Propagation
Stratify fresh seeds during winter and sow in pots during spring and place in a cold frame to germinate.
Soft tip cuttings of non-flowering shoots during late spring to early summer.

Botanic information
Leaf: The leaves are ovate to elliptical with an acuminate apex and with a petiole up to 10mm (⅓in) long. The upper surface is glossy green and the underside is greyish with tomentose on the veins.

Flower: The small tubulate flowers are arranged in an open terminal panicle that is up to 200mm (8in) long and appears from late spring to early summer. 

Fruit: The leathery textured beaked pea pod-shaped dehiscent capsule is green ageing to brown and contains numerous seeds. The small seeds are viable but the plant is commonly reproduced vegetatively to maintain true to type.

Pruning
Care should be taken when pruning lilacs as the flowers are produced on the previous season’s growth. 

Unpruned shrubs will produce many more flowers regularly and a hard prune of old plants will inhibit the flowering for up to two years, until the new wood has matured. They will tolerates a light prune to bushy up immediately after flowering before the new buds are formed.