Blooming Lilacs

I've been waiting patiently for our lilac bush to blossom. Here is the first bouquet I've made.

I filled an old milk glass vase of my Grandmother's with them, using florist foam to secure the lilacs in place.

The lilacs are very special to me as the bush is quite old, and I know that the women who have lived on this farm before me have gathered around her, awaiting her blossoms as anxiously as I, breathing in their sweet fragrance.

Here is the old lilac bush.

Amazingly, this is what that same bush looked like when we bought the place. The blossoms were very sparse.

Now you can smell them from the porch there are so many. When the blossoms fade, I'll again clip as many as the expired blossoms as I can reach to encourage a more prolific bloom next year. From what I've read, lilacs prefer to be pruned immediately after their blossoms have faded.