The Japanese Tree Lilac is a handsome, clean, neat small tree either single-trunked or with a few trunks. It has a pretty purplish-brown shiny bark that is cherry-like until it gets old and develops gray-brown scaly bark. It bears large clusters of creamy white, fragrant flowers in late may or early June. The fragrance, though, is sort of privet-like and not as good as the Common Lilac. It develops a good yellow to orange fall color. It grows about 1.5 feet/year and lives probably around 100 years. It is sold at most large conventional nurseries in the Midwest and East USA. It is used more by landscape architects and designers than homeowners, but there still is a fair amount of use by homeowners when they are introduced to the tree in a nursery. A lot of people still don't know this species. I would say it is used more in the Midwest than in the Mid-Atlantic Region. There are several cultivars being used, with 'Ivory Silk' as the most common one.

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Large, rounded shrub or small specimen tree with stiff, spreading branches and bronze bark. Display handsome, dark green summer foliage. Large panicles of creamy white flowers appear in June. Prune after flowering to direct branching and eliminate crossing or rubbing branches.

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