Saturday, April 9, 2011

I love lilacs --

I grew up in Minnesota, and the first house we lived in had a row of huge lilac bushes that bordered our yard with our neighbors'.  In the spring, it was amazing, the profusion of blooms, the beautiful scent, the greenest of green leaves . . . 

 [Linkup to Weekend Texture Twist]

We can't grow lilacs in California -- maybe up in the Sierra foothills they can, but most other places it doesn't get cold enough in the winter for lilacs to do well.  People try, but they come out spindly and don't have much of a smell.

So I wait for the little flower place here to put out the sign:  "We have lilac!" and I hurry in to get them, because they disappear quickly.  They're not the best --  they're a little scraggly and the scent isn't strong, but I love them.  I've been waiting for days for them to open up enough to photograph, and while they're not quite there, I couldn't wait any more.  I hope these will be the first of a few lilac shots.

 [All textures from Flypaper Textures]

Note to my fellow photographers:  Jill and Paul at Flypaper Textures have come out with a new set -- the Spring Painterly pack.  They do beautiful work, gorgeous textures and colors.  On these two variations, I've used Citron Vert, Lemoncello, Naissant Border and Giverny -- I'm happy with the way they came out.

Which one works better for you?    Here are a couple more:


[Linkup to Your Sunday Best]



13 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's really great picture! I LOVE LOVE LOVE Lilacs. I just came back from the nursery where I saw exactly the same Lavender Lilacs. Since I came to US (4 years ago) I've been looking everywhere for this plant (I live in South Bay Area) and I couldn't find it. It Poland it's everywhere!!! It blooms around May and Poland smells like Lilacs for a month!!!
thanks for sharing!!!

Unknown said...

Your Lilacs are lovely and your texture twist is grand!! Thanks for linking up!

Elise Ann Wormuth said...

momphotographer, they're very hard to grow here, and so hard to find. Thanks for your comment, and thanks, Kristy, too.

Heidi said...

Really nice job on this! I also love lilacs...thanks for bringing us a little bit o Spring...

Sue said...

Somewhere, I have a photo of my mother's lilac bush in our yard in Uniondale. We moved out of that house in 1966, and I can still feel and smell the tiny blossoms. Thanks for bringing that back. :)

FYH said...

Love the smell of Lilacs...great job!

Unknown said...

I love lilacs and I have few in my yard, could take more if I just would have space but no. Beautiful edits:)

Elise Ann Wormuth said...

Thanks, everyone, for your comments -- I appreciate it!

Nancy said...

Hello Elise! Thank you so much for linking up to Your Sunday Best. I appreciate it so much.

Your lilac photos are gorgeous. Love what you did with the editing.

We have lilacs all around our farm house to help with wind break -- and we love them so much in the late spring, early summer. :)

Tammy said...

They are all terrific, but I like the last two the best. I don't know anything about using textures...looks like something I need to learn!

Elise Ann Wormuth said...

Thanks very much, Tammy and Nancy --

TexWisGirl said...

those are beautiful! i grew up in wisconsin and loved them so. now in texas, they don't grow here...

Elise Ann Wormuth said...

Thanks very much, texwisgirl --