Lilacs

The garden continues to bloom, with lilacs and iris taking over where the daffodils left off.  I struggled to grow lilacs at Aspen Meadows but they never really did very well; a few sad blooms if I was lucky.  Most years, nothing.  Up here, we have perfect lilac conditions and they grow like weeds.

When my mom died, I planted three in her memory.  I’m not sure if she loved them or not, but my dad always talked about lilacs blooming when they got married at my mother’s parents’ house in Illinois.  So, I have always associated lilacs with the stories of their wedding although her stories were more about not being allowed to wear an off-the-shoulder wedding dress — so she got married in a very smart suit that she sewed.  And hated.  Don’t you love family stories?

Syringa vulagaris ‘Katherine Hanemeyer’ (hybrid)

Syringa vulgaris ‘Sensation’  (French hybrid). I love love LOVE this lilac.

Syringa vulgaris (Common lilac)

A few years later I added a double white lilac to cover up the corner of the garden fence by the chicken shed.

And, just this past year, I planted three dwarf lilacs in the new front planter.  They are too tiny to show up very well in the photo.  There is one in front of, and one behind, the glorious yellow iris.

Am I addicted to lilacs?  You could say so.