Lovely Lilacs

Lilacs by Edmund Blair Leighton

"Your lilacs are in leaf, ours are in bloom."

~ Excerpt from Letter of Jane Austen to Her Sister Cassandra

Isn't this the most loveliest of paintings! The purple lilacs waiting to be gathered by this maiden… I can almost smell the floral fragrance from this garden. Edmund Blair Leighton certainly knows how to capture the romance of yesteryears in his period paintings. Thanks to the foresight of the puritan women who brought lilacs from England, the New World was first filled with their beauty in the 1700's.

Gardening Activity:

Grow your own lilacs. Fall is the perfect time to plant these hardy plants which require little maintenance.

Study of Purple Lilacs by Paul DeLongpre

"In the garden below were lilac-trees purple with flowers,

and their dizzily sweet fragrance drifted up to the window on the morning wind."

~ Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

You will find more information on how to take care of lilacs here.

Basket of Lilacs by Paul De Longpre 

"When the skies are of sapphire radiance

And the apple tree boughs are ablow,

Then the lilacs hang out in the garden

Their clusters of purple and snow."

~ The Poetry of Lucy Maud Montgomery

Lilacs and Roses by Paul DeLongpre

"She had stood at this window in all weathers: when locust and lilac made even ugly little Weston enchanting, and all the windows were open to floods of sweet spring air; when tie dry heat of autumn burned over the world; when the common little houses and barns, and the bare trees, lay dazzling and transfigured…"

~ Mother by Kathleen Norris

"... exactly as I've pictured it," she said. "There is no honeysuckle over the windows, but there is a lilac tree by the gate, and—yes, there are the muslin curtains in the windows. How glad I am …"

~ Anne Of The Island by Lucy Maud Montgomery

A Study of Lilac and Roses by Madeleine LeMaire

"And that," said Mary with solemn delight, pointing under a big lilac bush,

"is where he perched on the little heap of earth and showed me the key."

~ The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

"The grass withereth, the flower fadeth:

but the word of our God shall stand for ever."

~ Isaiah 40:8

All the fine print…

Book Excerpts from Growing Lilacs, United States Department of Agriculture, Home & Garden Bulletin Number 199

   Thank you to the Graphics Fairy for some of the lovely lilac graphics.

This post may be shared with some or all of the following lovely link-ups: Modest Mom Monday's, Teach Me Tuesday,  Domestically Divine Tuesday, Raising Homemakers, Wise Woman Link Up, and Deep Roots at Home. Thank you, dear ladies, for hosting these!