Managing lilacs

Educational resources from Nebraska Extension

Nebraska Extension is the outreach arm of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. They have several great resources to learn more about growing lilacs in Nebraska.

Articles:

Videos:

Pruning Lilacs

Articles:

Videos:

Great video covering annual pruning and cutting 1/3 of old canes out per year (3-year process). Caption from GardenerScott, “Lilac bushes can get tall and leggy and knowing how to prune them will give you years of beautiful, fragrant flowers on manageable plants. Three different ways of pruning lilacs depend on whether the plant is well-maintained, overgrown, or completely wild. The most important aspect of lilac pruning is know when to prune — right after the flowers fade. Severe pruning of an overgrown plant is good to do in late winter or early spring.”
Follow-up video by GardenerScott

Cultivar selection

Cultivar selection for disease resistance for powdery mildew and bacterial blight are two considerations. Research on cultivar resistance in 2005 by Tennessee State University provide overall disease resistance ratings (see below):

Tennessee-Research-on-Disease-ResistanceDownload

Colors

There are consider 7 main color classifications for lilacs including (I) white, (II) violet, (III) blue & bluish, (IV) lilac, (V) pink & pinkish, (VI) magenta, and (VII) purple

Nebraska Lilac Breeders

Henry E. Sass (1910-1982) was a farmer and plant breeder from Omaha

Max and Darlene Peterson from Ogallala

University of Nebraska-Lincoln at North Platte researchers Dale T. Lindgren, Glenn Viehmeyer, and Roger Uhlinger released ‘Prairie Petite’ in 1996.

Websites

Articles

Books to read