The Korean lilacs are in glorious bloom right now, perfuming the yard with their pretty fragrance. It’s a slightly less potent variation of the sweet Korean spice viburnum that finished up a little while back. These little lilacs extend the fragrant season, picking up where their American counterparts leave off. Nature knows what she’s doing, bridging the transitory weeks in such sweetly-scented fashion.
These easy bushes have taken off in landscaping over the past few years. Usually that waters down their appeal, but these are such high-performing shrubs that I can’t be mad about everyone else wanting them. The foliage remains fresh and mildew-free until the fall, something our American lilacs have yet to achieve thanks to our humid and hot summers. Some years I prune them back hard, some years not at all. (Pruning should always and only be done immediately after this first bloom to ensure you don’t nip off future buds.) While the American lilacs tend to take every other year off when it comes to prolific blooming, the Korean version blooms reliably and heavily every year, and they often repeat bloom in the late summer when the weather mirrors these spring days.
