WHEN LILACS LAST IN THE DOORYARD BLOOM’D…

WHEN LILACS LAST IN THE DOORYARD BLOOM’D…


The lilac - it smells wonderful, but its origin is shrouded in mystery because the countries where the bush originated, in Southeast Europe and Asia, were very insular and closed-off. We do know that lilac blooms were first brought to the royal courts of Vienna in the 1500’s. It, of course, followed that the royals and nobility desired to grow their own lilac bushes. Cuttings began to be traded amongst the upper classes, until English colonists took lilac cuttings with them across the Atlantic in 1750 to America. The first record of lilacs in North America is from 1750 at Governor Wentworth’s estate in New Hampshire.

As the American migration west began, people would dig up and take their lilacs with them to replant near their front doors, barns, and outhouses because of their strong, lovely scent. So if you spot a lilac bush in an empty field, it is a guarantee someone lived there at some point!

Lilacs are also known for multiplying quickly, so if you plant a lilac bush, you’ll end up getting a lot more than you bargained for, as they grow through shoots from their roots. The bush can either be left to expand from its runners or trimmed back around the base as the “babies” grow. Either way, you’ll be in for some fragrant floral scent wafting across your lawn when the spring breeze blows!