Reblooming lilac 'Bloomerang'
Syringa 'Bloomerang' · Popular
A compact lilac that flowers in spring, rests, and then flowers again from midsummer until frost, with smaller, fragrant, purple or pink trusses.
- Size
- 5 ft tall, 5 ft wide
- Zones
- 3 to 7
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Mid May to early June
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Anchor
A bed built around reblooming lilac 'Bloomerang'
The planner designed this bed around reblooming lilac 'Bloomerang' when this page was made: a 16 × 8 ft (4.9 × 2.4 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why reblooming lilac 'Bloomerang' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Reblooming lilac 'Bloomerang' × 1, purple
- 2 Carpathian bellflower 'Blue Clips' × 16, blue
- 3 Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch' × 30, pink
- 4 Brown-eyed Susan × 8, yellow
- 5 Wild quinine × 3, white
- 6 Spike speedwell × 5, blue
- 7 Hardy gladiolus × 5, pink
- 8 Persian fritillary × 4, purple
- 9 Ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' × 5, purple
Why this plant
- The bed's only structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down, and it is the only one here.
- The only dense clusters. The others are open bowls, daisies, flat plates and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 5 ft it is the tallest plant here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to brown-eyed Susan (4 ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A shrub is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- In flower for four weeks. From mid May to early June.
- Part of the bed's peak. With Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch', hardy gladiolus and ornamental onion 'Purple Sensation' in late May: 4 kinds at once. No week has more.
Planned as an English border: 11 of the 11 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The bed is tied together by its repeats: three kinds come round again along it, among them Cheddar pinks 'Firewitch' and Carpathian bellflower 'Blue Clips'. Purple is the colour seen most, on 3 of the 9 kinds grown for their flowers.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 6 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where reblooming lilac 'Bloomerang' goes in a border
At 5 ft it belongs at the back of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is tall (4 to 5 ft).
Its job: anchor. A shrub that gives the bed permanent structure. Planted singly, as soon as the front edge is laid; everything else is arranged around it.
Trim it lightly after the spring flush to encourage the repeat. The later flowers are smaller but keep coming for months, where summers are not too hot.
- Lilac flowers in summer and autumn
- Small gardens
- Low, informal hedges
What to plant with reblooming lilac 'Bloomerang'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Catmint 'Walker's Low': in flower together for four weeks, from mid May; spires rising out of its mound; low enough (24 in) to stand in front of it.
- Peony: in flower together for two weeks, from late May; low enough (3 ft) to stand in front of it.
- Purple coneflower: takes over when it finishes, flowering from late June; low enough (3 ft) to stand in front of it.
Questions about reblooming lilac 'Bloomerang'
Does reblooming lilac 'Bloomerang' need sun or shade?
Reblooming lilac 'Bloomerang' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does reblooming lilac 'Bloomerang' grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 7. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 7 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does reblooming lilac 'Bloomerang' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid May to early June. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 3 | Late May to mid June |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Late May to mid June |
| Zone 5 | Mid May to early June |
| Zone 6 | Early May to early June |
| Zone 7 | Early May to late May |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should reblooming lilac 'Bloomerang' be planted?
4 ft (120 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 5 ft (150 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 5 ft (150 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many reblooming lilac 'Bloomerang' plants do I need?
Usually one. At 4 ft (120 cm) across, it is a plant you place, not one you mass. For a hedge or screen, set them 4 ft apart: three plants for a 10 ft run.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is reblooming lilac 'Bloomerang' poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Is there a native plant like reblooming lilac 'Bloomerang'?
Reblooming lilac 'Bloomerang' is not native to North America. These North American natives come closest to doing its job:
- Black chokeberry: the same job in a bed, the same size and the same flowering time; white, not purple, medium leaves, not fine.
- Ninebark 'Little Devil': the same job in a bed and the same flowering time; 16 in shorter, 8 in narrower.
- Snowberry: the same job in a bed; 12 in shorter, flowers mid June to mid July.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after reblooming lilac 'Bloomerang'?
Reblooming lilac 'Bloomerang' is over by early June. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Purple coneflower: from late June to early September, 3 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems (a recorded partner).
- Bee balm: from early July to early August, 3 ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Daylily: from late June to early August, 2½ ft tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does reblooming lilac 'Bloomerang' look like in winter?
Reblooming lilac 'Bloomerang' drops its leaves and stands as bare branches. That is when to see its shape, and to prune it if it needs pruning.
More Syringa
- Common lilac Syringa vulgaris
- Dwarf Korean lilac 'Palibin' Syringa meyeri 'Palibin'
- Lilac 'Beauty of Moscow' Syringa vulgaris 'Krasavitsa Moskvy'
- Lilac 'Miss Kim' Syringa pubescens subsp. patula 'Miss Kim'
- Lilac 'Sensation' Syringa vulgaris 'Sensation'
- Preston lilac 'Miss Canada' Syringa x prestoniae 'Miss Canada'
In these guides
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub
- Size
- 5 ft (150 cm) tall, 5 ft (150 cm) wide
- Plant
- 4 ft (120 cm) apart
- Height class
- Tall (4 to 5 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Back
- Flowers
- Mid May to early June; dense clusters; purple, pink
- Leaves
- Fine texture, deciduous; green
- Shape
- Rounded, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 7
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.