LILAC. 223 



Gerarde and Parkinson cultivated the Blue and the 

 White kinds under the name of Pipe-tree, or Pipe-privet. 

 Gerarde says, "I have them growing in my garden in 

 great plenty." (1597.) This shows it to have been at that 

 time comparatively rare; and the beautiful Lilac now so 

 common in our gardens and shrubberies was far more so. 



The flowers appear towards the end of April, or early 

 in May, and usually last about a month. Although called 

 a shrub, the Lilac will grow to the height of eighteen or 

 twenty feet; and the leaves growing very luxuriantly, 

 it may be considered as a tree of very respectable di- 

 mensions. 



The species of Lilac best adapted for pots is the Per- 

 sian, which seldom exceeds six feet in height. The flowers 

 blow some weeks later than those of the Common Lilac r 

 and last longer in beauty ; but do not produce ripe seeds 

 in England. It is a light and elegant shrub, of a more 

 lady-like delicacy than the Common kind ; compared to 

 which, it is as the light and crisp Chinese-rose compared 

 to the full-blown beauty of the Cabbage-rose. This shrub 

 was formerly known among the nurserymen by the name 

 of the Persian Jasmin. 



The Common Lilac thrives best upon a rich, light soil, 

 such as the gardens in the neighbourhood of London are 

 chiefly composed of; and there they grow much larger 

 than in any other part of England. In a strong loam, or 

 a chalky soil, they make little or no progress. The best 

 time to transplant them is in the autumn. The Common 

 Lilac is a native of Persia, as well as the Persian, speci- 

 fically so called ; but the latter was brought to this country 

 about half a century later. 



It may not be altogether useless to mention, that the 

 flowers of the Lilac are always produced upon the shoots 



