Lilac and what to do with it

Hi everyone, I got this - what I believe is - Lilac for the bargain price of £1 about 6 weeks ago. I have been meaning to post on here about it for a while!

I had to get it for that price but I have no idea how to look after it. I would like to have it in a pot in my yard which gets sun part of the day but not all day.

Can I keep it in the pot I bought it in? Should I repot it now even though it is getting cold? The leaves are yellowing now but it has lots of buds on it. Do I need to prune it?

Any other things I need to know about looking after it?

 

Don't prune now, it will lose any possible next year flowers (although it may still be too young to flower), I would repot or plant out if you can decide on a final place. They need at least 6 hours of sunlight in the growing season to produce blooms

 

Hello @wren1, I agree not to prune it now, but it is looking very pot bound. I would get it out of the pot, tease out the roots, and plant it out in the garden now. As long as the soil isn`t icy it will be fine. Lilac is pretty tough.
It grows very big, and would like to be in the ground really.

 

I agree with all that has been said. I would definitely not keep it in a pot. It's not suited to being confined and will never flourish. I have Lilacs which are enormous, about 15 ft high and with maybe 25 stems. Ok these will be maybe getting on for as old as I am...drawing the OAP will give you a good idea of my age so don't panic that yours will grow huge any time soon. Lots of shrubs cope fine being in pots but I wouldn't count Lilac as one of them.

 

Don't make wine out of it . Elkie Brooks would have killed herself

 

The only problem I have found with lilac is that the common one tends to sucker. So I grow a small leaved lilac now that doesn't sucker and flowers several time a year.

 

Thanks Nigel - that comment has just made me make a decision.... one of mine is suckering like crazy .......and it`s coming OUT tomorrow.

 

Thanks for your replies everyone and sorry it has taken me so long to come back to you. I didn't get any email notifications for some reason so I thought no-one had replied. I don't log in directly much as I can never remember my password!

I'm going to try and plant it out today. It does look like it's suffering now. It's losing a lot of leaves (though it has been windy).

I'm a little disappointed though as I was hoping I could keep it in the yard in a pot so I could see it out of the kitchen window. No point if it won't flower though!

Sorry to show my ignorance but, what are suckers and why are they a problem?

 

Suckers are new plants that grow from the roots. They tend to come up in the middle of everything else and don't really form viable plants

 

Wren, as long as you stick it in the ground, firm it in well with your boot, and give it a bucket of water - it will be fine. It will shed all it`s leaves now as it is autumn, and in the spring you will see lots of new growth. Stop worrying

 

@Wren dont be too disheartened - you could consider buying a dwarf buddleia instead which as you can see has a look of Lilac and like Lilac is scented too, copes well in a pot and if you have a Wyevale GC nearby they were reduced to £3/5 per pot - so you would still have something pretty to see out of your kitchen- plus they have a longer flowering period too...not to mention they will attract lots of Butterflies for you to enjoy from your window, thats why they have the nickname Butterfly Bush


dwarf buddleia - Google Search

 

Why not just buy a dwarf Lilac? Ideal for griwing in pots, grow about 2 ft and are scented just like the large ones.



This is ours. Sorry i can't remember the name but look out for Korean or Canadian Hybrids.

 

Now thats an idea KFF....thats a gawus Lilac ....or better still buy both
I WANT!!! want !!! one like yours now

 

I've got two lilacs I bought this year from a pound shop. They were around 10" tall. I did pot them into larger pots for a while as I thought they were bit small to put in ground. They grew very well and I planted them out end of May. Both have grown a little more, although they seem to be slow growing. They appear to be healthy as far as I can tell.

I have two dwarf Buddleja's and they do well in pots and two large ones. Also have been given a few cuttings for a pale lilac with silver leaves variety. And yesterday my three pots of white Buddleja arrived Buddlejas are wonderful plants, very pretty to look at, smell good, loved by Bees and Flutterbys and easy to look after. A win win