Lilac Tree Changing Colour

Question

I have had a mature lilac tree in my garden that blossomed white every year. However, this year it’s blossoming purple. Any idea why this may be? One thing is that my neighbour’s lilac tree was always purple. Did this affect my tree? Many thanks.

Answer 1

I have heard of this before, but it is a puzzle- no one seems to know why lilac flowers (rarely) change color.

One possibility is that it is a graft issue, but this is only true if it is a grafted plant:
https://ask.extension.org/questions/182874