My backyard in the spring is beautiful. I wish the lilacs were in bloom for longer. It seems we have them for only a few short weeks.

Sometimes when I am writing and need inspiration, I go in the backyard and smell these flowers. There is nothing quite like the scent of rain-washed lilacs.

Did you know?

• The lilac is a large deciduous shrub or small tree and it can grow to over 20 feet in height.
• Many lilacs “sucker”, that is, they make shoots and spread and can even form a thicket—a good privacy barrier.
• Some lilacs have been bred to not spread, but they lose their scent. Let them sucker! Enjoy the smell!
• The lilac is in the olive family and is native to the Balkan Peninsula.
• Now lilacs thrive in other parts of Europe as well as North America.
• Lilacs were introduced to America in the eighteenth century.
• A special Canadian variety was created that blooms later, thereby protecting the buds from possible late frosts in spring.
• The scientific name for the common lilac is syringa vulgaris.
• The first recorded use of lilac as an English color name was in 1775.

Are there lilacs in your backyard? Do you love the scent of lilacs in the rain?