Syringa josikaea 'HOLGER'

Lilacs are popular and common plants in our gardens. But even among these omnipresent shrubs you will find a few jewels that will impress you with the different flower structure, its unique colour, the inflorescence size, or even the leaf type. Such as Hungarian lilac. It comes from the Eastern Carpathians (Romania and Hungary), the botanical species bears pink flowers, unlike many varieties. It is a long-lived, reliable, and tough shrub with remarkable hardiness. It is often used as a rootstock for other species as it does not form suckers that would uncontrollably smother its closest surroundings.

Holger is a valued, white-flowering variety of Hungarian lilac. It forms 15-20 cm long panicles composed of small, elongated funnel-shaped, very fragrant flowers. It blooms later than the common lilac, usually from the second half of May. Deciduous leaves are almost leathery, partially glossy, dark green, broadly elliptic, 6-12 cm long, powdery mildew resistant.

It grows moderately to fast (30-40 cm per year) into an upright shrub with symmetrical vertical branches. Most often it is cultivated as a shrub, but it also looks great as a small specimen tree, and the cream of the crop are multi-stemmed shrubs.

Lilacs can be grown in many soil types. For best result use reasonably fertile, moist but well-drained soil, preferably neutral or alkaline. Full sun for profuse flowering. Pruning is not needed but may be done to trim or re-juvenile the plant. Do so immediately after flowering. Hungarian lilac is extremely hardy to about -45 °C (USDA zone 2).

Last update 29-03-2023.