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Mackinac Island Lilac Festival: Lilac Expert Jeff Young Explains why Lilacs are Late Blooming this Year

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Hundreds if not thousands of people come out to the Lilac Festival on Mackinac Island each year expecting to see beautiful lilacs in bloom. This year however, the lilacs are slow to bloom. Jeff Young, the Lilac Expert that comes in from Vermont explains that the brutally cold winter has hindered their growth. But not to worry, these lilacs are sure to bloom at some point throughout the festival. 

“Many people who come for the festival have lilacs of there own. This is why Jeff likes to give people some advice on taking care of their towering plants. “The two basic things we try to teach somebody is we try to get the plant structurally sound so we try to get the dead out of it and we want to keep the height down because most people don’t like them really tall,” says Jeff.

Although there is no official census of how many different varieties of lilacs are on the island Jeff says that just in Marquette Park there are 90 different species and in the world there are an estimated 2,000 different kinds to choose from.

If you want more information or are looking to attend the 2019 Mackinac Island Lilac Festival,

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