♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ Or Walk By Our Lilac Tree ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪

Lilacs will always hold a very special place in my heart. The smell transports me back to my little-girl days at our tiny home in Greenville. We had a huge (6-8" tall and 4-5" wide) lilac hedge that was right along the street in front of our house. There were also several more lilac bushes at the front corners of the house and down the east side.

For whatever reason my lilacs are glorious this spring! Perhaps the lilacs are appreciating this real spring; it is just that right uneven mix between balmy days and stormy days that we rarely get here.

I've always loved the Primary song My Heavenly Father Loves Me. As a child I only knew about lilac bushes, not lilac trees... I thought the song writer was a little mixed up. Now as an adult I've come to appreciate the beauty of a lilac tree or a less bushy bush.

The most wonderful thing about the the 6 lilac bush/trees that live here on my happy little quarter acre of heaven; only two of them are the same color (those shown in the photo above).

My Favorite Lilac

April Fool's Day

There was a time when I wouldn't have let this day go by without some kind of April Fool's joke... but somehow I just didn't have the oomph to think of anything this year.

The weather has been rainy today, which is much appreciated. In spite of our long, cold, snowy winter we are only at 70% of normal for rain and snow. Ah well, *Fritz* keeps reminding us that we live in the 2nd driest state in the country.

But look at the very lovely non-April Fool's treat I saw today-

My lilacs are ready to burst. I'm hoping for warm open-window days so I can enjoy their heady perfume.

And see what I spied out my kitchen window this morning.

♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ 

I looked out the window and what did I see? Popcorn popping on the apricot tree! 

♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪

Dragonfly

Back in April, when my lilacs were in bloom, I walked out the back door and saw this handsome fellow just chillin' on the lilacs. I stealthily crept back inside for my Rebel and came back out just as quietly to captured him in all of his beauty.



I'm sure glad I stumbled upon this photo... it is too good not to share.

Smells Like Heaven

One of my favorite things about spring (oh, let me count the ways!) is my lilacs blooming. I think heaven must smell like that!

I've always enjoyed spring, but I think it is an even happier time this year because it has been so slow in coming. My sweet lilacs stayed in the bud stage for the better part of April!

This lilac lives just outside my back door and is ruffled. I've blogged about it before it is called My Favorite Lilac (which is so true!)



I also have the un-ruffled variety like we had in Greenville when I was growing up.



When we moved here 6 years ago I added the three lilac bushes that are along the back of the house. Imagine my surprise when I found that there were 4 other lilac bushes in my little 1/4 acre of heaven! The ones not pictured here are a variety I'd ever seen before. They are very frail... that's the only word I can think of that describes them. They still are in the very beginning of bud stage.

The other beauty that caught my eye when I was out on my photographic explore was my back door neighbor's pear tree... just beautiful. (I can already taste their luscious, juicy fruit.)

123- French Lilacs

My lilacs have toiled bravely through the recent snow storms- trying very hard to bloom. I remember as a girl going out to knock the snow off our lilac bushes with a broom. It always distressed me! I don't get too bothered about it now... no point! But I've missed the warmer temperatures so I can open my windows and let the lilac's fragrance waft in.


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On a side note~
I spent most of the day cutting out bridesmaid dresses. I have 4 of them all cut and ready to sew.

And by 5pm it had finally dried out enough to go out and mow the lawn. It had been 10 days! I had to empty the bag every few passes! I keep hoping that I can just mulch and put all of those wonderful nutrients back in the grass... but no luck so far; it's just been too wet.

316- So Confused

I've told you that we've been having lovely weather... here is the proof! Not even my poor lilac can determine what season it is! I think it is too funny.



But it need not be confused much longer... THE STORM is moving in.

113- Amazing

If you care to take the time... go back one week from today and see the 10" of snow on my yard! By Sunday we had highs in the 60s and by Tuesday it was in the high 70s.

It amazes me how much difference one week of warm temperatures can make! On Monday none of these flowers were in bloom, just tight compact heads.

Today is a different story. My island is a riot of yellow with the daffodils saying their farewell and now the tulips [mostly yellow shades] are all in bloom. I love the way the sun plays on their translucent petals.



I've also been patiently waiting for my apple tree to bloom. I just love the look of apple blossoms and I love the apples in the fall even more.



And there is always my very favorite spring flower- lilacs. I love the smell, I love the memories...

068- My Favorite Lilac

With the change to daylight savings time we are having some very dark mornings. We are situated right at the base of the east mountains so it takes a while for the sun to rise here to begin with... but add to that our "daylight savings" and we really have it dark. This morning we also have a heavy cloud cover so it was really, REALLY dark. It almost makes me feel like I've been plunged back into the middle of January. (And this morning that isn't a happy thought!)

I needed some reminder that it is in fact March and that winter is almost over and the dark days are coming to an end. When I opened the blinds in the family room (which is in a half-depth basement) I could look right out and there were lilac buds to give me heart and encouragement. (OK, so why does that make me cry?) I needed that *tender mercy* from the Lord to remind me that, yes, the sun does come out again!



So I got my trusty little Lumix camera and went out to document this sign of hope and renewal. I left the nursery tag on my lilac bushes when I planted them 4 years ago. I stretched it out to remind myself what it was and found this:



Lilacs probably are my favorite flower for oh-so-many reasons! Lilacs always take me back to Mom's little house and the love and safety I remember there. (I talk more about that here.) I look forward to warm spring days and smelling the heady sent of lilacs wafting in the windows.

Lilac Caress

Lilacs and I go way back as far as I can remember. We had a giant lilac hedge that ran across the front of our lot in front of the house (where I loved to play and "hide-out"). We also had additional enormous bushes at each front corner of the house and one on the east side of the house close to "Ann's" bedroom window. (Funny how that goes... I probably inhabited that room as long as Ann did but the little bedrooms were always "Ann's room" and "Sue's room".)

I love the heady smell of lilacs. It always brings back sweet memories of home and the comforts that I felt there. I used to sleep with my bedroom window open and in the summer I would make my bed so that my head was by the open window (even though that was the foot of the bed). I would wake up to the luscious smells of lilacs and violets that grew on that side of the house.

What an amazing blessing to find that my new home here in Utah had several lilac bushes (and I added three more). The ones that were already here are very old-fashioned looking and very lacy and frail looking, but they get loaded with strong heady blossoms each spring.

This year the lilacs have attracted a whole flock of Hummingbird Moths. They are so lovely. Some of them had pink or lavender breasts and wings. I was able to catch some of them in the act of supping at the lilacs. Sadly I don't have a dSLR camera and didn't think about changing the settings on my digital to do some stop-action photos. (Incidentally, they are Simba's big catch this year. We've had to liberate about a half a dozen from the house that Simba brought in!)



Now they are nearly spent and I have lavender "snow" on the lawn under all the lilac bushes. Yesterday as I was mowing the back lawn I needed to make a turn that took me close to my lilac bushes. One of the branches reached out and so very gentle caressed my neck. It was so wonderful that it just made me smile.


I love these wonderful, memory-evoking flowers.