• Pick a large branch of lilac flowers or enough to yield 4 cups of blossoms. Make sure to pick the flowers in a clean area that hasn't been sprayed.
• Hold the flowers over a large bowl and gently pull the blossoms off dropping them into the bowl. Alternativly you can use scissors to snip them off but pulling is faster.
• Place the flowers into a fine meshed strainer and rinse under cold water to remove bugs and dust.
• Set a quart sized mason jar onto a towel and measure out 2 cups of lilac flowers into it. Then cover with 4 cups of boiling water. Alternativly you can steep the lilacs in a pot instead of a mason jar.
• Place the lid on and let the flowers sit until they have cooled down. Then place into the fridge to steep overnight.
• The next day strain the lilac water through a fine meshed strainer lined with cheesecloth. Squeeze out enough liquid as possible to get 4 cups. If you are short add the difference in water.
• Pour the lilac water into a medium sized pot and add the sugar and lemon juice. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat string often.
• When the mix has come to a boil remove from the heat.
• If you are using this fresh let it cool and then place in a container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
• 
  Freezing
  To freeze lilac syrup let it fully cool and then poor into freezer safe containers leaving 1 inch of space or pour into ice cube trays and freeze.

Canning

• Ladle lilac syrup into pint or half-pint mason jars leaving 1/2 inch of headspace.
• Wipe the jar rims clean and add lids finger tight.
• Process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes adjusting the time to your altitude.
• Remove the jars from the canner and place onto a towel to cool. Check after 24 hours any jars that haven't sealed need to be reprocessed or refridgerated.