Syringa Pearl Potion™ Lilac

A Bloomin' Easy® variety, Syringa Pearl Potion™ lilac is a deciduous shrub offering spring and summer interest, blooming mid-spring. Tiny, starry flowers are arranged in dense, cone-shaped terminal clusters. The sweetly scented flowers start pink and turn pearl white as they mature. They sustain pollinators, including bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, and make lovely spring 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.

A Syringa meyeri, commonly called lilac, meyer lilac, or Korean lilac, Pearl Potion is a highly versatile multistemmed shrub. Its neat, upright, compact, rounded habit makes a gorgeous specimen or a great thriller (focal point) in a container garden. But it is shown to best effect when massed or grouped in beds and borders and makes a lovely flowering hedge.

Long-lived and easy to grow, lilac grows best in sunny locations with organically rich, well-draining soil having a neutral to alkaline pH. Cold hardy to Zone 3, the plant not only tolerates very cold conditions but also requires a period of cold weather to bloom well. It is not well-suited to warmer climates and cannot tolerate soggy, wet conditions. Meyer lilac is pet friendly but deer resistant and has more mildew resistance than most lilacs. Any desired pruning should be done immediately after the spring bloom and before new buds are set to ensure abundant blooms the following year.

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 that can be removed, leaving a hollow tube that has traditionally been used to create panpipes.