On the west side of Syringa Avenue.

A gift of George Marshall who purchased it from The Gobbett Nursery, Farlow, Kidderminster, Worcestershire in November 2017.

The species is native to the Balkan Peninsular, where it grows on rocky hills. Grown for its scented flowers, the large shrub or small tree is widely cultivated and has been naturalised in parts of Europe, Asia, and North America. It is not regarded as an aggressive species. It is found in the wild in widely scattered sites, usually in the vicinity of past or present human habitations.

Introduced in 1753.

Syringa vulgaris ‘Firmament’ has the Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit. Raised by Victor Lemoine (1823-1911) of the famous Lemoine Nursery (1849-1968) in Nancy, France. He introduced over 200 lilac cultivars during his lifetime.

‘Firmament’ is a synonym for sky or heaven. But in ancient middle east cosmology, ‘the firmament’ is a celestial barrier that separates the heavenly waters above from the Earth below.