Lucky lilac

There is an old English tradition that lilac should not be brought indoors because it is unlucky, especially the white variety. My mother was always superstitious about it. I regard this particular lilac in our front garden as lucky, though.

The tree was almost demolished in the 1987 great storm (hurricane force winds, though not technically a hurricane ...) and we thought we'd lost it. Good old Mother Nature is a tough old bird, and the felled tree grew again from its base. Hooray for that. Look at it now!