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Lilacs

Syringa

Lilacs are one of those shrubs that people either love or hate. Some love the scent of the blossoms in spring.
Others find it cloying. My wife loves both the fragrance, and the masses of tiny blooms in the spring.

When I was not much bigger than a garden gnome my father planted a ring of lilacs about 8 feet across on one edge of our property. When I was twelve, and wanting a place to hide from parent who had unreasonable expectations about weeding and mowing, I would take my book and burrow into the lilac room. It was green shade everywhere, and soundless but for the summer noise of bugs and birds. And perhaps a distand lawnmower run by one of my friends that day.

Lilacs tend to get open and ratty looking with time, but maintaining them is easy: Each year take out 2-3 of the biggest, most disreputable stems in each plant. Do this any time from mid summer to fall.

Each year let the suckers grow until they are about 3-4 feet tall. Select 3-4 of the strongest ones that are in the right place to maintain a nice looking shrub. Remove the others.

With the badly suckering ones, you make have to make a second round of sucker harvesting in late summer. All three activities take only a few minutes per shrub per year.

If you have time, prune the blossoms off once they finish. The shrub will pour energy into growth rather than seed.

On the other hand, the seed heads are interesting for dried displays for autumn.

Seeds are appreciated by birds and rodents.