so whether we're ever likely to get any flowers from the smaller ones or not b/c they're just offshoots from the main tree?

Thanks

Closer pics of main tree flowers (1) and offshoot leaves (2).

Hi Bob thanks very much, that's really helpful and makes sense. We also have a bigger purple lilac which has had a couple of sections die, so perhaps that's a related thing (or may just be my children climbing all over it and damaging it ).

That’s really interesting. I have a couple of lilacs and didn’t know this.

Yes I didn't know that either I LOVE lilac Is it especially gorgeous this season or is it me? The perfume takes me straight back to being 5 years old like wallflowers

I agree maybe it's also all the rain we had early in March was it? (I've had soo many irises out too, though I did clear some, perhaps that triggered them into flower ) . they smell lovely. I just went to look at my lilac and it's gone over

Now I'm in a quandry, my pelargoniums are in bud, they're in a warm sunny space in a small open cave. Do I put them on the terrace straightaway or will it get colder again?

Oh yes they do smell amazing this year! Sorry to hear yours have gone over ppeat

Afraid I know nothing about pelargoniums, just Googled and they look so pretty!

Noticed a strange shadowy thing in my purple lilac tree yesterday, took a closer look and found DCat tiptoeing along tiny branches

Bless your cat halesie I say that and then I remembered one of our 'looked after' strays sitting under the elder tree by our terrace looking up into it, then I noticed him literally climbing up a to nest there and taking a bird's egg out !!

There's usually an ulterior motive with a cat !!

Bob's generally right, though I think it's more that lilac tends to flower at the top, so if you leave it with a single trunk, the flowers are way above your head. It's probably best to encourage multiple trunks from a youngish age, as taking out a single big trunk is quite a shock to the tree.

I've inherited several lilacs, which I've paid little attention to. One suddenly died, possibly honey fungus, but the re-shooted from the base. The largest has a tangle of branches about 6in in diameter - it currently is supporting one end of the hammock.

My lilac is in amongst laurel which gets hacked back regularly so they get cut back too and hence grow along the bank on lots of short shoots and branches over a few metres. They don't flower much normally but look better than usual this year, no flowers yet though.
I am in Scotland and I wouldn't put out pelargoniums yet. - Probably mid may earliest.
But if you are further south or near the coast you could put them out sooner.
You can always cover them with fleece at night if you put them out a bit early.

Good idea Edwina about the fleece (if I get round to changing my pots with their bulbs soon) .

Thanks Mere.

I've counted around 25 suckers so plenty of new trees on their way! Weirdly the much larger purple lilac tree, and a smaller white one on the other side of the garden don't have any suckers at all!

Ppeat your cat is so sneaky! I suspect ours really goes up the trees to try to catch birds. An especially silly pigeon decided to set up a nest really low in a big tree last year, the cat could have sauntered up there to her! We had to annoy the poor bird to get her to go elsewhere

Snap about pigeons, they must be the bird brains of the bird population !! They always nest by the house, making a lot of noise flapping away when I'm just walking quietly past their tree (which is usually too close!) This year they have been copying the house martins by nesting in the barn, they have never done that before!

Hehe! Evolution in progress

They don't flower much normally but look better than usual this year, no flowers yet though. As a rule of thumb, try pruning just after flowers finish. This means that early flowerers which general flower on last year's growth have time to make new growth for next year's flowers, and late flowers, which usually flower on this year's growth, are being pruned late in the season ready to make lots of new growth next year.