A Celebration Lilacs

BELOVED BY BEES AND BUTTERFLIES, a quality cover for birds and wildlife, and one of the most cherished blooms in America, the common lilac (Syringa vulgaris) embodies everything we love about sweet, old-fashioned flowers. After all, is there any other fragrance that says “spring” as emphatically as the glorious scent of the lilac?

Lilacs are an intrinsic part of our collective horticultural heritage. The glory of their annual blooms may seem fleeting, but the longevity of the shrubs is what establishes them as a permanent fixture in our gardens and memories. These long-lived shrubs can survive for decades or even centuries, handed down through the generations. Thomas Jefferson, for instance, grew lilacs at Monticello beginning in 1771; a small group of these original lilacs are said. Lilacs growing today on the Wilder Homestead in Malone, New York, are believed to descend from the 19th-century lilacs described in her book.