Southern nurserymen produce about 15,000 lilacs for sale each year. These shrubs have long been prized as landscape ornamentals. The name "lilac" is derived from the Sanskrit and Arabic words for indigo, nilak and lilak, respectively. Lilacs were once extensively forced into bloom in European greenhouses to provide fragrance and beauty for nobility during winter.

Common lilacs grow well in the Piedmont and Mountains; Persian lilacs grow better in the Coastal Plain.

KEY TO COMMON AND IMPORTANT LILAC PESTS

1. Lilac borer -Trunks and large limbs are marked by cracked bark and holes with protruding material resembling sawdust. Sometimes the leaves wilt on infested branches, or the branches break off easily

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