Planter suggestions

Lilac likes winter but doesn't like planters. Many succulents do well.

Lilacs enjoy a cold winter. My daughter lives in Saskatoon, Canada, where winter temperatures below -30F are common and lilacs are so common that they are a cliche.

Salt should not be an issue if the potting mix in the container drains well. You might want to add a little gypsum once a year to help remove salt from the soil, but salt in the air should not be a major problem.

However, lilacs are woody shrubs that can grow quite large. I don't think your container is deep enough.

The best source of a recommendation might be a nearby comprehensive nursery (not a hardware store or lumber yard).

"David E. Ross" wrote in news:j17hlu$6p2$ snipped-for-privacy@news.albasani.net:

Do you think one of the "dwarf" varieties might do well, if I kept it well- pruned?

Thanks

Chris

Lilacs bloom in early spring and are relatively unattractive the rest of the year.

Dwarf lilacs are 4 to 8 feet tall.

I have 2 outside a window that I appreciate in spring but once I start spending time outside, they're done.

I'd be inclined to fill a planter with annuals.

A topiary tree. Evergreen or boxwood or...

Any details regarding the actual growing of lilacs are beyond me. They don't do well in my climate because we don't get snow.

Where I live, I would use such a planter for evergreen bulbs or bulb-like plants, perhaps Agapanthus, Alstroemeria, or daylilies. Or I might fill it with various colors of wax-leaf begonias or 'Goodwin Creek Grey' lavendar.

Lilacs do grow well in the frozen north. It is a large plant for pots. The main reason for people wanting the plant is for the sweet oder the plant produces. The best place for Lilacs are next to outside screened windows so the nice scent can be sent through the home during summer. I wound not put them next to a porch or patio where people sit because nice smelling plants also attract all kinds of insects.

I seriously doubt lilac will survive growing in a container, certainly not freezing winters.

This is probably the most common container plant one finds in NYC:

I've never seen lilac growing in a container, even the smaller types grow too large, and I doubt they would survive a hard freeze out of the ground. I planted a lilac bush this spring to help soften one of my utility poles, this one:

Brooklyn1 wrote in news:7rtf371gdtvjr9coh5gn1jj482msgsb07s@

Looks great, thanks!

Chris

Brooklyn1 wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Well, I also spent a few minutes on Google looking around and I came across this:

Chris

Put an evergreen azalea into it. I have grown them successfully here in Northern NJ in tubs. They do well, will provide you with blossoms in the spring and will be an easy to manage shrub the rest of the year.

When I lived in Manhattan, I did not have your sea breezes, but did all my terrace gardening in containers. I even had a large ginko for years and years..

Best of luck.

Boron

I too had thought about azaleas. Since I'm not familiar with your climate, however, I was not sure they would do well.

Your container is the right size for two. With careful watering and feeding, it might even hold three. There are many great varieties. You might consider 'Inga', which I found was a repeat bloomer that sometimes bloomed not only in the spring but also once or twice in the summer. My favorite is 'George Taber', which I have as an informal hedge in front of my camellias; but it blooms only once a year.

Azaleas bloom once in the spring in the north.

Azaleas bloom once in the spring here in southern California, too. Except 'Inga' bloomed 2-3 times a year for me while in a container. This included early spring, late spring into early summer, and mid-summer.

I think Rockaway is Zone 7a and I know the common southern azaleas can't make it up here in 7a. I am not familiar enough with the California ones, specifically those you mention, to know if they'd hold, either, but I think Tabor is a bit tender.

Boron

I have two plants that make a valiant effort to bloom very sparsely on and off during the summer. Both were here when I moved in, so I do not know what they are. They are very low, stiff limbed varieties that drape over a support wall. They are misfits, and cannot be said to truly re-bloom, but I get a laugh out of them.

They could be great local oddities, too. There was an azalea and rhododendron breeder a 5 minute walk from my house (her home nursery grounds are now an arboretum) and this whole area is flower-sprinkled with her "leavings" every spring.

Boron

Any planter above ground will experience colder winters than things planted in the ground. As a result you may want to look at plants hardy in zone 4 .