What to Know
- Peak bloom time for lilacs has arrived; the flowers should be looking great through around Easter 2025, give or take a few days
- Descanso Gardens
- La Cañada Flintridge
- Admission or membership required; if you're not a Descanso Gardens member, advance admission is required
"Nothing lasts forever" can be applied to so many things in this world, but near the top of the list? It's any spring flower that has a short and spectacular bloom cycle.
So, yes, this applies to many marvelous blossoms, including the famous tulips of Descanso Gardens.
Planted in January, the bulbs soon burst with life, creating a colorful carpet around the middle of March, and the later part of the month.
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Now, though, the tulip's time has wrapped at the La Cañada Flintridge destination, at least for this season, and a new star is set to temporarily take its Technicolor place.
Although in this case, the color is very much purple, and shades of purple in all of its delicate prettiness: It's the lilac we are loving upon, a flower that is now peaking at historic garden.
The fetching and frillsome favorites will be at their nose-pleasing best for "the next 1-2 weeks, weather dependent" so make your way to the verdant location by Easter, or close to the holiday.
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If you're something of a Syringa shrub scholar — that would be the lilac's genus, of course — there are few places in California with a larger variety of these diaphanous beauties.
Beauties, by the by, that are not only loved for their lilac-soft hue but the soft scent that countless perfumes have attempted to replicate.
Yes, we did say "lilac-soft hue," for while you can aptly describe the flower's shade as purple or even violet, calling a lilac's color "lilac," though on the nose, is completely accurate.
Keep in mind, if you're not a Descanso Gardens member, that you'll need to purchase your admission ahead of time.
