On a misty Saturday morning, fresh from an errand in Lombard and just steps from Lilacia Park, I decided to stroll its several paths and see what was blooming. Lilacia Park holds several acres of trees and flowers and, like its name, lilacs. The park’s beauty is celebrated each May as more than one thousand lilacs bloom with such extravagance as to claim a yearly event known as the Lilac Festival, with a parade and a Lilac Queen and the most intoxicating scents that beckon all who pass by to stop by and enjoy the show.
The unseasonably cold and sun-starved spring we have been experiencing has stalled most of the lilac blooms, but, a few hardy ones were showing off and this one posed for me. Rather accommodating, don’t you agree?
Most of he tulips were also shy on Saturday, but the flowering crabapples, ah, they were like walking into a hazy dream and took my breath away. Click on the picture to get a better idea of their beauty.
There were a few tulips that had opened. I couldn’t resist these.
Or these two caught in an embrace.
Pine needles and grape hyacinths and still some daffodils showing off.
I’ll stop here and save a few, for the next several weeks promise to be distracting, starting with two weeks of jury duty. I think I’ll be a little tied up with civic duties and a few personal ones to follow, but, y’all come back. I’ll post when I can, if only to show you the rest of Lilacia Park.
A stunning set of photographs, Penny! Just breathtaking blossom. Jury duty sounds all-consuming. Hope it’s an interesting one…
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Thank you, Kate. I look forward to catching up on your posts soon.
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Penny, this is so pretty, it almost hurts. My mother loved lilacs so much and we always had large bouquets of them in our house when they were in bloom. Sometimes when I smell them I feel like she is near, just beyond my vision, but there nonetheless. Isn’t it amazing how a fragrance can make a memory so real?
Keep in touch when you have time. We all understand how busy you are.
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Thank you, Janet, that is so sweet of you to say. Isn’t it amazing how scents can bring us back to people and moments in time? I wish you could be here to walk around the lilacs in Lilacia Park and feel your mom. They do make the best bouquets, don’t they?
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What beautiful, happy photos of spring. I especially love the photo of the crab apples flowering, with the tulips underneath. What a show!
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Thank you, Juliet. The crab apples are most particularly brilliant these year.
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Oh….I long to take such beautiful photographs, accompanied with such eloquent prose. You are an inspiration to a novice like me and I so appreciate your kind words of encouragement in these endeavors.
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That is so sweet of you to say, Molly. I was envying you your recent photography class. I think it grand that we can explore all these avenues. Thank you.
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Penny, this post and these photos made me ache for spring. Today we had a bit of sun, but I am still wearing a wool vest, jacket and scarf. We have gorgeous tulips in our yard, but our lilac are nowhere near blooming and I feel like winter has barely left our door. Enjoy that beautiful park and all those lovely blossoms for me!
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Thank you, Dana. We have now had a bit of heat, so, I’m sure the lilacs are all blooming in Lilacia Park and hope to stop by this weekend and take a look and breathe in the fragrances. Hope you get some blooms soon.
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I have to get over to Lilacia Park now that I know where it is, thanks to a Zeeman wedding. Mine will bloom late since it is a fairly young plant, only had three Liliac’s but they were huge and one was pure white, the others purple and white.
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Run, hop, jump, or at least get in your car and go over there soon, Sharon. These heat will have opened the blooms in Lilacia by now and will give you a thrill. I’m sure your own will be beautiful as the years wear on. Enjoy!
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[…] were right across Lilacia Park in Lombard. An early morning appointment gave us time to pause. We walked across the street, up a […]
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[…] street in Lombard, just a few blocks from Lilacia Park, home to the Lilac Festival I told you about here. A very small restaurant, it is painted with bright red walls and French paintings. Most of the […]
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