I’ve always been fascinated by lilacs — their fragrance, their elegance, and the way they announce the arrival of spring. As my passion for gardening grew, so did my curiosity about propagating my favorite varieties. I soon discovered that while it’s definitely possible to grow new lilacs from existing plants, some methods are easier and more successful than others. In this article, I’ll walk you through the different techniques I’ve learned for propagating lilacs, from simple sucker division to more advanced methods like grafting and in-vitro culture.
Many lilac enthusiasts would love to propagate their favorite varieties at home. While it’s certainly possible, doing so isn’t always easy in practice. Here’s how you can successfully propagate lilacs.
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The Easiest Method: Root Suckers
The easiest way to propagate lilacs is through root suckers. The wild variety of common lilac (Syringa vulgaris) produces them in abundance. In autumn or spring, you can simply dig up the suckers with a spade and replant them in the desired location.
However, this method doesn’t always produce good results with cultivated varieties such as ‘Andenken an Ludwig Späth’ or ‘Charles Jolie’. That’s because these cultivars are often grafted onto young seedlings of the wild type—so their root suckers will grow into wild lilacs, not the desired variety.
In recent years, many Syringa vulgaris cultivars are being propagated via in vitro culture. Tiny tissue samples from the plant’s meristem are grown into new plants in a nutrient medium under laboratory conditions. The advantage? These new plants are own-rooted, which means they can later be propagated through suckers that will stay true to the variety. However, experience has shown that in-vitro-propagated lilacs produce very few root suckers.
Simple but Risky: Hardwood Cuttings
Propagation via hardwood cuttings is another relatively simple method. It works well for Chinese lilac (Syringa x chinensis), nodding lilac (Syringa reflexa), and Hungarian lilac (Syringa josikaea). However, with common cultivars of Syringa vulgaris, the success rate is quite low—even under ideal conditions, only about 10% of the cuttings will root.
If you want to try anyway, take pencil-length cuttings from strong, one-year-old shoots in autumn after leaf fall. Each cutting should have a pair of buds at the top and bottom. On the lower end, make a wounding cut by slicing off a 2 cm strip of bark. Stick the cuttings in a half-shaded bed with loose, humus-rich soil and cover them with a fleece tunnel.
Interestingly, the best results come from young in-vitro-propagated plants, whose one-year shoots tend to root more reliably.
Propagation via Softwood Cuttings
Softwood cuttings work for the same lilac types as the hardwood method and are often the preferred method for dwarf lilacs like Syringa x meyeri ‘Palibin’, Syringa microphylla, and Preston hybrids (Syringa x prestoniae). These are typically propagated exclusively via softwood cuttings.
Once again, this method is very challenging with Syringa vulgaris cultivars but works best with young mother plants from in-vitro propagation.
To propagate, cut tip or section cuttings from non-woody shoots during the flowering period in May or June. Each cutting should have at least three nodes. Remove the lower leaves and make a wounding cut on the side. Insert the cuttings into a well-draining mixture of seed-starting soil and sand, ideally enriched with a little algae lime.
Even with protective measures like foil covers or heated propagators, root formation in Syringa vulgaris takes a long time, and the young plants often don’t sprout until the following year.
Growing Lilacs from Seed
Lilacs can also be propagated from seeds, and the process is fairly straightforward. Harvest the dried seed pods in October, shake them out into a bucket, and separate the fine seeds using a sieve. Sow them in trays filled with seed-starting mix and leave them outdoors in a shaded, cool place over the winter, ensuring the soil doesn’t dry out.
In January, cover the trays and place them in an unheated greenhouse, where the seeds will germinate reliably. The young seedlings can be transplanted into pots in spring and planted out in the garden by autumn.
Keep in mind: cultivars and hybrids of lilac cannot be grown true to type from seed. You’ll only see what kind of lilac you’ve grown once the seedling blooms—often years later. With a bit of luck, you might even create a brand-new variety with especially beautiful flowers.
Propagation by Grafting
Grafting used to be the standard propagation method for many Syringa vulgaris cultivars, but it’s now being replaced by in-vitro culture, which produces own-rooted plants that rarely send up suckers.
The traditional method involves budding (T-budding) in July onto one- to two-year-old seedling rootstocks (usually of Syringa vulgaris), which were planted out the previous autumn. It’s important to remove all buds below the grafting point in late winter to ensure good success.
Alternatively, you can try winter grafting (whip and tongue method). For this, growers often use rooted hardwood cuttings of Hungarian lilac (Syringa josikaea) as rootstock, as it produces fewer suckers.
After grafting, the plants are typically grown under fleece tunnels outdoors until they are established.
Propagating lilacs has been a rewarding learning journey for me. Whether it’s the simple joy of digging up a root sucker or the challenge of trying to root a cutting, each method has taught me more about these beautiful plants. While not every attempt was successful, the experience has deepened my appreciation for the process — and for the resilience of lilacs themselves. I hope these insights help you grow your own new plants and maybe even discover a favorite method of your own along the way. Happy gardening!
