Even though this year, with icy mornings and 20-some degree overnight temps, March may seem like the cruelest month, T.S. Eliot bestowed that honor upon April ... We spring worshipers are chastened, or maybe forewarned, by his oft-quoted line “April is the cruelest month”. What we forget is that it's followed by an evocation of lilacs; “Breeding lilacs out of the dead land, mixing memory and
desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain.”
Easter and lilacs are intertwined in my mind, although most years lilacs bloom weeks later. With the array of newer hybrids it is possible to have lilacs in bloom for many fragrant weeks, bracketing the Easter holiday in cones of sweet, old-fashioned flowers. And this spring, Monrovia Nursery is introducing a new summer-blooming lilac - seems a little weird, actually, but tantalizing, too...
Redwine lilac (Syringa x prestoniae 'Redwine beautiful') has a spicy fragrance, and magenta flowers that don't bloom until late spring into summer. Like most lilacs, it is beloved by butterflies, and lasts well and looks beautiful cut for arrangements. But the main reason to grow this new version of an old favorite is for its heat tolerance. For the first time it might be possible to have lilacs in bloom along with lilies and roses - wouldn't that be a smorgasbord of scent?
A contented is a perpetual feast? Life is shore and time is swift?
Posted by: lacoste shirts | July 04, 2010 at 05:42 PM