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Oleaceae
Common Lilac
Syringa vulgaris
First love and spring.
- Family
- Oleaceae
- Genus
- Syringa
- Native to
- Southeastern Europe, Balkan Peninsula
- Bloom season
- Spring
- Type
- shrub
- Height
- 8-15 ft
- Sunlight
- full sun
- Soil
- well-drained, neutral to alkaline
- Water
- moderate
- Hardiness
- 3-7
- Lifespan
- perennial
Did you know
- Lilacs can live for centuries, with some bushes in New England believed to be over 300 years old.
- The city of Rochester, New York, hosts an annual Lilac Festival that draws over 500,000 visitors.
- In Victorian times, giving a lilac meant 'do you still love me?' and widows often wore them.
- They require a period of winter cold to bloom well, which is why they struggle in the Deep South.
- Walt Whitman's poem 'When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd' was written to mourn Abraham Lincoln.
Color meanings
0
first love
1
youthful innocence
2
confidence