Our James Macfarlane lilac was in full bloom all weekend long, standing sentinel over our garden. While our common lilacs have gone by, James is still big and beautiful.

There are a number of other lilacs that bloom later than the common lilac, and they are a great choice if you want to extend the lilac season

A friend about 10 years ago asked us to remove the James Macfarlane, and we put near our property line, at the end of the vegetable garden until we could figure out what to do with it, and it stayed there. Since then we have put other woody ornamentals beside it, and we have a sort of funky garden border.

We also had lemon lilies in bloom over the weekend. They are the first hemorocallis, or daylily, that we get each year; they are fragrant and simply fantastic.

Also in strong bloom were the peonies and the perennial geranium, or cranesbill, which are no relation to the cemetery geraniums.

It was a great weekend to spend time outside.

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