Year of the Lilac
Superior Plant Choices for 2022 and Beyond
E
ach year, the National Garden Bureau selects one annual (Verbena), one perennial (Phlox), one bulb crop (Gladiolus), one edible (Salad Greens), and one shrub (Lilac) as their “Year of the” crops. Plants are chosen because they are popular, easy-to-grow, widely adaptable, genetically diverse, and versatile. Learn more about this year’s plants, download photos, logos, and more on each 2022 Year Of plant page at www.ngb.org/year-of-plants-2022/.
Snapshots of some of the plants Year of the Lilac
Lilacs are among the most carefree spring-flowering, multi-stemmed, deciduous shrubs (or small trees), well-loved for their toughness, reliability, and fragrance. Lilac blooms go far beyond every imaginable shade of
lilac/purple from very pale to very dark. Look for lilacs in hues of red, pink, blue, yellow, cream, and white — even picotee (white-edged, deep-purple ‘Sensation’). The color may change from bud to bloom and as the flowers mature. Individual flowers can be single or double. Many gardeners, especially those in urban spaces, just don’t have the room for the traditional larger lilacs yet want all their beauty and fragrance. Breeders have been hard at work creating compact varieties. There’s no excuse now for not having the joy, fragrance, and beauty that lilacs bring in spring. These beauties will even grow happily in a container on your balcony. Pinktini™ Lilac (Syringa x prestoniae) is new in garden centers in Spring 2022. Upright, compact, and cold hardy to Zone 2, this new pink-blooming variety is great for small spaces and early-season blooms in cold climates. Pinktini™ is more compact and tidier than the classic ‘Miss Canada’ lilac.
Pinktini from Bailey Nurseries – National Garden Bureau
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