Sweet Smell of Denver

I took a bike ride the other day and noticed something about older Denver neighborhoods which had never occurred to me.

I live in a 70 year old house, in a neighborhood which grew up around it about 40 or 50 years ago and
I routinely ride through some of the older neighborhoods (houses up to 100 years old, down to 50). I was doing just that when it hit me: Every 50 yards or so I was getting a nice strong whiff of Lilac.

Having noticed this, I started paying attention as I rode along. Near as I can tell, Lilac must have been the most popular flowering shrub in town at the turn of the 20th Century, and remained fairly popular up until about 30 or 40 years ago, here in Denver.

In the newer, suburban, neighborhoods Lilacs are rare as hen's teeth. I feel sorry for the people there, who don't have that whiff of flowery heaven waiting as they walk or ride through the streets around their homes.

This one is at the front corner of my house. I have been through 3 Spring seasons in this place, and never realized this was Lilac, since it never bloomed before this year. The bushes in my back yard have bloomed every year that I've been here, and are even more fragrant this year than they have been.

Makes me think that the weather and/or moisture conditions must have been just right for Lilac, this year, here on the Front Range. That would explain why they have have made such an impression on me lately.