ANYONE can have a wonderful spring garden, just look at Floriade, but the real challenge for gardeners is maintaining colour throughout the year.

A stunning, flowering shrub to fill the gap between early spring and when roses flower is the lilac.

Lilacs are either Syringa vulgare from the Balkan Peninsula or the smaller-growing Syringa persica from Persia.

Their delightful fragrance is filling the air right now and, with a beautiful range of colours, lilacs are also perfect for cut flowers.

They were first introduced to Britain in the 16th century by the well-known royal gardener and plant hunter John Tradescant.

Between 1876 and 1927, French plant breeder Victor Lemoine and his son, Emile, introduced more than 150 new cultivars and, suddenly, the popularity of lilacs took off and it became de rigueur to grow them.

Two examples of their breeding program include S. “Madame Lemoine” (1890), a pure white double and S. “Katherine Havemeyer” (1922), with spectacular purple-lavender blooms.

Both are still available and were given the prestigious Award of Garden Merit by the UK’s Royal Horticultural Society in 1937 and 1969 respectively.

A few comments on their care:

• They grow in almost any type of soil, although the better the soil the greater the rewards.
• Lilacs will not tolerate wet feet, originating in the hilly Balkan Peninsula, so plant in the highest place in the garden.
• Plant lilacs in full sun. Most lilacs today are grafted to prevent suckering, although if you see any suckers cut them off immediately.
• Unlike most deciduous shrubs, do no prune lilacs in winter when dormant, but in late spring immediately after they have finished flowering.
• Lilacs can be cut back hard, I recommend reducing by up to a third at any one time.

THE spectacular Ceanothus or “Californian Lilac” is now in flower. Despite the common name “lilac” it is no relation to lilacs and is a native to California.

They cannot be compared to lilacs in that the flowers have no fragrance and only come in shades of blue. Despite this, it is an evergreen shrub worthy of a place in the garden for its blue colour.

Most commercial growers in Australia seem only to grow Ceanothus “Blue Pacific”, awarded Shrub of the Year in 1979. I really can’t understand this, as there are more than 70 cultivars ranging from low, one-metre growers to two-three metres, of which all grow well here.

One of my most frequently asked questions is: “I have cut back my Ceanothus as it was getting woody and it does not seem to shoot again”. Quite correct, I advise, and it almost certainly never will. A light trim immediately after flowering and never into the old wood. This is the only Ceanothus that has this problem.

AUSTRALIAN White, Tasmanian Purple, Korean Red and Shandong aren’t varieties of wine but garlic. Look out for Penny Woodward’s new publication “Garlic – an organic guide to knowing, growing and using garlic” (Hyland House), essential reading for anyone into garlic.

Jottings…

• Find a place for the old French (1858) thornless climbing rose Rosa Zephirine Drouhin with the most exquisite fragrance of any rose.
• A great veggie for the children to sow is radishes.
• Lift and divide daffodils planted in the wrong spot, ie. too much shade and store in a cool dry place until March.
• Start liquid feeding container plants.
• To counter mildew on roses a good organic cure is to mix one part full-cream milk (not “lite”) mixed with eight parts water. Spray thoroughly under the leaves as well as on top.