The Scent of Lilacs

The lilac was first introduced to France by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1563. Some 250 years later the first wild lilac plants were discovered growing in the Balkans and Serbia.

Lilacs quickly became a great favourite with early North American pioneers because the plants were tough enough to survive the long and difficult sea journey.

Lilac flowers range through shades of purple, blue, pink, white and now yellow varieties have been developed.

Most lilacs bloom in mid May for a period of about two weeks, but some species bloom earlier and a few later. By careful selection blossoms can be enjoyed over a period of six weeks.

Spring is definitely coming. I can see closed buds on my own lilac tree.
Very soon we can inhale the lilac's intoxicating fragrance.

***********

Upon a Lilac Sea - a poem by Emily Dickinson




Upon a Lilac Sea
To toss incessantly
His Plush Alarm
Who fleeing from the Spring
The Spring avenging fling
To Dooms of Balm

Warble for Lilac-Time
By Walt Whitman
1819-1892



Warble me now for joy of lilac-time, (returning in reminiscence,)
Sort me O tongue and lips for Nature's sake, souvenirs of earliest summer,
Gather the welcome signs, (as children with pebbles or stringing shells,)
Put in April and May, the hylas croaking in the ponds, the elastic air,
Bees, butterflies, the sparrow with its simple notes,
Blue-bird and darting swallow, nor forget the high-hole flashing his
golden wings,
The tranquil sunny haze, the clinging smoke, the vapor,
Shimmer of waters with fish in them, the cerulean above,
All that is jocund and sparkling, the brooks running,
The maple woods, the crisp February days and the sugar-making,
The robin where he hops, bright-eyed, brown-breasted,
With musical clear call at sunrise, and again at sunset,
Or flitting among the trees of the apple-orchard, building the nest
of his mate,
The melted snow of March, the willow sending forth its yellow-green sprouts,
For spring-time is here! the summer is here! and what is this in it
and from it?
Thou, soul, unloosen'd--the restlessness after I know not what;
Come, let us lag here no longer, let us be up and away!
O if one could but fly like a bird!
O to escape, to sail forth as in a ship!
To glide with thee O soul, o'er all, in all, as a ship o'er the waters;
Gathering these hints, the preludes, the blue sky, the grass, the
morning drops of dew,
The lilac-scent, the bushes with dark green heart-shaped leaves,
Wood-violets, the little delicate pale blossoms called innocence,
Samples and sorts not for themselves alone, but for their atmosphere,
To grace the bush I love--to sing with the birds,
A warble for joy of returning in reminiscence

Thank you dear Inda, for this wonderful presentation of Lilacs, which is one of my favorite flowers. And first on the list of scents! Simply divine!

We had them in our garden in Switzerland and I so loved to stand under the bush, getting drunk by that wonderful scent. In German this flower is called FLIEDER.

Love and have a Happy Sunday!
Margherita

I can feel the scent of the lilacs already.
Thank you Inda and Margherita. The images are lovely, and a promise of spring to come.

Love,
yoko

Thank you for this post.
Soon it will be time for the lilacs to bloom and they are beautiful in this country.
Thank you all for your beautiful images.

Love,
Vicky

Thank you for this post.
I love the scent of lilacs.
Soon they will be blooming and it will be nice just to sit under the lilac tree and enjoy the fragrance.

Sincerely,
Gisele

Beautiful thread.

It weill be nice to bring lilacs into the house, they add a fragrance to every room.

Love,
Sue

Manet

Thank you everyone for your nice replies and images.

Love, Inda
**********



Emily Dickinson

- The Lilac is an ancient shrub

The Lilac is an ancient shrub
But ancienter than that
The Firmamental Lilac
Upon the Hill tonight --
The Sun subsiding on his Course
Bequeaths this final Plant
To Contemplation -- not to Touch --
The Flower of Occident.
Of one Corolla is the West --
The Calyx is the Earth --
The Capsules burnished Seeds the Stars
The Scientist of Faith
His research has but just begun --
Above his synthesis
The Flora unimpeachable
To Time's Analysis --
"Eye hath not seen" may possibly
Be current with the Blind
But let not Revelation
By theses be detained --

so beautiful...this thread:
with Love

Lilie

Love you Lilie.

