It was named after Syringa (Lilac), the genus of flowering woody plants in the olive family (Oleaceae).
A lilac tree, planted in memory of Levack, stands on the lawn in front of Heart Lake Secondary School.
The Golden Valley Garden Club supported efforts to plant lilacs along the highway, and the Minneapolis Journal coined the name "Lilac Way".
The larvae have been recorded feeding on Fraxinus and Syringa species in Primorskiy, Ligustrum japonicum, Ligustrum obtusifolium and Fraxinus rhynchophylla in Korea and Ligustrum japonicum, Ligustrum obtusifolium, Olea europaea and Osmanthus fragrans in Japan.
The larva of this species mainly feed on Ash species (Fraxinus), but have also been recorded on Syringa and Ulmus species.
The garden was established in 1967, and now cultivates about 1,500 species of useful plants, including collections of Cactaceae and other succulents (such as Agave, Euphorbia, Kalanchoe, Stapelia, Sansevieria), Iris, Lilium, Paeonia, Rosa, Syringa, as well as flora of Asia and the Far East, Kazakhstan, Europe, the Americas, and medicinal plants and conifers such as Podocarpus.
It holds national plant collections of conifers (particularly Tsuga), Ericaceae (and Rhododendron in particular), Aceraceae, Betulaceae, Euonymus, Fraxinus, Laburnum, Magnolia and Syringa.