Congo Lilac (Syringa vulgaris ‘Congo’)

Make a big statement each spring with a profuse display of red buds and sweet-scented magenta-purple flower panical clusters that reach nearly a foot-long! Congo Lilac (Syringa vulgaris ‘Congo’) is a beloved French Hybrid Lilac and classic Herloom plant! It is well-known for its exceptional hardiness and vigor.

Well-branched Lilac shrubs work hard in any landscape, and heirloom Congo Lilac is no exception. Their long-lasting spring display is a favorite nectar resource for honeybees and butterflies, but these prolific blooms allow you plenty of stems so you won’t feel feel bad sneaking a few blooms for cut flower arrangements indoors!

With bold color and heavy bloom production, easy-care Congo is cloaked for summer in heart-shaped green foliage! It makes a worthy addition to just about any garden and does very well throughout the USDA hardiness zones 3 through 8. Requiring fewer chill hours to bloom, Congo is among the few Lilacs that reliably bloom in warmer climates.

Planting and Application:

Set up your outdoor entertainment area to take advantage of the other side of your privacy hedge. Lilac shrubs make near-perfect privacy, you’ll love their shelter but never feel penned in, it becomes an impressive screen that couldn’t be easier to care for! Your birds will adore the shelter too!

Carve out a private reading nook for yourself with a hammock or chaise on the far end. What wonderful memories you’ll create each spring! Plant a big, blowsy hedge along your property line. You’ll gift your entire neighborhood with their delightful fragrance. Create groupings for incredible depth of color!

Choose Congo Lilac to use as an anchor at the corner of your home’s front yard foundation planting. This is a light-hearted choice that offers plenty of interest and lives nearly forever with proper care!

Use a showy row of these durable Lilacs as a large-scale backdrop for Butterfly and Pollinator Gardens! These are bright pops of color for any sunny location throughout your landscape!

• Big Bold Deep Purple Blooms
• Incredible Fragrance
• Dark Green Foliage
• Easy-Care French Hybrid Heirloom Lilac Variety
• Specimen, Accent, Shade, Privacy & Hedges

Tips for Care:

Lilacs are easy-care and cold resistance and Heirloom Congo Lilac has it all! It also loves the full sun! Not particular on soil type, any rich well-drained soil is best, preferring slightly alkaline soils. Amend with compost and add organic, slow-release blooming shrub fertilizer in spring. Be sure Lilac does not sit in water, nor dry out for too long to protect your investment.

A generous layer of mulch helps retain soil moisture as well as insulate the root system from heat and chill. Water well through the crucial establishment period and during extended drought. Be sure to not cluster Lilac too tightly among other large trees or shrubs.

If you live with deer in your area, apply repellent spray on planting day. Deer are hungry and curious, and you want to train them to leave your plants alone. Reapply according to the label.

Don’t miss a single bloom! Follow these easy Pruning steps for the best flowering. It is important not to prune Lilacs until after they have finished blooming, because if you wait too long and you may remove next year’s flowers! Every few years, Lilac benefits from a renewal pruning too.

• Blooms Best in Full Sun
• Well-Drained Enriched Soil
• Moderate Moisture & Mulched Beds
• Long-Lived & Low Maintenance
• Rarely Bothered by Deer
• Cold & Drought Tolerant

Incredible deep dark blooms and wonderful fragrance.