Filling the air with their heady fragrance, lilacs are a sure sign of spring. This year, they are blooming profusely in our Montana town, undoubtedly because of the long cold-initiated dormancy they experienced this past winter. While they are part of many gardens all over North America, they are not indigenous to our country. However, these lovely shrubs have been part of our landscape since the 1700s when they were brought over from Europe by New England settlers. Most notably, the oldest known lilacs were believed to have been planted around 1750 on the Governor Wentworth estate in New Hampshire, and journal notes indicate that Thomas Jefferson and George Washington both had lilacs in their gardens.