...of wildflowers and wings...

   Playing around with spring lilacs from my garden and my fabrics...

Blue Rose Wreaths and Sommarhus Tartan

May Day Summer Roses in peony pink on white

May Day Summer Roses on basil green stripe

Rosewitha on peony pink stripes

Saint Colette in blueberry

Sommarhus Tartan in blueberry

The Start of Lilacs Lilac Season at Elinor Cottage

Lilacs on a Jane's Rose Bouquet linen-cotton slip cover in blueberry blue

Lilacs on Jane's Rose Bouquet in blueberry blue, printed on linen-cotton canvas

Lilacs on Lake Emily Summer Roses linen-cotton fabric, in blueberry blue

Warble for Lilac Time, by Walt Whitman

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 lilac-time, returning in reminiscence.

Happy First Day of Spring!

I'm sure many of us wish there were more visible signs on spring this year, then just a calendar date!
So here are my spring lilacs from last year, when our warm weather arrived way ahead of schedule and my lilacs were in full bloom at least a month before they normally are.

I can't wait for this year's blooms. I have been keeping a close watch on the budding of the leaves and other signs of spring, around my yard.
It felt wonderful last weekend on a mild day in the low 60's, to be out dead heading hydrangeas and cutting back the roses.
I couldn't help but blow a few kisses at the 16 lilacs in my yard, starting to leaf out!
I will do a big photo shoot of this year's crop, as soon as they arrive.

Most of these lilacs are specialty varieties from
The Hulda Klager Lilac Garden in Washington
I make a trip there every May 1st to buy another plant or two for my yard.

Did you know LilyOake is the ancient English folk name for the lilac?
It's my favorite flower and I thought it was perfect for my business name.

Enjoy!

Spring is for Lilacs

   My favorite flower, I wait for it all year round.

This year Mother Nature did not disappoint!

When one pays such close attention to their lilacs year after year, you discover how the winter before affects each bush or tree.  Last year we had a much colder, stormier winter and the common lilacs had heartier stems and more flowerettes.  The specialty lilacs bloomed profusely, except for the whites.  This past winter was mild and hardly cold compared to years past and the common lilacs now have more brittle branches and while they bloomed profusely, the flowerettes are not as long lasting. The smaller specialty lilacs didn't bloom at all but the whites and all the new lilacs I planted last year with the expectation they wouldn't bloom for a few years, are giving me the most beautiful displays now!

Here are a few I picked for the dining room mantle last Saturday.  Aren't they magnificent!?

You can only imagine how wonderful my home smells right now.

There are lilacs everywhere...I float from room to room thinking this must be what heaven is like.  Occasionally I see a cat butt on a table, sticking out of a vase...the kitties love them too...but mainly, I think, to drink their water! haha

Can't Wait for Lilac Season

This is a photo I took (last year?) of one of the specialty lilacs I bought at the Hulda Klager lilac farm in Woodland Washington.  It's an actual National Historical Site now!

http://www.lilacgardens.com/

I go every year since I bought my cottage from whom I was renting it and am now free to add new lilacs to the yard from this farm where they carry lilacs bred years ago by Hulda herself.

This one is a favorite (my absolute favorite is still an old fashioned purple lilac with double or triple flowerettes!) This one in a lovely shade of pink has such a sweet scent.

Its the "Katherine Havemeyer" lilac.

Here I displayed it on my living room mantel.

I can't wait for it to bloom this year - and yes, it has the start of flowers on it already.  But due to our extra cold and rainy Seattle weather this year, its a month off or so yet.

Lilac Time

It's that time of year when my yard turns green and the lilacs open and scent the air.
Growing up in Wisconsin surrounded by lilacs of every shade, it has become my first and foremost most favorite flower.
Did you know lilacs mean "first emotions of love"? For me, it's a very emotional flower, taking me back to my childhood when my Grandma on the farm had huge lilacs around the house and my Mom waited every year for hers to bloom so she could bring in big handfuls to fill the old, pale green vase with them for the dining room table.

It is such a treat to be able to plant, grow and cut my own lilacs now, from my own yard, and bring them into the house. Everything smells so sweet. Even my kitties sit with their tiny noses deep into the bouquets - although I don't kid myself - I think they are more interested in drinking the water.

I have tried to capture my feelings about lilacs in poetry over the years but I have to face the facts - I'm a lousy poet! So I'll let Robert Burns do the talking.

"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.