Lilacs and More
I love lilacs. When I was a kid, it was a rare yard in my area that didn’t have an old lilac bush. Nobody went out to garden shops back then to actually buy bushes. You went to somebody’s yard who had one and asked if you could get a start. Out would come the grubbing hoe or shovel and soon you’d leave with a start of whatever bush or flower you’d been admiring. Forsythia. Japonica. Peonies. Lilacs. Iris. Butterfly bush. Day lilies. That’s how I got all those flowers and flowering bushes in my yard. Somebody gave me a start.
My grandparents had a lilac bush in a corner of their yard that seemed to be an old plant when I was a kid. It exploded in purple blooms each year. But I didn’t get my start from that bush. Instead I was visiting my brother-in-law who had a pretty lilac in the yard of a house he was renting after he married. I admired the flowers and out came that grubbing hoe. I babied that sprout and had finally gotten it to grow just a bit when we built a house on a farm we’d bought. You better believe out came the shovel and that little lilac bush moved with us.
I love having plants that come from the yards of my family. Those blooms are a reminder of the good times I had with those people and how much they loved the flowers of spring. Lilacs have always been one of my favorite flowers. That lovely lilac color. That wonderful aroma. And they look good in a vase on your table inside. Usually the lilacs bloom abundantly if no late frosts come. So that’s why when my character, Jocie, needed a sweet smelling flower in my first Heart of Hollyhill book, lilacs were the perfect choice.
A Start in Reading
Lilacs made it into the title. Scent of Lilacs. Lilacs made it on the cover of the book. Both the original cover and the new cover when the book was re-released after being out of print for a couple of years. Lilacs played a part in a major scene in the story.
Now, if you have an e-reader or like to read on your phone or iPad, you can grab that first Hollyhill book for 99 cents. In fact, just for fun, I’ll give five of you the download or if you already have the book on your e-reader, I’ll gift one of your e-reading friends. All you have to do is leave a comment saying you’d like the download or leave a friend’s e-mail (but you should ask their permission first) in a comment. First ten requests get a free e-book.
But I know some of you don’t like to e-read. So I’ll draw for a winner of a paper copy of Scent of Lilacs from those of you who comment and say you would rather have a copy you can hold in your hands. That’s sort of like giving you a “start” in books. I’ll pick the winners next Sunday if I have more requests than five for the downloads.
Thanks for reading.
Do you have flowers in your yard that you got the start for from a friend or relative?
Comments 12
If there are any left, I would love to read this book. I have a very nice lilac hedge, but it got cut way back last year, so I may not have any flowers this year. 🙁 But I do love their scent and make me think of many good friends. 🙂
Author
I hope the hedge surprises you by blooming, Darlene. And I do have some e-book gifts left. I’ll send one to your e-mail unless you want to give me a different place. You can e-mail me directly from the contact link up at the top of the page. Thanks.
I loved this book and have a printed copy. I didn’t comment earlier so someone else would have a chance. However if I win maybe I could send you a friends email address so she. Could enjoy your book!
Author
That would work, Donna. So glad you enjoyed visiting Hollyhill.
I would love to have a print copy of Scent Of Lilacs. I like the smell, looks and feel of books, although I also read ebooks.
Author
I’m with you, Judy. I like that book in my hands. The swoosh of page turning on the e-reader isn’t the same, but sometimes the story takes over no matter how you’re reading it.
I have flowers in my yard that came from the yards of two of my aunts. I also have iris from my grandma’s garden (descendants anyway, since it was probably 30 years ago that I got the first ones and I’ve moved them around from house to house during those years). Reading about your lilacs make me wish I had gotten some starts from my aunt’s bushes before her house was sold. I enjoy plants and flowers anyway, but knowing they came from a loved one’s garden makes them even more special.
Author
That’s the way my flowers are too, Pam. The white peonies from my grandparents’ yard. Iris and japonica and forsythia from that yard too. Pink peonies from my mother-in-law. And I used to have cherry trees from her yard too, but they’re gone now. I do agree that getting those “starts” from loved ones’ yards and gardens do make the flowers more precious.
I, too, love lilacs- purple and white. They make me think of my childhood and are one of my favorites. I have several different plants that people have given me a start from. One that I always remember is a friend who I taught school with had given me some resurrection lily bulbs (or naked ladies.). Anyway, I put them in the ground several years ago and the following Spring the foliage came up and presently died away like it’s supposed to. in late August, the tall blooms beautifully appeared on the day of her funeral. I had forgotten about them until that day! What a sweet surprise!
I would love to be in the running for a print copy for the Lilac book!
Author
That had to be a lovely way to remember your friend, Margie, and a little shocking as well as surprising to have the blooms appear on the day of her funeral. But you know, I’m guessing that would have made her happy. I think my mother-in-law had some of those lilies. They are very unique. I really like how the flowers I have gotten from my family members who are no longer living, help me to remember good times with them.
When the e book was first offered for .99, I downloaded it onto my Kindle. It was SO good I followed it with the second and third in the series in less than a week (wish there was a fourth)! When I read a series I become part of the book—-in this case a part of the Brooke family. Thank you so much!
I would like to introduce my sister to this series. Her email address is seaoftalk@gmail.com
She prefers a hardback or paperback. In fact she does not own an ereader.
Author
I’ll put your sister in a drawing for the paperback copy, Karen. Thank you so much for taking advantage of the e-book sale and going to Hollyhill to meet Jocie and friends. I had such a great time writing about them all. It took me a while to get their voices to quieten down in my head so I could move on to other stories. So glad you enjoyed being part of the Brooke family.