Syringa Bloomerang® Ballet™ Lilac

A Proven Winners® ColorChoice® Flowering Shrubs variety, Syringa Bloomerang® Ballet™ is a deciduous shrub offering three seasons of interest. Small, distinctive heart-shaped leaves emerge light green and retain their color throughout the season. A reblooming lilac, Syringa Bloomerang Ballet sets large, very showy panicles of fragrant light pink flowers. The strongest, most prolific bloomer in the Bloomerang series yet, the shrub blooms heavily in spring, takes a brief rest, and sets another heavy set of flowers in late summer through fall. The sweet-scented flowers attract pollinators, including 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 Ballet has a uniform, upright, rounded habit and a moderate growth rate. It makes a great specimen or filler in a container garden, but it is shown to best effect when massed or grouped in mixed beds and borders or as a hedge.

Long-lived and easy to grow, lilacs grow best in sunny locations with fertile, humus-rich, moist, well-draining soil having 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 soils. 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. Bloomerang Ballet is disease and deer resistant.

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 remove, leaving a hollow tube that has traditionally been used to create panpipes.