Monday, May 30, 2011

Lilac Festival/ My World

Lilacs at side of a country road, East Gwillimbury

Wild lilacs are blooming NOW. Aren't they lovely? Lilacs were brought from Europe by early settlers and are now naturalized along many country roads. Wild and wonderful.

I also appreciate cultivated varieties, and while visiting relatives in Rochester, New York last week, I visited the Rochester Lilac Festival.

Highland Park, Rochester, New York, U.S.A.

We walked along the side of the hill in Highland Park and viewed many of the more than 500 varieties of lilacs planted there.

Banners lined the road outside the park

The festival had officially closed the day before, but the banners were still up and many of the lilacs still beautiful, a few still in bud almost ready to bloom.

 White lilacs with large florets

Signs on or near many lilacs identified the various varieties

A lovely pink variety not yet in full bloom

I am linking to My World.
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56 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 30, 2011 at 6:36 AM

    Beautiful. I do need to get out and take some new photos.

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  2. KathyMay 30, 2011 at 7:54 AM

    The aroma must be nearly overwhelming. I can't imagine that many lilacs in one area.

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  3. UnknownMay 30, 2011 at 7:57 AM

    I can smell them now! Lovely!

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  4. LeoviMay 30, 2011 at 7:58 AM

    Nice pictures of lilacs. Greetings.

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  5. KaoriMay 30, 2011 at 8:47 AM

    The fragrance of the lilacs must be wonderful as well! Beautiful photos :D

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  6. JennyMay 30, 2011 at 9:29 AM

    Lilacs are one of my favorites. This sounds absolutely glorious. I can imagine the scent in the air. Must have been heavenly.

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  7. TexWisGirlMay 30, 2011 at 9:31 AM

    wow. that must have been intoxicating... :)

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  8. Judy May 30, 2011 at 10:27 AM

    Oh my goodness...I would have been in heaven there. Our neighbor I just found out has a white lilac bush. I wonder if she'll mind if I clip off a few blooms :)

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  9. One PhotoMay 30, 2011 at 10:39 AM

    How wonderful! Beautiful photos. That must be such a wonderful sight and I can only imagine how amazing the fragrance of all those blooms must be.

    Thank you for stopping by my blog and for your lovely comments.

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  10. VioletSkyMay 30, 2011 at 11:07 AM

    How lovely. I am just off to the RBG, now that it has stopped raining. I was at Rochester two years ago and I think I almost preferred their festival over ours. I have to go back to make sure.

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  11. Cezar and LéiaMay 30, 2011 at 11:19 AM

    It's a dream! Imagine, a whole festival about beauty and colors, this flower is magnificent!
    Léia

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  12. Penelope NotesMay 30, 2011 at 12:00 PM

    What a bountiful bunch of lilacs everywhere in your world! I see them blooming in my world also this time of year. This is one of my favorite flowers for fragrance. It is heavenly to stop and smell a lilac during a walk in my neighborhood and yours!

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  13. CarverMay 30, 2011 at 12:03 PM

    The wild lilacs are fantastic. I also think it would be fun to go to the festival and see the different cultivated ones. Great shots.

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  14. Chuck PefleyMay 30, 2011 at 12:51 PM

    I can almost smell the lovely fragrance -:)

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  15. JudyMay 30, 2011 at 1:37 PM

    How I would love to be in among all those sweet beauties! I have some in my yard but most years the buds get frozen and no flowers bloom as they did this year. The fragrance must have been heavenly!

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  16. DarlaMay 30, 2011 at 2:01 PM

    I really like lilacs and they don't grow well in our area so it is especially nice to see these. The purple ones are my favorites.

    Darla

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  17. RedPatMay 30, 2011 at 2:20 PM

    The smells must have been fabulous!

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  18. Lynette KillamMay 30, 2011 at 2:20 PM

    Oh, how lovely! We don't have a Lilac Festival here in B.C., but their blooms are definitely my favourite part of spring. I'm inhaling the secent of my own blossoms as I type, gathered from trees started from cuttings given to me many years ago by my mother-in-law. They are both sweet and sentimental...:)

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  19. B i r g i t t aMay 30, 2011 at 3:19 PM

    Oh - wow! I almost feel the fragrance :) That is something I miss when I am in Budapest.

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  20. Janine BolléeMay 30, 2011 at 3:25 PM

    Nice one, EG.
    Great idea to group them all together for a show. You were lucky to be in the right place at the right time.

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  21. Sylvia KMay 30, 2011 at 3:36 PM

    Oh, I do love lilacs and their wonderful fragrance! Your photos are gorgeous as always! I could almost smell them from here! Have a wonderful week!

    Sylvia

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  22. UnknownMay 30, 2011 at 3:40 PM

    So much beauty! Thanks for sharing it.

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  23. PaulaMay 30, 2011 at 3:58 PM

    The colors are wonderful, but the white lilacs really caught my eye. Beautiful images!

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  24. Crafty Green PoetMay 30, 2011 at 3:59 PM

    how beautiful, i love lilacs, such beautiful colours and scents!

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  25. KarenMay 30, 2011 at 4:04 PM

    I love wild lilacs. I bet the scent was intoxicating.

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  26. FotokarusellenMay 30, 2011 at 4:17 PM

    A beautiful set of images, just very beautiful. Well done!

