A Bumper Crop of Lilacs!

This year I was so excited to find my lilacs producing a bumper crop of beautiful blooms! When we moved into our home in July,2002, the entire lawn and yard were in bad shape. The builder had never installed a sprinkler system and the former homeowners just didn’t care about the condition of their lawn or gardens. They put tons of chunk granite rock into any flower or vegetable space and our backyard was infested with all sorts of persistent weeds.
You know how they say you should have the 3 B’s in your yard (birds, bees and butterflies), well because so much had been neglected for several years, all three had apparently been used to nothing going on in the yards and gardens and just flew by on their way to greener pastures! I wanted to be sure we changed that so that it was a welcome spot for all three.
We attempted to try to do the cleanup and fix up on our own and quickly found that it was a job for professionals. We contracted a professional landscape company to re-do all of the turf, plant trees and perennials, and do the other large duties like hauling away tons and tons of rock. They began their work in mid-Jan of 2003 and finished their work in Feb. About a week after they completed their work, we got the famous “100 year snowstorm” of 2003! We actually felt this was a real blessing because it gave our new turf, trees and plants a very large drink of water to help them get established.
Today, our yard and lawn is a much more hospitable place and we welcome birds, honey bees and butterflies all season long. While I was able to get some lilacs from our bushes over the past couple of years, this year the bushes seem to have come into their own and rewarded us with their beauty. I stepped into the backyard this afternoon when the air was warm to take these pictures and the scent of lilacs filled the air – certainly one of the most enjoyable and memorable fragrances of spring!