As yet more beautiful frothy blooms of lilac fill my lilac trees I thought it was time to concentrate on this beautiful but fleeting flower. The flowering of the lilac really does mean spring to me – spring is no longer on its way – the worst of the weather is behind us and the garden will just get better and better as the season moves on into summer. I look forward to this period of early spring so much and try to get every drop of enjoyment out of it that I can.
A good starting point for appreciating lilacs is Robert Burns. You may remember the Burns Night celebrations that I went to back in January which introduced me to his poetry. It seems that Burns really was a flower lover and his poetry extended to the lilac with this poem called ‘O were my love yon lilac fair’:
O were my Love yon Lilack fair,
Wi’ purple blossoms to the Spring;
And I, a bird to shelter there,
When wearied on my little wing.
How I wad mourn, when it was torn
By Autumn wild, and Winter rude!
But I was sing on wanton wing,
When youthfu’ May its bloom renew’d.
Commonly known as lilac, its botanical name is Syringa vulgaris. The name appears to be connected with Greek mythology. The story goes that Pan, the god of forests and fields, fell in love with a nymph named Syringa. Overcome by his desire he chased Syringa through the forests. To escape his attentions Syringa transformed herself into a beautifully scented bush. I do love a good Greek myth and apart from being a nice story this myth does help us to identify that lilac has a long history.
Lilacs are in flower very fleetingly in spring. Here in the south of England I would usually expect them in early May flowering as the tulips fade. This year they are extra early in late April, but they are still in flower with the fading tulips and the emerging alliums – my first Purple Sensation popped today. Nature has a way of keeping everything in time despite the vagaries of the season.
Lilac is one of the best known flowering shrubs and the scent takes many back to childhood memories of parents or grandparents with cottage gardens and tumbling lilac trees. I love this verse from The Old Apple-Tree by Anna S. Stephens: “I am thinking of the lilac trees, That shook their purple plumes, And when the sash was open, Shed fragrance through the room.” For me she has summed up what lilac is all about – frothy plumes of flowers and that wonderful heady fragrance that fills the air.
In the language of flowers purple lilac symbolised first love and white lilac the innocence of youth. Sadly lilacs have become associated with bad omens and many believe that bringing lilacs into the house will bring bad luck and possibly death to the inhabitants. This probably originates from the Victorians who would use the strong fragrance of lilac flowers to mask the smell of a dead body in the house. I have been cutting lilac for many years now and can vouch for its innocence – what a shame it would be to confine such a glorious flower to the garden.
Lilacs were a commonly planted shrub or small tree that have become less common in modern gardens. Most old gardens will have a tree or two in the planting scheme, but sadly few modern garden designs incorporate lilac. It could be because after its short flowering season it is an unremarkable shrub, but the same could be said of many flowering trees and shrubs that remain popular. Ornamental cherry trees are very popular, but only offer a few short weeks of blossom and philadelphus is a shrub with lovely scented flowers but a very short season. I think it is high time for a revival of lilac planting – it can even be used as a hedge provided it is clipped straight after flowering.
In the garden lilac is an undemanding shrub. It will grow in most solis, in full sun or part shade. My only warning is that I have found that it does not like to have its roots in water – I planted three here in the Kitchen Garden, which is very wet throughout the winter and sadly they all died. If you want to use your lilac for cutting it is important not to let it get too big so that you can reach the flowers. I cut all my old lilacs back to a short stump when we moved here as they were very leggy. Two years later and they are looking fantastic.
Suzy Bales in her book ‘a garden of fragrance’ talks about a lilac and peony walk originally featuring 18 lilacs underplanted with peonies in complimentary colours. Suzy increased that number to 29 and tucked other lilac trees in odd corners for cutting. Whilst I can only dream of a feature like this I do like the idea of mixing lilacs with peonies and hope to come up with a plan to increase the lilacs in my own garden. There are a number of beautiful varieties of lilac available these days. It is best to buy them in flower so that you can see the exact shade they will be.
I have used this set of pretty spoons in my photographs today to hint at another use for lilac. As well as filling the garden with scent and looking beautiful in the house, lilac is also an edible flower. It can be made into jellies and jams, crystallised or used fresh on cakes and lilac sugar is a great ingredient to have in the store cupboard for use later in the summer with a variety of fruits. A lilac syrup will make a lovely addition to champagne or prossecco in the summer and can also be used to flavour ice creams and sorbets. I have never put lilac to any of these culinary uses, but I am planning to start with making some lilac sugar tomorrow!
If you are planning to cut some lilac this weekend my advice would be:
- Take the flowers from the highest point you can reach, so that you are pruning the bush for next year whilst taking this years bounty.
- Cut the flowers whilst only half are fully open – once all the buds have opened the lilac will have a very limited vase life.
- Once cut remove all the leaves – trying to keep the leaves fresh will cause the flowers to wilt more quickly.
- Do not crush the bottom of the stems – this is an old wives tale that will not help the stems to take up water. Instead make a clean cut up the bottom inch of each stem and plunge immediately into cool deep water.
- Arrange lilac in a deep container- they will last longer in deeper water.
Finally remember that at best you might get 5 days out of your lilac stems – they are not a long lasting flower. When you walk into your home and take a deep breath of that wonderful fragrance, however, you will appreciate your efforts even if the results are short lived.
I hope you have enjoyed my look at lilacs today – your comments, questions and tips are all appreciated!