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  27. UnknownMay 30, 2011 at 4:54 PM

    Lilacs never seem to have made a deep impression here. I wonder if it's an ethnic difference with settlement here from eastern Europe to work in the mines, and from Quebec for the same reason. Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  28. Kay L. DaviesMay 30, 2011 at 6:54 PM

    Wonderful photos. Like Karen, I can imagine the scent! My lilacs are just beginning to bloom now, and I plan to take my camera out when my husband and the dog get back from their walk.
    — K

    Kay, Alberta, Canada
    An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

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  29. Kim, USAMay 30, 2011 at 8:22 PM

    I had the pink variety and it rebloom in the middle of summer till Fall.
    Boomerang Lilac

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  30. JanieMay 30, 2011 at 8:28 PM

    I love the scent of lilacs and the beauty of the blooms. How nice to have large numbers of them blooming wild.

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  31. SandyCarlsonMay 30, 2011 at 9:02 PM

    I love these. I spent the day at my parents', where I enjoyed the fragrance in the humid summery air. Wonderful stuff.

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  32. JackMay 30, 2011 at 9:05 PM

    I am a fan of lilacs. We have had some lilac bushes in every house I have lived in. The colors and the fragrances are terrific, and they arrive at a time of year when we most need them.

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  33. Ruth HiebertMay 30, 2011 at 9:05 PM

    Lilacs are so gorgeous and also fragrant.This festival must be a lovely place.

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  34. BeckyMay 30, 2011 at 9:08 PM

    One can never ever get enough Lilacs! That fragrance is to die for!. Beautiful flowers too.
    B

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  35. GeorgeMay 30, 2011 at 9:18 PM

    Thank you for sharing these beautiful lilacs with us -- I only wish you could share the fragrance as well. One of my earliest memories is of the lilac bushes at the side of the house where I lived with my parents before starting school.

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  36. stardustMay 30, 2011 at 9:44 PM

    I love lilacs. Unfortunately there’s no place with so many gorgeous lilacs in my neighborhood. I feel sweet fragrance wafting from the photos. Blooming flowers are lovely and the ones on the verge of blooming are special to me with their deeper colors. Thank you for sharing.

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  37. Elisa N ViajesMay 30, 2011 at 9:54 PM

    So, so beautiful!
    Thanks and have a nice week

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  38. LindyMay 30, 2011 at 10:06 PM

    I would imagine the fragrance was magnificent! Lovely, lovely images!

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  39. BarbMay 30, 2011 at 10:29 PM

    I would be in Heaven walking through all these Lilacs! What a heady experience!

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  40. UnknownMay 31, 2011 at 12:19 AM

    oh, how beautiful! i haven't lilacs here, not sure if we can grow them.

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  41. BarbaraMay 31, 2011 at 1:48 AM

    Lovely captures of the lilacs. My lilacs were plentifull this year as well and smelled as good as they looked. Have a great week.

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  42. UnknownMay 31, 2011 at 1:59 AM

    500 varieties of lilacs, wow that is a lot. I love white lilacs but everything goes, I have purple lilacs. That park must been wonderful:)

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  43. ArijaMay 31, 2011 at 8:41 AM

    Oh, for just a whiff of that magnificent scent! I have terraces of lilacs in our mountain garden and whenever they are full of blooms, we get a hailstorm and I rush out just before and cut bucketfulls for old people from Europe who live at sea level and miss the joys of their youth.

    Great photos.

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  44. FjällripanMay 31, 2011 at 9:11 AM

    Wonderful lilacs! They are not blooming here jet, but soon. LOve the smell of them! Have a great day!

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  45. Small City ScenesMay 31, 2011 at 9:38 AM

    Gorgeous!! I love Lilacs---they are all in bloom here too. They smell so good. Very nice shots too. MB

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  46. snowwhiteMay 31, 2011 at 10:35 AM

    Lilacs seem to be most suitable and perfect flowers in this time of the year. I love their subtle shades of colors. More than 500 varieties of lilacs planted there!
    Lilacs must be the most loved flower in your country!

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  47. Regina May 31, 2011 at 11:48 AM

    Pretty and delightful world!
    Love all.

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  48. cieldequimperMay 31, 2011 at 1:42 PM

    Hmmmm, ah the perfume!

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  49. LowellMay 31, 2011 at 2:46 PM

    These are all growing wild? Yikes. That is amazing. What beautiful scenery driving down a country road. I'd probably drive right into the ditch!

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  50. CassieMay 31, 2011 at 3:07 PM

    I adore lilacs! My 4 little bushes are coming along (Planted in 2005) but nothing like these fabulous giants.

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  51. kayerjMay 31, 2011 at 3:10 PM

    very pretty--I love the way lilacs smell. they are blooming here as well.

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  52. FranciscaMay 31, 2011 at 5:36 PM

    Taking a deep breath to take it all in. These lilacs, and your captures of them, are so lovely. Here they are all gone already. So are the tulips long gone.

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  53. TammyMay 31, 2011 at 8:06 PM

    Hey, you're in my neck of the woods. We are only about 35 miles away, and can you believe I have never been to the Lilac Festival?!

    Of course, in my defense, It always rains ;)

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  54. RoseMay 31, 2011 at 8:16 PM

    I just wish they stayed in bloom longer....I love the blooms for their looks, and I totally love the smell!

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  55. AnonymousMay 31, 2011 at 8:44 PM

    Beautiful, aren't they? But they make my eyes water worse than any other plant. No lilac-scented anything for me. So seeing your lovely photos is absolutely the best way for me to enjoy them.

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  56. Powell River BooksMay 31, 2011 at 8:54 PM

    My grandmother had a lilac planted outside her bedroom window. I loved the smell on warm evenings. Beautiful, and growing wild. How wonderful. - Margy

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