While I search for the appropriate photos of my first five lilacs (which somehow seem to have fled my computer!) I would like to show you a couple of pictures that were taken at the Experimental Farm in Prince George, BC. In June of 2007 we visited the farm and were given permission to take pictures and some cuttings of the lilacs that were growing there. We found several very attractive ones, but alas, not a label to be seen. We have not been able to discover any records that show what might have been planted there at one time. There was a beautiful specimen right beside the main office building. After wandering the grounds we came across a wonderful overgrown hedge. Hopefully in a few years we will have some of these flowering in our own collections.

My First Five Lilacs

May 1997 was the beginning of my lilac collection. For our anniversary, my husband and I were given 5 lilacs by our good friends Bonnie and Curtis. When trying to decide where these should be planted, the idea of a "lilac walk" came to mind. A bed approximately 80 feet long was prepared and the following lilacs were planted: 'Sensation', 'Grande Flora Alba', 'President Grevy', 'Belle de Nancy', and 'Miss Canada'.

All were bare rooted shrubs about 2-3 feet in height. Hindsight makes me ask why, oh why did I not mulch this bed at the time of planting? 15 years makes a lot of difference in the energy I have for garden maintenance. The bed was filled in with perennials including peonies and a waft of spring flowering bulbs. It grew and so did the weeds. What had started out as a wonderful display has now grown into a jungle, almost impossible to weed. But the lilacs are still beautiful and bloom every year. So I will start out with these five dependable beauties.

A new lilac every week

Now that I am kind of catching on to blogging (still a long way to go) I am proposing to post a picture of one of the lilacs in our collections every week. At the end of the year there should be pictures of at least 50 different lilacs that are growing in our gardens here in the Robson Valley.
In order to catch up I will be adding several lilacs in the next couple of weeks.

Looking back at pictures of the garden from last year, I realize what a great companion plant for lilacs is the Purple Sensation allium. I wish I had planted hundreds more last fall.