what he said give it a few more weeks.. and if those parts do NOT leaf out.. truncate them back to a proper place ... a fork to a live part ... its part of the transplant shock .. of planting last fall ... then you ought to start thinking about your long run goals with it .... will you be wanting to maintain its tree form.. and if so.. you will have to start taking off those side branches down low .... perhaps in fall.. or after bloom next spring.. but NOT right now ... your transplant made it thru winter.. and flowered.. you should be pretty happy on that level ... dont let your expectations overwhelm this tree ... its alive.. what more do you want ... insure ... by digging 3 to 6 inch holes around it .. [one hole.. once a month] .. that there is moisture deep down.. all summer.. perhaps trickling the hose if need be.. no guessing.. and trees do not appreciate.. just lawn sprinkling.. the first year .. so do check at depth.. then it will just be a matter of sucking it up.. and learning how to prune.. to keep this SHRUB .. in TREE form ... i see rocks around it.. but cant tell if there is mulch.. that will help maintain soil moisture ... ken

More than likely powdery mildew on both the zinnias and lilacs. You don't say where you are so it's unknown how much more of the growing season you have left. "Most powdery mildew fungi produce airborne spores and infect plants when temperatures are moderate (60 to 80 degrees F) and will not be present during the hottest days of the summer. Unlike most other fungi that infect plants, powdery mildew fungi do not require free water on the plant surface in order to germinate and infect." In many cases, powdery mildew diseases do little damage to overall plant health - although it'll speed up the normal end of season decline of your annual zinnias. Yearly infections can be ignored if just plain ugly isn't a big concern to you. Lilacs can have powdery mildew each year, with little or no effect on plant health.

Lilacs are subject to several different leaf diseases. Most of which are not serious under normal conditions. Some leaf diseases are not easily distinguishable to leaf damage caused by physiological factors. We need to know when were they planted, is this the first year you have seen this, what fertilizers, weed killers might have been used around the plant, when did you first see this. Leaf diseases that occur at the end of the season frequently are not a problem. For now I would clean up fallen leaves and take some samples from the bush and send them to your local extension service. With the weather we had this year many plants are showing problems that are not usually seen. Most of these will not be problems with normal weather.

Hello all, I have inherited a lilac bush, but it seems to be doing less than awesomely. Is there anything I can do to resuscitate it, or is it a lost cause? Any advice, or info as to what might be wrong, would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!also, I apologize that the picture is sideways, I can't seem to adjust that