Lilacs: A Gardener’s Encyclopedia – A Review

Lilacs: A Gardener’ s Encyclopedia by Fr. John L. Fiala (1988), revised and updated by Freek Vrugtman (2008), is a treat for both home gardeners and landscape gardeners.

This book is a detailed reference for gardeners and landscape professionals wanting current and thorough essentials about lilacs in built landscapes. Its eleven chapters, profusely illustrated with color photographs, appendices and indices, deal with just about every feature of lilac culture, care and use.

Those wishing to grow great lilacs should refer often to this gem of horticultural information. One warning: technical information, such as that for sprays and fertilizers, changes quickly, so check up-to-date information and resources.

Why Revise Lilacs: A Gardener’s Encyclopedia (1988)?

Lilacs: A Gardener’s Encyclopedia was revised by professional Canadian plantsman Freek Vrugtman (pronounced frake fruchtman), the International Lilac Registrar, a position he has held since 1976. Vrugtman is recipient of many prestigious horticulture awards. Here are his reasons for revising Fiala’s original lilac book:

• Inconsistencies and shortcomings due to time pressures on Fr. John L. Fiala. Fiala’s terminal illness and semiannual trips between Medina OH (summer) and Ocala, FL (winter) often left him without essential correspondence, reference files, notes and plant records. He was also writing around the same time The Genus Malus: Modern Flowering Crabapples as Ornamental Trees; Form, Companion Plants, and Propagation; Culture, Diseases, and Pests; Introductions, Hybridizing, and Taxonomy.
• Publication in the 1st edition of eight new botanical names. One of these is now included in another species and the other seven were never validly published under the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (2000).
• Old, obsolete scientific names. Name corrections reflect recent understanding of relationships for Syringa. Vrugtman added an alphabetical checklist with current accepted names along with old synonyms.
• Ordering of text material. Literature Citations replaces the 1st edition bibliography and links references to the text. The text also incorporates material from previous appendices. Updated and revised is the appendix The World’s Noteworthy Lilac Collections, Gardens, and Nurseries. Last but not least, there is a section on lilacs in arts and crafts.

Chapters that Appeal to Landscape Gardeners

There are four chapters of Lilacs: A Gardener’s Encyclopedia that probably appeal more to landscape gardeners than the rest. These are:

• Landscaping with Lilacs,
• Companion Plants to Lilacs,
• Lilac Culture and Lilac Diseases, and
• Pests and Problems.

• Landscaping with Lilacs

This chapter delivers almost everything landscape gardeners want and need to know about siting and using lilac cultivars in commercial and residential designs as well as in large collections.

There are also sections on lilac and winter interest, and the best lilacs as garden and landscape shrubs. Colored photos taken by Fiala and others enhance the beauty and usefulness of this section.

• Companion Plants to Lilacs

According to Fiala lilacs are “…enhanced by many different companion plants…suited by their form, background color, bloom or compatibility and harmony to grow together with lilacs.” Several color photos by Fiala and others illustrate using companion plants with lilacs.

Fiala’s choices for companion plants to lilacs include:

• conifers,
• flowering crabapples,
• flowering dogwoods,
• flowering cherries,
• peonies,
• showy magnolias and
• hostas.

Lilac Culture

Every landscape gardener needs to read this chapter before planting any lilacs. Fiala states that for optimum growth and flowering lilacs have four basic requirements: “good drainage, good soil, good sunlight, and good pruning.” This chapter also includes sections about rejuvenating old lilacs, record keeping, forcing lilacs and vase life.

Lilacs, as natives of hills and mountain woodlands, need excellent year-round drainage. Fiala includes instructions and diagrams on how to prepare raised lilac beds in poorly drained sites.

It is possible to forego pruning lilacs. However, different pruning techniques yield surprising effects in mature plants such as tree forms and standards (a single stem in tree form). Good to excellent blooms requires a minimum of light pruning each year.

Lilac Diseases, Pests, and Problems

Bacterial blights and powdery mildews along with animals and humans are chiefly responsible for problems in mostly trouble-free lilacs. Stress and humid conditions contribute to bacterial and fungal infections. Fiala’s pesticide suggestions may be out of date; consult local extension agents or garden centers for up-to-date recommendations.

Deer damage to lilacs is minimal if preferred food like eastern arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis) is nearby. Rabbits, mice and voles go after tender bark on young plants. Mower or herbicide damage, embedded wires in bark, and invading plants are the results of human nonchalance and neglect. Fiala also includes a section in this chapter about pollution damage, and cold and wind-chill injury.

Specifics

• Lilacs: A Gardener’s Encyclopedia. John L. Fiala and Freek Vrugtman. ISBN: 9780881927955. Publication Date: July 22, 2008. Hardcover; Pages 416. Illustrations: 582 color photographs; 26 b/w photos; 24 line drawings; 4 maps. Copyright: ¬©2008 Timber Press.