Friday, May 1, 2009

Oh the JOY!

My favorite thing about May is my lilacs. The fragrance, the delicate blooms, the memories they evoke. One of the first things we did when we moved here was to pull out all the overgrown shrubbery and plain green foliage in the front gardens. We replaced it with 6 lovely lilac bushes. I can't think of a more fitting way to say Happy May Day to you all.

This is one of two traditional lilac-colored bushes.
This year is the first year that it's yielded
more than a couple little blooms.
They are the most fragrant of my collection.


This white tree has the most profuse, lush blooms.
It's been a great producer since the very first season.
I love the crisp purity of the blooms.


Ah, my favorite little trees of the whole bunch.
These bloom a bit later, and the flowers are
a deep, dark purple.
I searched for these for a long time.
Ironically, I finally found them at my favorite nursery
back in my old town.
After I'd lived here for a year.
With a store credit and a major coupon,
I was able to buy two!
And now I have mementos from
my lovely times at Ashcombe's, too.

My Miss Kim miniature bush hasn't bloomed yet.
She's ready, just hanging in there for some
bright sunny afternoon to bless me with her beauty.
I'll be sure to share the joy when it happens.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

I love lilacs but my allergies don't. My grandmother always cut some from her yard and brought them to us. Thanks for the reminder of her memory.

Livin' Life said...

I love them too but Scott's allergies don't allow us to have any. I just have to love them from a distance. Thanks for the pictures I wish they were scratch-n-sniff!!! :)

heidi @ ggip said...

I love lilacs. We have one we planted about 6 years ago. It was tiny, but I do know how to take care of one and it is now HUGE! And I love the fragrance. I would love to build a collection like yours!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful flowers and my favorite color purple...Glad to see that Aidan is finally home! Praise God for the wonderful work he did through all of you to bring her into the family.
Don't know if Ed told you but we go to Grace now. Joe likes it there and Rachel has met many friends that she'll eventually go to school with. Take care.

Laura Suermann
laura8227@yahoo.com

Cathy said...

I have the Miss Kims too and ours haven't bloomed either. They probably will in another 2-3 weeks.

Aus said...

Ya'll are a lot like us outside too! We're in that grand time of year where the windows can pretty much be open all the time - it's even a tad cool this morning for that! Marie had planted roses in with the lilacs right outside our bedroom windows. (tough to groom but the reasoning is great) So from about now into the fall, when ever the windows are open you get the scent of lilac or rose (or both once in a great while) without even going outside!

Don't have any of those dark ones tho - I'm feeling some shopping going on soon!

hugs - aus and co.

Kevin, Jake and Violet said...

I, too, love lilacs. I just wish they were around a little longer. Our bush of white lilacs (not my favorite but they came with the house LOL) is stuck in the back yard in a far corner, and I tend to forget about it. Your post reminded me to look to see if there still were blooms, and they already are gone. Glad to see you are feeling better. I had a sinus infection a few weeks ago, too. Must be something in the air.
Violet