bringing lilac indoors

by Sharon Santoni

lilac in bouquet with roses and peonies

There are bouquets of lilac in my house this week!   The temperatures may not be very high but the garden can wait no longer and it is just exploding with colour and the first flowers of the season.   We haven’t had much rain, so the wisteria is hanging around longer than usual and I find myself with simultaneous blooms on wisteria, lilac and even the first peonies.   A very unusual combination.

GARDEN IN MAY

This weekend saw the first big plant fair of the season too, one of my favourites, held in the grounds of a 13thC chateau at La Roche Guyon, just a little way along the river from Monet’s garden at Giverny.   I came away with some ferns that I have never grown before and a beautiful rose called Scentimental that I have hunted for ages.

plant fair chateau roche guyon

So here is the offering from the garden this week, dominated by the lilacs because of course we have to make the most of their short season.

lilac in bouquet with roses and peonies

And with a couple of Scentimental roses showing their striped petals at the top of the bouquet.

Hope your week has got off to a fragrant start!

lilac in bouquet with roses and peonies

21 comments

Jennifer Lively May 9, 2017 - 7:33 pm

Your lilacs and peonies are beautiful! Their scent must be heavenly. I particularly liked the scentimental roses.

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Maywyn May 9, 2017 - 7:36 pm

Beautiful photographs

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Carole J May 9, 2017 - 7:37 pm

Stunning Sharon! I can almost sense the fragrant flowers. Just a lovely arrangement and great for ones well-being to add a touch of romantic color. I will place these around my home.

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Shirley Jean Creighton May 9, 2017 - 7:38 pm

How do you get them to last after being cut? Mine wilt so fast I hate to cut them. Beautiful bouquet!

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Sandra @ Maison De Jardin May 9, 2017 - 7:40 pm

Your lilacs and peonies are gorgeous! Here, our lilacs bloom first and then the peonies. However, our weather has been strange this year and I have things in bloom that don’t usually bloom until late May. Also, your rose is so pretty.

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Amy K May 9, 2017 - 7:48 pm

So beautiful. I love peony and can’t wait until ours bloom. But again, it’s been down right cold here in Michigan so it will be a while. Glad I get to enjoy yours now.

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Barbara Novello May 9, 2017 - 8:56 pm

Thank you Sharon so much for your beautiful blog of lilacs today. It made my heart sing as I miss my lilac bush so much. Back in Virginia it was the most stunning in our area. Living now in LA spring is not the spring our back east has nor what you have in France. Thank you so much and ENJOY!!!

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Colleen Taylor May 9, 2017 - 9:30 pm

Absolutely gorgeous Sharon! I love that scent of lilacs and those peonies are breathtaking.X

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Deborah M May 9, 2017 - 10:04 pm

Gorgeous arrangement! I wish I could get my nose right in there for a deep inhale! Thank you for sharing.

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Mary M May 9, 2017 - 10:08 pm

Your mention of La Roche Guyon brought back fond memories of a day we spent at the plant fair. What a lovely fair! Thanks for bringing back that day.
Gorgeous lilacs!

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jackie May 10, 2017 - 1:23 am

Beautiful Lilacs and peonies. You will love Scentimental. It is in reality tough as. Beautiful perfume. We have -2 degree temperatures here where we live in Australia and it is still in flower and buds coming. Great performer in the garden amongst David Austen roses. Love your garden

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jackie May 10, 2017 - 1:35 am

Sharon, in your photo you have the loveliest pink flower in your garden. Might I be so bold to ask what it is?

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Barbara Felix May 10, 2017 - 3:58 am

Beautiful bouquets,love lilac time— do you have any secrets to keeping the bouquets fresh,they will so fast!

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Sharon Santoni May 10, 2017 - 8:39 am

No secrets I’m afraid, Barbara, I crush the end of the stems and change the water regularly, but in a warm house I’m lucky if they last up to a week 🙂

Still worth it though!

x

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dottie monta May 10, 2017 - 6:49 am

One of the prettiest scents of all is the lilac, and yours are spectacular. We are having a very wet Spring in Pennsylvania, but the lilacs, especially the white, are so beautiful. So lovely is their fragrance I find myself seeking out soap infused with it, to tuck in hose and lingerie drawers! Thank you for sharing the beauty of Spring with us, Sharon.

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Julie Bresette May 10, 2017 - 2:10 pm

I bet the bouquet smells amazing!

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My Little Home and Garden May 10, 2017 - 6:51 pm

Yours is an incredibly lush bouquet! It’s still too soon for lilacs in my part of Canada, but they’ll come along before the peonies. I love both!

Enjoy this lovely season,
Karen

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Vicky from Athens May 11, 2017 - 12:07 pm

Just beautiful! I can almost smell the lilacs from here. They remind me of a trip my sister and I took to France a few years ago. The lilacs were in bloom and it seemed like they were everywhere we went … a special time!

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Carol May 11, 2017 - 3:57 pm

Dear Sharon, What beautiful bouquets you show us on your blog! Love the ones you make and the ones made by your Stylish French Girlfriends. Lilacs are so wonderful. Here in southern California (between LA and San Diego) they are VERY hard to grow because lilacs like a winter chill. However, we have a few “French Hybrids” that do relatively well and bloom from Mid February to early March depending on the weather. We had an especially lovely display this year because of the rain. I posted a photo on my Instagram account, frenchflowerfarm, in early March showing my lilacs AND my little French fountain with its circle of dancing frogs.

Wish we could grow peonies, as well, but it is definitely too warm for them here.

It seems that France has it all!

Smiles from Carol

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Mary Crozier May 11, 2017 - 6:59 pm

I love lilacs~~they remind me of my childhood. However, we cannot grow them in Phoenix, Arizona so thank you so much for sharing. I could practically smell them from your gorgeous photo. Beautiful arrangement!

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MARLA May 14, 2017 - 7:28 pm

OH MY SOUL! as my grandma used to say. The lilac is my favorite flower and your shots of the bouquet are amazing. While I’ve been in SoCal for most of my life I spent my childhood in Northeast Iowa where we had 2 enormous lilac bushes in the front yard. One lavender and one white. No such thing in Orange County Cal. I hunt them down in the market in May and sometimes find some to bring home! Love the blog as always.

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