Goldlexus wrote:
..

TOTB: They are beautiful plants! When they bloom they are glorious! A
huge purple (our is purple) curtain of flowers (and bees the bush
literally hums with bees) Right now it is very sad looking and I am
quite upset about it. It is my favorite plant. They can grow very tall,
ours is at least 9 feet tall, maybe taller.


They sure look beautiful in the pictures I saw, lived near Santa Rosa
for a couple of years, and don't recall having seen one. I think it is
not a true lilac as I know them even though the blooms look similar,
those are so much more splendid than any lilac I know, including Beauty
of Moscow which I covet but have no room for, did a little googling and
hard to find zone info, but concluded the pretty ones do not grow in my
zone or anywhere near, the west and south. There is a plant in the
family that does, but it is not at all like those.

Glad to hear about the bees, means CCD must not be rampant in your
region. Now I'm glad when I see a honeybee around my flowers.