Lilacs are one of my favorites flowers.

Thank you Inda for this thread!

Love,
Sylvie

Thank you Sylvie.

The lilacs will soon be blooming.
Enjoy them.

Love, Inda
***********

From:



Poetry of Walt Whitman


} When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd

1
When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom'd,
And the great star early droop'd in the western sky in the night,
I mourn'd, and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring.

Ever-returning spring, trinity sure to me you bring,
Lilac blooming perennial and drooping star in the west,
And thought of him I love.

OOOOO...Inda!
I love this post being the gardener and nature lover that I am!
Lilacs scent is so heavenly, definitely one of my favorites! Mine are just beginning to bud!

Thank you Sandy.
Lovely to see you.

O Were My Love Yon Lilac Fair
Robert Burns

Air-"Hughie Graham."

O were my love yon Lilac fair,
Wi' purple blossoms to the Spring,
And I, a bird to shelter there,
When wearied on my little wing!
How I wad mourn when it was torn
By Autumn wild, and Winter rude!
But I wad sing on wanton wing,
When youthfu' May its bloom renew'd.

O gin my love were yon red rose,
That grows upon the castle wa';
And I myself a drap o' dew,
Into her bonie breast to fa'!
O there, beyond expression blest,
I'd feast on beauty a' the night;
Seal'd on her silk-saft faulds to rest,
Till fley'd awa by Phoebus' light!

This is a lovely thread.
Thank you everyone for your text and images.

Love,
Sue


Lilac Garden
Go down to Kew in lilac-time, in lilac-time, in lilac-time;
Go down to Kew in lilac-time (it isn't far from London!)
And you shall wander hand in hand with love in summer's wonderland;
Go down to Kew in lilac-time (it isn't far from London!)

From 'The Barrel-Organ' by Alfred Noyes (1880-1958)

HAIKU

Terry Busch



the moon's reflection
dances out on Skagit Bay---
movement in stillness

in black and white
a gallery for the starving
we walk thru quickly

a daffodil
in my shadowed garden---
your smile in my life

unseen
snowflakes whisper
to the lilac

waking to moonlight
I tend a sagebrush fire
waiting on coffee


http://www.poetrylives.com/SimplyHaiku/SHv3n3/haiku/terry_busch.html

Carmina Burana c. 1150 A.D.

Juliana by the Greenwood Tree

One sweet spring Juliana
stood under the greenwood tree
in the company of the sister
Sweet love!

Who could pass you by at such a time!

The trees blossom now
and the birds lasciviously sing,
virgins' pure thoughts take flight,
Sweet love!

The lilacs bloom again
and the maidens in the vale
sing of the high god's power
Sweet love!

Could I embrace the one I love,
and underneath the forest's leaves
I would kiss her with such pleasure,
Sweet love!

Y. Chuikov

Lilacs are in bloom again. There is a wonderful scent in the air.

Heart-leaves of lilac all over New England,
Roots of lilac under all the soil of New England,
Lilac in me because I am New England.

Amy Lowell (1874–1925)
Lilacs

David Giacalone



first the scent -
lilac bushes
'round the corner

I see the buds on the lilac trees.
It will be lovely when they open, as they will fill the air with their magnificent scent.



When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom'd,
And the great star early droop'd in the western sky in the night,
I mourn'd, and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring.

Ever-returning spring, trinity sure to me you bring,
Lilac blooming perennial and drooping star in the west,
And thought of him I love...

