A time for Lilacs

A classic English garden favourite with a sweet, distinctive perfume, the lilac has inspired both poetry and popular song. Anne Swithinbank selects some of the best

- Anne Swithinbank

OLD-FASHIONED and romantic, lilac blossom has inspired its fair share of poetry and song. From The Barrel Organ, written by Alfred Noyes in 1913, ‘Go down to Kew in lilac time,’ has become a familiar phrase and the gardens do look lovely in May.

I remember when our family gatherings always included a sing-song round the piano, and Ivor Novello’s nostalgic We’ll Gather Lilacs In The Spring was a great favourite. My mother could play it with her eyes closed. Lilacs reached a peak of popularity a century ago and many older gardens boast a few well-established, tree-like specimens that were often planted to make an informal boundary hedge.

Common lilac (Syringa vulgaris) is a hardy and durable deciduous shrub of woodland edge, originating from the Balkan countries of Eastern Europe. Critics might mutter about the relatively short flowering period, but lilacs usefully extend the spring blossom season into early summer. They are not ‘shy’, either, with generous tapering panicles of single or double blooms emitting a sweet, distinctive perfume.

Range of colours

Via a circuitous route, lilac was brought to Europe in the mid 1500s and earned a mention in Gerard’s Herbal of 1597. Breeding work in Russia, France and the USA created more than 2,000 cultivars, but by the 1950s many were lost.

In colour, lilacs range from the rich wine-red of single ‘Andenken an Ludwig Späth’ through all shades of lilac, the blue of ‘Firmament’ and white. My favourites are those with classic, frothy confections of single flowers guaranteed to attract plenty of insects.