Lilacs - A Waterwise Drought-tolerant Shrub - Perfect For Utah

Lilacs (Syringa vulgaris) have been a popular shrub in Utah for a long time!  My grandparents had a huge hedge of lilacs along the side of their driveway in Salt Lake City.  Every spring the masses of purple flowers would create an amazing fragrance.  You can see lilacs thriving all over on the Wasatch Front.
Lilacs are very hardy here.  They can tolerate cold winters and hot summers and they are waterwise; they only need supplemental water during the hottest parts of summer - a deep watering every 10 days or so, from mid-June through August.
There are many varieties of lilacs available at local garden centers.  They range in size from miniature (3 or 4 feet tall) to large (6 to 10 feet tall).  The flowers can be white, pink, blue, light purple or dark purple.
Lilacs make an excellent addition to a waterwise landscape where height or a hedge is needed.  It is important to prune Lilacs correctly - not shearing or topping, but cutting out old canes from the base of the shrub.  Here is a link to an article about Lilacs from Utah State University.

Lilacs are waterwise in Utah!