Oh happy, day, oh happy day. The lilacs are out at my house. This year, the floral display is a little bit extra because the hawthorn bush has grown up and interwoven with the lilac so there are delicate white blossoms wound around the heavy purple clusters.
It is really special. Midcoast resident Heather D. Martin wants to know what’s on your mind; email her at heather@heatherdmartin.
com. Lilacs are one of those plants that occupy a special place. They are absolutely everywhere – but manage to remain extraordinarily special.
With their relatively short bloom cycle, they are decidedly linked with summer – and they have managed to dig in their roots to the part of the brain that is linked to nostalgia. Lilacs are warm and sunny days, cool glasses of homemade lemonade, and a calmer, gentler time gone by. If ever I am sad, all I have to do is stand among the lilacs and all is right with the world again.
For a plant as strongly associated with Maine summers, it might come as a shock to realize that it is not native. Nope. They are interlopers from Eastern Europe.
However, they are so very lovely, not considered invasive, and have been here for so long everyone pretty much agrees that they are welcome. This might not have been their origin spot, but it has become their home. Phew.
Not so fortunate are a few other favorites of mine, the lovely Rosa Ragusa to name but one. You probably already know this, right? Sigh. This plant, this plant which I love, we have to pause so I c.