The Lilacs in Highland Park 
When spring comes to Eochester, New York, the people sing 
an old ballad in a new way : 
"To the Park in Lilae time; 
Highland Park in Lilae time, 
Down its slopes in Lilac time 
In the month of May. ' ' 
Along the southern edge of the city lies a chain of hills, 
deposits of the ice age. On one of these glacial kames is situated 
Highland Park, internationally famous for its collection of Lilacs. 
Are you a pilgrim to flowers' shrines? If a devotee of 
Lilacs, you climb at daybreak to the hill's conical top for your 
first view. Your eyes sweep the horizon ; to the north where the 
sleeping city spreads almost to the shore-line of Lake Ontario; 
to the east and south where the distant hills surround the smaller 
' ' finger lakes ; " to the south and west where the Genesee winds 
in its broad green valley. From this panorama you look down 
on the steep slopes at your feet abloom with Lilacs. Lilacs white 
and blue, pink and lavender, claret and purple. Lilacs incense 
laden, dew drenched, shining in the sun. And a Veery singing 
in the thicket. 
While yet your senses are steeped in loveliness, the practical 
gardener within you rises up and demands facts; facts about 
Lilac names, colors, cultivation. "With pencil and notebook in 
hand, you go down the hill to label beauty ! 
You notice that each one of the three hundred and twenty- 
two species, varieties and hybrids stands in a plot of finely 
cultivated, heavy loam. No grass is allowed to grow within 
three feet of the shrub's base. No weed dares to. A winter 
mulch of rotted sheep manure has been dug carefully into the 
soil so as not to disturb the fine-feeding roots. All sprouts and 
suckers are promptly removed. This practice is imperative in 
private gardens as a large percentage of nursery stock is grafted 
either on the common Lilac or Privet. 
The pruning is done in the winter by skilled men who can 
distinguish between leaf and flower buds. An amateur has 
found it safer to prune her Lilacs during the flowering season. 
Blossoms are cut generously (never broken) and always with 
an eye to shaping the shrub. The inner, straggling branches 
which never flower are taken to provide more green for bouquets. 
If desirable to cut a large branch, a close incision is made and 
the wound covered with wax. All dead blooms are removed 
before seeding. 
The borer is the Lilac's arch-enemy. It is an individual 
theory that it is more apt to attack fresh, uneven surfaces, 
particularly near the base of the shrub. Watch for sap oozing 
from a hole, ants congregating about a gnarled spot and tiny 
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