Flowers really do intoxicate me. ~Vita Sackville-West

Beautiful Bleeding Heart

Beautiful Bleeding Heart

Monday, May 10, 2010

My love of lilacs



Living in Western NY certainly has its gardening advantages. Lilacs love to grow here and they certainly do flourish. Not far from here, in Rochester, the city hosts a lilac festival each May when all the different varieties of lilacs in Highland Park bloom and put on an awesome show. I have always wanted a lilac in my yard, but because I have such a small, tight garden, I figured that lilacs were one plant I was going to have to live without. As luck would have it, a tree fell on my house and smashed two cedar bushes that were in front of my house. I never liked these bushes much so it was a perfect excuse to get rid of them and plant what I really wanted - lilacs! You may think of lilacs as huge, bushy tree type plants but in recent years varieties have changed. I bought two lilacs and they grow to reach about 6 feet tall and about 4 feet wide, just perfect for in front of my porch. The blooms I have this year are amazing and one of the flowers is over two feet long! Sitting on my front porch, the intoxicating scent of lilac drifts to where I am sitting and I truly think I'm in heaven. Lilacs don't do well as cut flowers so to enjoy their scent and beauty, you really need to take advantage of them in their natural habitat. If you are lucky enough to see a lilac in bloom, take a minute to inhale their scent and it will be something you look forward to each spring!

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