Lilac ‘Prairie Petite’

* Common name: Lilac ‘Prairie Petite’

* Botanical name: Syringa vulgaris ‘Prairie Petite’

* What it is: One of the most compact lilacs available. Gets fragrant and familiar cone-shaped flowers of pink/lavender in May but on plants that top out at about 4 feet.

* Size: 4 feet tall and wide.

* Where to use: Excellent spring-blooming shrub for a sunny border or a sunny island bed. Compact enough for use as a foundation shrub in southern and western exposures. Fragrance makes it a good choice around a patio.

* Care: Improve soil with compost before planting. Keep well watered the first year until roots establish, then water needed only in bad droughts. Prune, if needed, right after flowers fade. Annual spring scattering of granular organic fertilizer such as Flower-tone is optional.

* Great partner: Vinca, leadwort or creeping phlox make good groundcover underplantings.