Gathering Lilacs

The Lilac (Syringa vulgaris) is in full flower within the garden.

Once again the garden is filled with a  delicious scent.  This is plain ordinary Syringa vulgaris which quite frankly takes a beating for it's scent. Other varieties are still scented  and bolder in colour, but the true Lilac is still the best for scent.

We are quite fond of our Lilacs, we have them spread throughout the garden. When we first moved here they existed on an earth and rock mound at the front of the house. Planted many years ago by one of the tenants who farmed here when it was an active farm.

We split the bunch of Lilac and positioned it around in varied places to ensure we always had a good stock, and have been rewarded since by the glorious displays we get each year without fail.

The name Syringa is derived from Syrinx meaning a hollow pipe or tube. Traditionally the Lilac used to be used for making reed pipes and flutes. A few years back this caused some confusion when an old lady asked me if she still had her Syringa in the garden. The chap before who had maintained her garden had pruned everything in Winter, the so called traditional time for doing so.

I searched for the Lilac but found nothing. Several shrubs though I pruned back into shape at the right time to encourage flowering. One of which was a Philadelphus. When it flowered a year later, I took a large bunch to her and she really did cry out for joy, "You found my Syringa".

This was confusing especially as she told me she had always called it Syringa and lots of people she knew always called the Philadelphus, Syringa. I did some research and found that Philadelphus was often referred to by country folk as Syringa as it too used to be used for making pipes.