Buy your blooms at Lombard lilac sale

White double blooms are Cher Herlache's favorite type of lilac.

But even for other gardeners who may favor classic light purples, or blooms in pale yellow, deep maroon or pink, the Lombard Garden Club's annual lilac sale is the place to be.

“It's personal preference,” said Herlache, a Lombard resident and one of the garden club's co-presidents. “And since we do carry so many different kinds, folks return every year to add to the collection in their own yard.”

The 43rd annual sale begins at 3 p.m. Thursday in Lilacia Park, 227 Parkside Ave., and ends Saturday when all the bushes are sold. Roughly 400 plants representing 18 lilac varieties will be for sale, including bushes and about a dozen trees, Herlache said.

While expert gardeners from near and far and Lombardians who love their lilacs are the sale's most common customers, novice growers also can find the help they need when purchasing a plant at the sale.

“We hand out a little booklet with each purchase that talks about how they should be planted and where in the yard,” Herlache said. “Like any perennial, the first year is the key to make sure they're watered enough.”

Lilacs need some sun, Herlache said, so they shouldn't be planted where they'll constantly be in the shadow of a structure. And they don't like “wet feet,” so keep them out of the yard's lowest lying areas.

The lilac sale is the Lombard Garden Club's only fundraiser of the year and one of several events during the village's Lilac Time spring celebration. It's also part of an ongoing garden club effort to see at least one lilac bush planted in every yard in Lombard.

The garden club keeps pricing simple, with lilac bushes selling for $25 and trees for $50, said club member Darlene Bartt. Credit cards will not be accepted.