A sucker for lilacs

Many vendors had big bunches of heavenly scented lilacs, forced just a wee bit ahead of the season for quick sales the end of May.

I didn’t buy any lilacs but did hand over $5 for a lovely little bouquet of lily-of-the-valley. Those lilacs were tempting however and I can’t wait to finish adding on to the front of my house so I can complete my landscaping with one of these shrubs.

The tough part is going to be deciding which lilac cultivar to plant. There are now over 1,000 types. In addition to the many different colours there are those with single blooms (four distinct petals set on a single layer), double blooms (up to three sets of layers of petals) and multi-petal (from five to as many as 40 petals arranged on a single row). Colours range from the common purple, to red, violet, maroon, pink and even yellow. 'Madame Lemoine' lilacs have magnificent pure-white, double flowers. ‘Sensation’ has purple petals, which are beautifully edged with white.

It’s possible to make new lilac bushes from older varieties by digging out rooted suckers that form around the base. This is best done in April however, before the lilac leafs out.

After blooming, the shrub can be shaped if necessary, although this is seldom required. Old blooms can be snipped off as well, if only for aesthetic purposes.

Lilacs like sweet soil, so a spade full of wood ashes or lime about the base is a good idea once a year. Add some compost and bone meal annually as well.

Lastly, lilac blooms are edible. They have a floral, slightly bitter taste, and can be candied for cake or pie decorations like violet blooms.

Or you can use them creatively as in this Lilac Muffin recipe: two cups lilac buds and blossoms (no green part of flower); three eggs; one cup oil; two cups sugar; one teaspoon vanilla; three cups flour; one tsp. baking soda; 1/4 tsp. baking powder. Rinse lilac buds in water and let them soak. Beat eggs, mix in oil, sugar and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking soda and baking powder.

Pour excess water off lilacs. Stir into batter. Pour in prepared muffin tray. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes.