Stumbled on one of my little lilac bushes blooming on Hydrangea Hill at Struan Farm this past week. I never know if it's been cold enough over winter to coax the lilacs to come forth until they actually do so. This one seems happy on the Hill, with a cluster of flowers that looks to be heart shaped, if you're willing to squint and/or stretch your imagination just a tad.
Lilacs are special to me; I grew up with them flowering each spring outside my bedroom window. In Victorian flower terms they mark the first emotions of love. So I've planted two small bushes in the gardens at the farm.
Later that day John and I were strolling around looking at what was blooming or about to bloom. At this time of year so much changes from week to week it's amazing, at least to us. Right now the azaleas and rhodos are stepping up (I've recented rabbited on about the rhodos, I know, so here are the azaleas instead).
We were looking at a particularly beautiful yellow rhodo up in the back, deciding that the viburnum hovering above it was cramping its style and really needed pruning back this next season.
I then looked up, further back into the far reaches of the gardens and saw this:
a large lilac tree in full flower! Neither John nor I had ever seen it before, didn't know it was up in the back reaches of the gardens.
So while at first I thought this post was going to be about a happy lilac bush on Hydrangea Hill, it turns out it is also about finding more surprises at Struan Farm when I least expect them.
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