A sucker for an old-timer

In fact, so reliable is the lilac that there’s even a Lilac Time for the stage.

Syringa is lilac’s posh Latin name, but lilac it will always be to those many people who have grown a specimen from the day they first took up gardening.

Basically, lilacs are hardy, deciduous trees and shrubs which produce clusters of fragrant blossoms in an array of colours.

Lilacs are originally from south-eastern Europe and Asia, but they have taken a liking to the English climate; they tolerate most soils and situations, although given a choice, they would opt for chalk and sun.

If the soil is shallow or poor, apply a mulch of old manure or compost and feed with a liquid fertiliser in May or June.

S vulgaris, the common or French lilac, is the large, suckering shrub or small tree that rules the roost and which was so popular in the Twenties and Thirties. Then, every garden seemed to have one, and there’s many an old lilac still hanging on.

It is the parent of many hybrids with single or double flowers, ranging from white and creamy yellow to red, blue, and purple.

To prune, just remove the dead flower heads and pinch out long shoots during the summer. Suckers can be the bane of the lawn-lover.

At the first sign of the laurel taking advantage of its position, remove the unwanted growths from the base.

But if you love lilacs so much that you want more, you can propagate them by seeds, cuttings or layering – and layering is the easiest and most successful way.

Alternatively, buy another variety from a nursery. Expect three weeks of flowering around lilac time – which seems to be getting earlier every year.