a bowl of lilacs

Now that the lilacs are in bloom

She has a bowl of lilacs in her room

TS Eliot

Ahh... one of my favorite times of year, lilac time.  Such a beautiful bloom and fragrance for such a short time.  This year I didn't miss out on cutting a few branches for inside the house...

As well as a little photo opportunity with my new acquired milk glass canister as vessel!

We have just one lilac bush... one of the few plants that were existing here at Red Gate Farm when we moved here just over 11 years ago.

The lilac a couple of weeks ago, just starting to open up all of the little blooms... the color will get to be a pale lilac/lavender color when fully open, as you can see it starts out almost a dark pink color.

And a week or so later...

Not only a change in color but soooo fragrant now too!

We've had some warm weather this month... broke a few records and even hit 80 degrees... pretty unheard of for us in April.  Those warm evenings were the best, you could step out the door and smell the lilac from across the way.  Heaven!

A couple of years ago my husband put in a new lawn in the area, including a sprinkler/irrigation system, that extra water during a dry summer has really shown in the health of this old bush... it's bigger and many more blooms this year!

And speaking of lilacs... I have a plan for the future and lilacs at Red Gate Farm.  The potted lilac on the right is one I started from a tiny little "branch" I purchased last year.  It is a yellow lilac, well creamy-yellow actually, named Primrose.  I potted my little branch and babied it in the greenhouse all spring, summer, fall and winter... now it's ready for it's new home.

And the other lilac?  I purchased this lilac, Sensation, an old variety of lilac from 1938... I'd like to think that this fits at our 1920 era home.  

We plan to create a lilac hedge to the south of our barn, along a drainage ditch between our property and the neighboring property.  To add to these we're digging up starts/shoots from our original lilac as well as two others from my son's house, a dark purple and a white (you can see more about those here).  It will take years to become a hedge but that's okay, I can practice a little gardening patience.

My cut lilacs are quickly loosing their little flowers... but not their fragrance... nor my little dream for the future.

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Elizabeth & Co

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