To Honor the Lilac...

One of my most favorite flowers, and scent, is the Lilac. Unfortunately, these beauties bloom for only a very brief time in the Spring. I love when that time of year comes to me... I like searching for the most magnificent bush and then sneaking back when I think no one can see me, and burying my face in the cool blossoms... their undeniable aromatic scent filling my soul and lingering all around me. It is my belief that there will be Lilacs in Heaven.

My birthday happens to fall during the peak blooming time for Lilacs. Though we never had a bush of our own, somehow my sweet Mom found a way to have a bunch of them tucked into one of her big old vases for me to wake up to on the big day. It just did not get much better than that.


I've read that there are over 1,000 varieties of Lilacs, including a wide range of colors, sizes and types of blooms. The most common Lilac colors are "Lilac", lavender, white, pink, blue, and purple. There is single and double petal varieties. And bushes can grow between 2 and 30 feet high.

There are two poems left to us in history that speak of Lilacs.


The Waste Land
By T.S. Eliot ~ 1922

April is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land

The entire poem can be found here



When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed
By Walt Whitman

In the dooryard fronting an old farm-house near the white-washed 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-coloured blossoms and heart-shaped leaves of rich green,
A sprig with its flower I break.

The entire poem can be found here

I hope you've enjoyed seeing a few examples of how artists have paid honor to the Lilac in their works. If I close my eyes and slip back into my memories, I can still smell their sweet perfume all around me. ~Until another time~ Pearl