Typically a harbinger of spring, lilacs have made an off-season appearance in Iowa this August and September. Lilac bushes that lost their foliage over the summer have blossomed in pale purples as the season ended. Just as stress brought on by Iowa’s 2020 hurricane-strength derecho led spring-blooming trees to blossom in the fall, the fragrant […]
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Why lilacs in Iowa turned a whiter shade...
Numerous Iowa gardeners have noticed a change in the color of their lilacs this spring. Normally purple lilacs, to quote Procol Harum, turned a whiter shade of pale. The perfumed blossoms, a springtime favorite, still carried their fragrant scent, but didn’t look as colorful as in previous years. Linn County Master Gardeners covering the “hortline” […]