ErinKelly's Blog

TGIF and Hallelujah!
Feb 1, 2008 | 12:02 PM PST
Tags: lilacs , harsh winters , february , blossoms , high altitude gardening

What a silly title, but appropriate for today. We've been having snowstorms off and on the past two weeks but it is finally Friday and the SUN IS OUT!! Such a tease, as now I want to get outside and start planting something - anything! It's been a long, cold winter. I have 'cabin fever' and it's only February. Sigh.

My main concern is my little lilac tree. I received it as a gift two years ago. The small lilac tree was in a huge pot, greenhouse grown, and the poor thing had to be hardened off in order to sit on my porch. It has done well, but hasn't flowered, excepting in the beginning.

The only flowers the lilac had were the blooms from the greenhouse. After those gorgeous smelling blossoms withered and fell away, the tree hasn't bloomed again. I've been told lilacs sometimes don't bloom until they are three to four years old.

I moved to an even higher altitude a year ago. I currently live at 7,200 ft. The lilac has endured two cold winters, but seems to be doing well. It sits on my deck at the moment, with 4" of solid ice around it's base. A month ago, when the sun came out for about 3 days in a row, the confused little lilac actually started BUDDING....no no no! I cried! Not now! It's NOT Spring!

Along came a hard freeze, and that was that for the tiny leaves trying to pop out. I wonder if that will affect it's growth this year? I am SO looking forward to this tree blooming.

I have fond memories, as a child, of sitting under a HUGE lilac bush on the farm in Iowa, smelling the heady fragrance on a hot summer day - enjoying the cool shade the leaves of this giant lilac provided.

I thought it was gigantic. So was the creek that ran along the side of the meadow. It was a raging river and there were probably piranhas ready to gulp down tiny children at a second's notice.

Years later, my mother told me the 'creek' was a tiny trickle, a small irrigation drain. Well. My bubble was burst. "I suppose," I said, "you're going to tell me the lilac wasn't gigantic?"

My mother only smiled.

Anytime I smell lilac, I am whisked away to my childhood and those lazy, hazy days of summer.

I will keep posting on the progress of my lilac tree. I've never grown one before, but I feel fortunate to have helped it survive climate changes and harsh winters. I will absolutely feel in heaven if and when it blooms!