I love the smell of Lilac, and its great that it is so good for insects. Lovely photos!
Thanks for adding me to your blogroll π
You are welcome – I am looking forward to lots of musical inspiration!
can’t wait for my first Prosecco and Lilac syrup! excellent idea.
It does sound delicious! I am hoping to find time to give it a go.
What a wonderful post! Nothing like lilac time!!
Thank you!
I love Lilac, the scent is really evocative of so many lovely late spring days, some lovely lilac photos too.
Thank you Julie – my only childhood memory associated with lilac is Elkie Brooks singing Lilac Wine. I don’t think I saw an actual tree until I had my own children – I must be making up for lost time!
I’ve become a lilac fan from reading your post and seeing your beautiful photographs. I never saw lilac growing here when I was young. I understand it will, given careful attention and there is one variety I hear grows well here, Miss Kim.
I am glad I have inspired you to think about lilac – I have not come across Miss Kim before. It appears to be a compact shrub version which could work well in a lot of gardens.
The perfume from lilac is wonderful, your photographs are so beautiful, I can almost smell them! I don’t think they like acid soil do they?
My soil is neutral to slightly alkaline and they do well here. A quick it of research would suggest that slightly acid or slightly alkaline is good – they do not seem to like extremes of either. Lilacs reputation is very easy going – it seems to grow in most locations. I really loo forward to the day when we can share scent on the internet!! With many flowers it feels like I am only telling half the story with the photos.
Your photos are beautiful. I love bringing lilac inside too, it is the star of my patchwork hedge come early Spring
It is so nice to hear that you have it in a hedge – what other shrubs do you have in your patchwork hedge?
Hi Julie you can read about what’s in my patchwork hedge in this post
http://petalandpins.com/2012/10/30/a-fiori/
Julie, I never heard that it was unlucky to bring lilac into the house. In our family it was the May (hawthorn) that was never allowed indoors. I picked some 2 days ago and it’s still looking good.
PatB
Apparently hawthorn is one of the sacred trees of witchcraft, so perhaps we should take the warnings about it more seriously than those related to lilac! Thank you for commenting Pat – it is always nice to hear from you.
Oh your blog is so beautiful. I found you via Kim and look forward to seeing more of your delightful garden.
Welcome Helen – I am glad you enjoyed what you found and hope to see you in class.
Hi Julie,
I was piling all your post from Beth chatto to this one for the weekend as I was busy.you lilacs look out of the world so much purity in those flowers. Even you dark red tulips are very attractive.i would love to have a saree ( Indian wear) in that colour. thanks for the tips on lilacs it will be useful for me in the future of this season.
All the your stories are enjoyable Have a nice weekend!
The red tulips would make a stunning fabric Sajina. My daughters were ‘bridesmaids’ at a Sikh wedding when they were little girls and their sari’s were very similar in colour. Do you know if there is lilac growing in or near to your garden in Canada?
There are lots of lilac plants Julie.May be since we had snow till second week of April ,90 % of the plants are with sticks and I can see only dot size leave/ flower buds everywhere .Only grasses and bulbs and few shrubs are showing up
I don’t have any lilacs but need to find a friend who does so i can dabble with it in the kitchen! Thanks for all the poetry and various bit of info, Julie
If you lived closer you could share mine Cathy! When I was younger I read a lot of poetry but the habit has left me with the demands of family life. An unexpected benefit of blogging and in particular ‘In A Vase’ is that it has rekindled my desire to explore my old poetry books.
And I have read more poems for the same reason, Julie (and written more because of the blogging) π
Thanks for sharing all that interesting information about this lovely shrub. Great photos too.
Thank you & welcome.
Lovely post with all that great information. Thanks. Wonderful photos too.
Thank you.
What a great post and love your photos too.
Thank you & welcome Mel – I am glad you have enjoyed yourself here.
Hi Julie,
It is very nice to see your beautiful lilacs!! You have shared such helpful tips on cutting and basing them, as well as the love of poetry! Until last summer we had a miniature lilac and it was so fragrant. It got old and leggy so we took it down, after 20 years. It is so nice to have you in S2F class!! And I too look forward to seeing your work. Thanks for stopping at my blog. I’m adding yours to my list to stay up to date. Have a lovely weekend!!
Thank you Beverly – it is nice to see you here – what a shame about your old lilac.
I have very happy memories of a lilac tree in the garden when I was a child. There seems to be a photograph of me in it for every year of my childhood. I like the idea of the syrup, I make elder flower sorbet so lilac would be a good addition to my seasonal recipes. My post today is dedicated to you btw!
Thank you so much for your post Christina! I keep thinking about all those beautiful peonies. The post is at http://myhesperidesgarden.wordpress.com/2014/04/27/the-yearly-visit-to-the-peony-farm/ if anyone else would like to take a look – prepare to swoon!
This is the first year I have set out to use flowers in the kitchen – elderflower cordial is on my list which is, I assume, what you are using to make your elder flower sorbet.
I use the flowers to make a syrup, then use that to make the sorbet. It is a great favorite with my friends.
A most informative post and beautiful photos Julie. I’m enjoying the view of next door’s lilac in full bloom at the moment. I did not realise that they are edible. Off to find out more.
Thank you Anna – please do share what you find. I am going to start a file for flower recipes this year so am interested in anything you come across.