They're baaacccckkkk!
Lilacs, among the most beautifully fragrant flowers around, are one of the truest signs of spring in New England.
My husband cut some lilacs this week from our daughter's yard and brought them home to me. He placed them in a heavy cut glass pitcher and put them on the kitchen table. They made a glorious gift.
As a child, I remember walking to school. When the lilacs started to bloom, their fragrance filled every bit of the air. Sticking my entire face into their blossoms, I'd take deep breaths of the heavenly aroma. Even today, with eyes closed, a whiff of these gorgeous flowers transports me back to childhood.
Did you know that lilac bushes can live for hundreds of years? It's not uncommon, in the coutryside of this part of the country, to see just the foundations of what were once New England homes. Nearby, however, one almost always finds rows of lilacs! They outlasted the homes and the former dwellers!
Because they are so long-lived, it has been sugggested to give them as gifts when a child is born or for bridal couples. That sounds like a great idea!
Comprised of thousands of clustered blooms, lilacs come in several shades of purple, pink, yellow, and white. There are also many varieties of the flowering shrub.
Originally from Europe (the Blakans, France and Turkey) and Asia, lilacs have been in the United States since the 1750's. Both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson had lilacs growing in their gardens.
The lilac capital of the world is Rochester, New York. Every year there's a huge Lilac Festival there that runs for several days.
Lastly, here are a few lines from Walt Whitman's poem about lilacs:
...When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom'd,
And the great star early droop'd in the western sky in the night,
I mourn'd, and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring.
Ever-returning spring, trinity sure to me you bring,
Lilac blooming perennial and drooping star in the west,
And thought of him I love.
In the dooryard fronting an old farm-house near the white-wash'd palings,
Stands the lilac-bush tall-growing with heart-shaped leaves of rich green,
With many a pointed blossom rising delicate, with the perfume strong I love,
With every leaf a miracle -- and from this bush in the dooryard,
With delicate-color'd blossoms and heart-shaped leaves of rich green,
A sprig with its flower I break...
DO LILACS GROW WHERE YOU LIVE?
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