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?
The lilacs in our area haven’t opened yet, but I can see the flower blooms forming, Suzanne. Our neighbors have a hedge of lilacs, and sometimes I go outside just to smell them. 🙂
You’re only 3 hours north of me, so I guess spring is quite late up there!
I wonder if it is a writerly thing, smelling the lilacs?