If a late winter or early spring ice storm or arctic blast is predicted, cover the plants to protect fragile buds. Remove the covering as soon as the weather warms again.

Don't prune too late: Pruning lilacs too late means you risk cutting off next year’s buds. "Pruning in the winter can cause stress to your lilac by making it susceptible to winter damage ...

If all the flower buds on a lilac or apple did open in the fall, it would expend the entire set, leaving none to open the next spring. It would be a spring without flowers on those individuals.

Lilacs, which bloom on the previous season’s growth, start the bud-setting process pretty quickly after flowering, so Ms. Finley recommends that spring’s deadheading and light pruning happen ...

Viburnums and lilacs tend to form flower buds at the ends of the branches, so even light pruning of these shrubs can remove flowers, while light thinning of stems shouldn’t affect flowering as much.

Depending on the variety, lilac blooms can be purple, lavender, blue, blush, pink, white, ivory, creamy yellow, yellow, or bicolor. If you are looking for an exciting color, try syringa vulgaris ...

To keep your lilacs looking their best, they need to be pruned, fertilized and shaped almost every year, soon after they are done blooming in the late spring. Don’t wait too long, as next year ...