the trouble with lilacs

lilacs are in full bloom now. big heavy purple or white heads droop gracefully off tall bushes with a scent is so strong you can smell them coming down the street. lilacs bring out bees and even hummingbirds. they provide all kinds of centerpieces and floral arrangements and fill the house with their sweet fragrance. but they dont last long inside losing their shape and laying over the sides of the vase like deflated purple balloons. they go by quickly on the bush too - and then drop their tiny dried florets all over the newly laid mulch. soon dead skeletal heads remain atop the bushes and when the leaves fall in autumn, they protude into the grey winter sky. spring growth does a poor job of covering last years remains. so my advice to you is to pick as many lilacs as you can in may while they bloom. theyll never be as good as they are right now.