ldquo The wind is tossing the lilacs rdquo With that opening line of her springtime poem ldquo May rdquo poet Sara Teasdale captured a vision of lilac bushes waving in gusty breezes But Teasdale was lamenting a lost love and her poem soon turned sorrowful Our backyard lilacs also encountered a challenge After having their most lush and beautiful season they faced the axe of a hard-working lawn man who ldquo trimmed rdquo every bush chopping them to stubs I cried Then three years later mdash after barren branches a bout of powdery mildew and my faithless plan to dig [... more]