Lilacs begin blooming in late April just as the forsythias are finishing up.  They give off a sweet fragrance that fills the spring air.  My lilacs, as well as many others, are "two-year" lilacs.  That means that they bloom heavily one year, and have few flowers the next.  Lilacs are supposed to attract butterflies, but it blooms too early for most of them.  I have only seen one Tiger Swallowtail and one Red Admiral butterfly on mine.

Lilacs are easy to propagate.  Just lift up one of the lilac's numerous suckers with a shovel, and cut it off with a pair of loppers.  Dig a small hole and stick that sucker in the ground!  Don't forget to add lime - lilacs love lime.  The lilac pictured at left was grown from an 8-inch tall sucker, and started blooming four years later.

Many people don't know how to prune a lilac properly, and wonder why theirs is straggly-looking, and produce few flowers.  The best time to prune yours is right after flowering.  You start by removing some of the oldest wood first (never remove more than one-third of the wood).  Using a pruning saw, cut it off as close to ground level as you can.  New growth will soon emerge filling in any empty spaces.  Cut off all dead flower heads just above a leaf joint.  This will prevent the lilac from producing seeds, which takes a lot of energy that could otherwise go into making new growth.  Then shape the remaining branches as you please.  Don't forget to remove any wayward suckers growing outside the desired diameter of you lilac.