californian lilac

[waggie31]

hi there, could anyone tell me when this buds up, i have one in my garden which looks dead.

thanks

[Charlie]

Bend or snap some branches. Living wood usually won't snap, crackle and pop like a dead branch or twig will. The bark, on a broken branch, should give you some idea of whether it is alive or not.

Care Charlie

[paghat]

Without knowing which of more than fifty species you've got, it's hard to give useful feedback. Around here most of the gardened ceanothus are evergreen, so if they look dead, they're dead. If you really have a deciduous ceanothus, those usually need a hard pruning once a year (March is idea) and I wouldn't expect the older limbs to do much. They can have a milder pruning mid summer to get green twigs from which to root new specimens.

-paghat the ratgirl

[David E. Ross]

"California lilac" (genus Ceanothus) is not a true lilac (genus Syringa). Sunset describes Ceanothus as evergreen, which means yours is likely dead. However, a few species do drop their leaves in especially cold weather.

Instead of trying to break a branch, scrape a branch with a fingernail. If you see green, it's still alive.

Sunset also mentions that Ceanothus is not a long-lived plant. "5 to 10 years is typical."

[Laura at theGardenPages]

I have a ceanothus (my second). It is blooming now. But there are a lot of different types, yours could just bloom later.

But if there are no leaves..... it's supposed to be evergreen. Break off the branch tips until you reach wood that has some green inside. For closer to the base of the plant use your nail.

Sorry! It may just be dead. I've hear they can just up and die after a few years. My first one seemed fine and then just died. But I think it was getting too much water. The one I have now is only getting rainfall and seems OK. I should plant a few more tho, the bees love them and they smell so wonderful when they flower.

Good luck