yes, flowers are our gift for all of the rain we receive, and one of the most cherished flowers in the PNW are the lilacs. Be they white or shades of, well, lilac, they are a delightful sight and scent for all who encounter them. One thing about lilacs, however, is that you must keep the bush under control, they tend to get leggy, so it’s best if you keep them at a level where you can enjoy the blooms.
In the past few years, it has started raining just as my lilacs have bloomed, turning the flowers brown all too quickly. So, I’m afraid I haven’t been very motivated to prune my overgrown bushes. But this spring, I saw quite a prize at the top of these twigs, and we had a series of warm sunny days, so, I broke out my favorite pruning saw and loppers and climbed up to take down the tallest branches and create a more rounded shape. For each branch one cuts, more young, green branches will sprout up and fill with flowers.
Oh, and what flowers they are…. fluffy, spiky and full of the most gorgeous scent ever… it’s complex and rich, and, yet, flighty and light, it’s unlike any other scent in the world.
But here’s the deal with Lilacs, before putting them in a vessel of fresh water you must pulverize, yes pulverize the stems. This allows water to travel up through the branches to keep the blooms fully hydrated. I use a cutting board and my kitchen hammer to break up 4 ~ 6 inches of the bottom of the branch.
Also, it’s best to change the water each day.
So, after years of unfulfilled Lilac lust, this year, I feel like the luckiest lopper in town, because my vases have runneth over with an outlandish load of blooms.
After placing them in the family room,
and the hallway,
the courtyard,
dining room,
and bedrooms;
I started feeling like the village woman who had just butchered a lamb and couldn’t let a morsel go to waste. So, brought a few buckets to neighbors,
and to a friend who was hosting a wedding.
And then there were those gorgeous trunks…. I just couldn’t let that beautiful bark go in vain. So, Mr. Splendid sawed them to just the right length for the fireplaces.
And I snipped plenty of twigs to get things going {in a year or so}.
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I sure wish I could send each of you a wonderful whiff of Lilacs right now!
You have done a spectacuar job..they are sooo gorgeous in white! I dont' see them often in white, normally the pink variety but in white they are breathtaking in those blue and white vases!