Images may show mature specimens and are provided as a guide only. As plants are living products, the size, shape and appearance of the stock supplied may vary from the images shown.
Nursery Direct
Congo Lilac
Syringa vulgaris ‘Congo’
Everything is included in this price: the plant, free delivery and professional installation
The price you see is the whole job: the plant supplied, delivered free and professionally installed. Done for you.
Supplied in 400mmtypically 1.5 to 2.5m tall on delivery
Want to see the actual plant?
The photo shows this species, not the individual plant reserved for you. Send us an enquiry and we usually reply within 1 business day with photos of the actual stock available in the size you want.
Request photosGetting it in: this size needs about 900mm of clear access. Measure the narrowest point on the route and tell us on the booking call. Standard access is included in the price, and anything unusual is quoted and agreed with you before work begins. What happens on installation day
Looking for a larger size?
Sizes shown are the sizes we currently source in this species. If you need larger specimens, project quantities or a size not listed, our sourcing team can look for it through our national supplier network. We confirm your exact stock with you on the booking call before anything ships.
Send An EnquiryYou order. We do the rest.
After checkout, our team contacts you to confirm site access and book a day that suits. Most orders are delivered and planted within 2 to 4 weeks of your booking call. Nothing else for you to organise.
Registered Australian business, ABN 33 683 675 603. Public liability certificates available on request.
Product Details
Overview & Specifications
Price includes everything: the plant, free delivery and professional installation by our planting team. One price, whole job done.
Congo Lilac - Syringa vulgaris ‘Congo’
Where the double lilacs give you mass, ‘Congo’ gives you clarity. Its florets are single, so the individual four petalled stars are visible within the panicle, and they open a deep reddish purple that softens to lilac as the head matures. Grown well in a cool climate, this Syringa vulgaris cultivar makes a broad upright bush that carries an unusually heavy crop of flower heads for its size, and the scent is the classic strong lilac perfume.
Why ‘Congo’
Single florets: The open star shaped flowers show the true colour better than layered double forms and are more accessible to bees.
Colour shift: Buds open dark reddish purple and pale as they age, so a panicle carries a gradient rather than a flat tone.
Free flowering: It sets a generous number of panicles across the bush, giving a solid rather than scattered display.
Compact frame: It tends to a slightly broader, denser habit than some of the taller vulgaris cultivars.
Winter chill: Like all common lilacs it needs a genuinely cold winter, so plant it in the tablelands, the highlands, Tasmania or the hills districts.
Ideal Applications
Spring feature shrub: A single specimen in a lawn or gravel courtyard, where its shape can be seen all round.
Pollinator planting: The single florets are more useful to bees than heavily doubled cultivars.
Mixed shrub border: Sits between viburnums, philadelphus and old roses in a cool climate border.
Driveway planting: Repeated along an entry drive it gives a scented deciduous rhythm in spring.
Specimen & Installation
Spacing (screening/hedge): 2 to 2.5m apart
Spacing (feature/avenue): 3 to 4m apart
Best Planting Season: Winter while dormant
Soil & Drainage: Free draining, neutral to slightly alkaline soil, with lime beneficial on acidic sites
Establishment Care: Water deeply once weekly across the first two summers, then only in extended dry spells, since established lilacs are quite drought tolerant. Deadhead spent panicles promptly and prune only in the weeks immediately after flowering, because buds for next spring form on the growth made during the coming summer.
Plant Details
Height: 3 to 4m
Width: 2.5 to 3m
Growth Rate: Moderate
Foliage: Deciduous
Light: Full sun
Native to: The Balkan Peninsula of south eastern Europe (the parent species)
Flower Colour: Deep reddish purple ageing to lilac
Delivery & Installation
Delivery and installation are included in your price
No freight calculators and no separate installation quote for a standard installation. Your price covers specialist plant transport, positioning and professional planting by our installation team. The whole job, handled.
- Wrapped, secured and transported by specialist plant freight.
- Professionally planted, staked and finished by our install team.
- Our team confirms site access and schedules a time that suits you.
Installation
Professional installation included, never extra
Every plant we sell is planted by our professional installation team, and it's already in the price. We coordinate the delivery, the machinery and the planting for standard site access, so your only job is choosing the tree. Unusual access or engineering requirements? We'll confirm everything with you after checkout before any work begins.
Questions? Send An EnquiryWhy Nursery Direct
Every price includes supply, delivery and installation
Buying a mature tree often means three separate jobs: the plant, the freight and finding someone to plant it. We price the whole job as one: the tree, the delivery and the professional install.
- One price: supplied, delivered and installed
- Mature trees and specimen palms at every scale
- National sourcing for hard-to-find stock
- Residential, estate and commercial projects
How It Works
Place your order. We do the rest.
We Supply
Premium advanced stock, selected from a national network of wholesale growers.
We Deliver
Specialist plant freight brings your order to your door. Free, anywhere in Australia.
We Install
Our professional team plants, stakes, mulches and finishes the job on site.