Walt Whitman

Upon a Lilac Sea - a poem by Emily Dickinson




Upon a Lilac Sea
To toss incessantly
His Plush Alarm
Who fleeing from the Spring
The Spring avenging fling
To Dooms of Balm

Thank you for bringing back the lilac post Sue. The lilacs are all ready to open. We have had unusually warm weather, so everything is a little bit earlier than usual.

Love,
Vicky

The scent of lilacs already lingers in the air, and the blossoms are ready to open.

Love,
yoko

You are right yoko, there is definitely a wonderful scent of lilacs in the air.

Love,
Vicky


Lilacsby Amy Lowell

Amy Lowell
Lilacs,
False blue,
White,
Purple,
Color of lilac,
Your great puffs of flowers
Are everywhere in this my New England.
Among your heart-shaped leaves
Orange orioles hop like music-box birds and sing
Their little weak soft songs;
In the crooks of your branches
The bright eyes of song sparrows sitting on spotted eggs
Peer restlessly through the light and shadow
Of all Springs...

Lilac trees are beginning to bloom.
I see a lot of white and lilac buds on the branches, and I can already feel the wonderful scent.



"My lilac trees are old and tall;
I cannot reach their bloom at all.
They send their perfume over trees
And roof and streets, to find the bees."
- Lousie Driscoll, 1875 - 1957,

http://www.gardendigest.com/trees.htm

You are right yoko, the lilacs have buds and they are beginning to emit a beautiful scent. Let us enjoy them while they last, because they only stay with us for a short time.

Love, Inda
**********

“The lilac branches are bowed under the weight of the flowers: blooming is hard, and the most important thing is - to bloom.
― Yevgeny Zamyatin

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/lilac?id=lilac

Thank you yoko for bringing back this topic.

When Lilacs Welcome
When lilac buds have burst to bloom
On hills and valleys of Spokane,
When larks are trilling roundelays
More sweet than fabled notes of Pan,


The River rushes joyously,
The tumbling Falls lift rainbow spray
in welcome to each visitor
and native son, for festal day.


The Queen of Spring holds Royal Court,
When lilac fragrance fills the air;
Our chosen Princess brings her throng
Of maidens -- fairest of the fair:


A Theme of Beauty and of Home --
No sweeter song the heart can sing! --
No other song can quite compare:
SPOKANE -- and LILACS -- in the Spring!
-- Jessie Cameron Alison

http://writingnorthidaho.blogs...from-lilac-poet.html

Lilac buds are already to open up which means that spring is really here.

...The lilac-scent, the bushes with dark green heart-shaped leaves,
Wood-violets, the little delicate pale blossoms called innocence,
Samples and sorts not for themselves alone, but for their atmosphere,
To grace the bush I love—to sing with the birds,
A warble for joy of lilac-time, returning in reminiscence.

Walt Whitman

The scent of lilacs is almost here. The buds are ready to open. They don't last long, so enjoy them while they are here.

Love,
Vicky

You are right Vicky, th lilacs are ready to open, but it is still quite cold here.
The scent is lovely, and the lilacs do not last long, so let us watch th buds as they will soon start to open.



Love,
yoko

This is still a wonderful thread my friends.


I created this haiku for you right now, while dwelling in memories of the past ....



Lilac's blissful scent:

Divine intoxication

Paradise on Earth

quote:

Lilac's blissful scent:

Divine intoxication

Paradise on Earth

Thank you Margherita for the beautiful scent.

Love,
Inda

quote:

Lilac's blissful scent:

Divine intoxication

Paradise on Earth

Thank you for the lovely haiku dear Margherita.

Love,
Vicky

Lilacs are ready to open.
The scent is beautiful.

My Lilacs are blooming and the scent is so nice.
You can already feel it down the street. My nedighbours have lilacs as well, so the scent is quite powerful.

Lilacs are in full bloom again, and the scent is magical.

You are right Inda.

The Lilacs are in full bloom at the moment, and their scent is truly magical.

Lilacs come in a variety of colours as well. Let us enjoy while they last.