Syringa Bloomerang® Dwarf Pink

A reblooming dwarf lilac variety, Syringa Bloomerang® Dwarf Pink is a deciduous shrub offering three seasons of interest. Small, distinctive heart-shaped leaves emerge dark green, retain their color in summer, and often turn bronze to purplish red in fall. Continuously blooming, Syringa Bloomerang® Dwarf Pink sets large, very showy panicles of lightly fragranced dark pink flowers. Blooming on old and new wood in spring, summer, and fall, the sweet-scented flowers attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds and make lovely bouquets. For longer lasting cuts, choose stems that have at least three-quarters of the flowers open, harvest in the cool of morning, remove all leaves, and immediately place in fresh, cool water.

Highly versatile, Syringa Bloomerang® Dwarf Pink has a uniform, upright, rounded habit and a moderate growth rate, reaching about a third of the size of conventional lilacs. A nice specimen, it makes a great filler in a container garden, but it is shown to best effect when massed or grouped in beds and borders and makes a nice screen.

Syringa Bloomerang® Dwarf Pink is long-lived and easy to grow. It prefers full sun and fertile, humus-rich, moist, well-drained soil with a neutral to alkaline pH. The plant requires a period of cold weather to bloom well and tolerates very cold conditions. It is not well-suited to warmer climates and cannot tolerate soggy, wet conditions. The plant is deer resistant. Any desired pruning should be done after the spring bloom. Spring flower buds will be removed if the bush is pruned in fall, winter, or early spring. Although trimming after blooming removes developing seed heads (which look like green bananas) and delays rebloom by a few weeks, it encourages more new growth for reblooming and gives the plant a neat appearance.

The botanical name of lilac, Syringa (suh-RIN-gah), is from the Greek word syrinx, which means tube. This is because the stems of lilac contain a spongy pith which can be removed, leaving a hollow tube that has traditionally been used to create panpipes.