They're here! And they're everywhere. For a couple of weeks each spring, the countryside explodes with colour and scent as the lilac outbreak takes place. Every shade of mauve imaginable, with plenty of white sports, the lilacs have taken root in every bit of waste land. From modest shrubs planted on the farmstead to raise the spirits of the early European settlers, these plants have taken off, thriving in the limey soils. They spread by runners, and by seed-eating birds, and once they take hold there's no stopping them. Each year there seem to be more of them, running rampant as agriculture declines, filling whole fields with a thick cover, which for most of the year we don't even notice. But come May, we are overwhelmed, amazed, and enchanted.
Insidious? Certainly. But what a way to be invaded!
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