Lazarus Cooke wrote:
Flea, I'm not sure what it was. I found it in the garden and it's gone
now, but I'll bear in mind the potash tip.

Great! Didn't think of you pruning it ... that was perhaps the problem
indeed! I've got a 'Spickwick' (not sure of spelling) with pink stripes
on the petals - weird one but last long as cut flowers, and a white one
which scent travels trought the house every year. When we moved we
sadly missed our very old lilac, perhaps 30 years old, so I've planted
our two close to each others so that, next year maybe, I will be able
to hang a hammock (after 9 years of waiting!).