Lilacs

Today marks the first of a series of failures in the garden.  It has been a nasty time here in Tucson....and I suspect for gardeners all over the US.  We have had severe frost in our area for 2 nights now and with this, the 3rd night, being the worst of them all.  It has really broken my heart.  I didn't want to come home tonight because I knew I would see terrible things.  And I did.  Huge cactus colonies have collapsed all over the sidewalks.  Spider plants that love our outside weather have died. Citrus trees may be destroyed even with blankets over them.  It's terrible.  Today our high here was 38 degrees!!!!  That should be the overnight low, but the overnight low has yet to be set......16-18 degrees predicted.  Good bye all tropical plants.  I've saved as many of the plants as I could and they are locked up in the shed.  Tonight will be the last night of this nasty weather and I'm hoping that this is the last of it.  It has been one of the coldest and driest winters on record.  This spring we'll see what truly survives this brutal onslaught. Let's talk about a favorite plant......the lilac.

Many things that people ask about when moving to the desert is whether or not a person can plant the beautiful lilacs from their hometowns here in Tucson.  This story is about failure and there are different definitions of failure as you will see over the next several days.  People love the way this plant looks and smells....and the memories that it evokes from our childhood are pretty powerful.  If you've never smelled lilacs all at bloom at once, you've never felt true intoxication from a flower.  It overpowers the senses, similiar to what citrus blossoms do to us here in the Southwest, and it makes people smile.  So one could imagine why you'd want these plants in your garden, right? The answer is not easy nor is it a "yes or no" type answer.  I list this as a "failure" plant because it rarely lives up to its' potential here in the Sonoran desert.  This plant just doesn't do well.  I have two plants in my garden and they are bare right now.  During the summer, they leaf out and rarely ever produce flowers.  With this brutal cold weather we are having, it may actually bloom this spring....and if it does, I will be super happy.  They are in pots and placed as a background bushy plant.  Have I seen full flowering bushes in Tucson?  Yes but only once.  The bushes are located on the Northern Side of a house on the East side on Golf Links and Harrison.  They flowered profusely on scraggly bushes and were very much neglected.  It was the most bizarre thing to see in June. I had opened the window and smelled the familiar fragrance. Using my sniffer, I walked outside and nearly freaked out at the discovery.  I clipped the flowers off and put them in a vase.  During the day, I moved the vase around the house just so I could breathe in the short lasting smell.  Yes, SOME people in Tucson have lilac bushes, but it's rare.

Lilacs are a dream....a fantasy:)  During Spring, the garden centers will sell lots of lilacs and people think that because Lowe's or Home Depot have them in our location that they can be grown here in Tucson.  One random variety does grow here and it's known as the Persian lilac or Persica Lilac. It's the variety I saw growing at the home.  This variety is said to be perfect for zone 9 compared to the common syringus vulgaris.  Lilacs are a hit or miss here in Tucson.  You need A LOT of cold for the blossoms to form.  My advice is to put them in pots first and move them around the property to see where they will grow better. They will grow, but you have to nurture them....especially during the summer.  That's way too much work.  Some people have lilacs for 3 years and then they die without reason. It's a tricky plant to grow and I highly recommend NOT buying this evil temptation at the local garden shop during Spring Madness.  Don't let impulse control you.  Think first.  That's why I own two:) Hey, a former Wisconite can have his dreams, can't he?  For beginning gardeners, I don't recommend this plant at all.  Stay tuned for more information.....this winter cold is redefining our desert this year and I just came back in from outside. Pipes are bursting all over town.   Tomorrow, the landscape crew is coming and we will be working around the grounds. 
Stay tuned for an update on the second project and more failures in the garden.....just in time before the garden madness begins in 3 weeks.  It's hard to believe that we are a little over a month away from the official start of gardening here in Tucson.   Protect your gardens!!!