Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Syring villosa, the Late Lilac...it's only barely begun to flower

Syring oblata, the Early Lilac, was full out on April 13; three weeks later S. villosa is just beginning so the season runs a month or so. This plant is located along the path towards the bottom of China Valley. I was pruning nearby today. I am working my way down the valley, weeding, pruning, and doing whatnot. The problem I've run into is that there are weeds developing at the top and I haven't made it to the bottom yet...It's been a good spring for weeds!

But I digress....S. villosa, which blooms on new wood, is one of the parents of the Preston Hybrids, a series of cultivars that, by my observations, perform better in our area with its hot humid summers than the traditional S. vulgaris cultivars. Dirr observes that there are a frightening number of them. I know only a handful, but particularly like 'Donald Wyman' and 'Miss Canada'.

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