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 Question: My primrose lilac is
about 5 years old and has yet to bloom. What do I need to do to coax it?
It is in full sun and healthy.Answer: Yours is not an unusual problem at all. Lilacs sometimes just say no for reasons known only to them. You don't say where you are or what kind of maintenance you have done, so I can only give my best guesses here. Full sun is good, so you are okay there - if the plant gets 6 or more hours of full (not filtered) sun a day it should be happy. You don't say whether you have fertilized this season or with what type of fertilizer, but from here on out, fertilize with a fertilizer designed for flowering shrubs in the spring only. Lilacs don't like or want too much fertilizer. Using a fertilizer with too much nitrogen virtually guarantees no flowers. If your Lilac is near something else like the lawn that you are using high nitrogen fertilizer on, it may be leaching into the Lilac's space and pushing it just over the edge between flowering and not flowering. You also don't say whether you do any pruning on the Lilac or not, but if you don't carefully time pruning, you are cutting off next year's flowers. Don't prune at all if you can help it, but if you see dead or damaged wood, remove it as early in spring as you can, and do it sparingly. Once the plant has bloomed, you can do harder pruning immediately after flowering only - never prune at any other time of year. It's also possible that you have the wrong kind of Lilac for your area. Buying a sub-zero Lilac and planting it in the deep south is not going to work very well. If you bought it at the local nursery you are probably okay there, but if you purchased it by mail-order or at a discount store, you could very well have a variety that is not going to flower in your area because it will never get the required cold needed to set bud. Too much heat or drought can also affect Lilacs. If you are in one of the areas that has had the record heat in the last couple of years, it could be that the plant just isn't getting enough water. It takes a good bit of energy to put out flower buds and even soil moisture is important for Lilacs. Mulch around the base of the plant and pay attention to watering when the heat really sets in and it might make the difference.
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