Lilacs and Whitman

My lilacs are beginning to bloom.

I have a number of varieties of this fragrant deciduous shrub. Lilacs are not a favorite of the deer, and in my yard, they have lots to eat so they leave the lilacs alone. Therefore, it makes a good specimen for the back half of the property.

It's not native to this area -- but it is hardy. I'll be planting it on the eastern side of the garden near the hemlocks just behind the moon garden. This area is a at the top of a hill and they'll be happy there because of the drainage pattern (gravity = drainage); lilac roots should not be saturated.

The butterflies will love it. Mice and moles too. They might want to winter near the base of the plants which will grow thick, over time, into a sort of privet, so clearing the area in your winter cleanup is a good idea. One mildew it is susceptible too can be treated with a mixture of milk and water, so no pesticides needed which is always good.

I recommend planting lilacs near southern and eastern windows. We get the heat of the summer sun coming through these windows, making the house hot. With lilacs here, we can enjoy the fragrance inside, but the lilac branches cool the house because the leaves create a dappled effect, filtering the blazing sun. Since it's deciduous, the window is not blocked by leaves in the winter and we get the full effects of the sun for warming the house.

Consider grouping it with a conifers, peonies, dogwood, crabapple, magnolias, and/or hostas.


Anyway, their pending blooms made me think of Walt Whitman, one of my favorite poets who wrote a poem about lilacs in honor of Abraham Lincoln. A perfect choice, since it's also 200 years since Lincolns birth.




So in honor of National Poetry Month and the Favorite Poem Project, I offer...

When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd

from Memories of President Lincoln by Walt Whitman


1

When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom'd,

And the great star early droop'd in the western sky in the night,

I mourn'd, and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring.....

Read the full poem at Poet's Corner