New Jersey Botanical Garden

Eight AM on a summer day seems awfully, awfully early for an ancient senior.

But….when one has energetic, caring volunteers, most at the age of my children or

younger, this senior manages to show up. That’s in the lilac garden at Skylands where

I’ve volunteered on Wednesday mornings for over ten years. Most of my thousand

hours have been spent there. Lilacs are in the sun. We work around their shade until

twelve or one when the sun chases us away for the week. Some of our volunteers do

come around nine and find plenty to do.

The lilac garden consists of fourteen beds with about 200 lilacs, many over 100 years

old. Spring rain brings lots of weeds, some very high. Our first job is to work together to

weed each bed. We cut and prune damaged branches which gives room for new,

healthy shoots to grow. Bushes regain their special shape. This year we’ll again mulch

each bed. That takes time and energy. When lilacs stop blooming, we deadhead them

which is mostly cosmetic. Who wants to see a sea of brown, dead blooms? Trimming,

pruning and deadheading is actually lots of fun. Often, we may work alone. A

comment often heard is that we find solace, a quiet peace among the lilacs.

Lilac Day/Mother’s Day is when blooms are in full display. We have as many as a

thousand visitors each day on Saturday and Sunday. It’s early in the season so we are

very busy until then. People laugh at us….” Blooms are gone, you can relax.” Not so.

The fun begins. Each bush has a special bloom time that must be recorded. This is

done on a chart that was created by JoAnn Pituch when she was working with Dr. Edith

Wallace to restore the beds after several years of neglect. The first date recorded was in

2002.

We are a great group. We work together, sharing our ideas and stories. Volunteers are

always welcome. We kneel to pull weeds. We stand to prune, deadhead and shape the

bushes. As Dr. Edith told me as a newcomer, “Lilacs are forgiving.” There are no

mistakes to be made. At the end of our season, we reflect on the work and fun that we

had. We are rewarded by the many visitors who thank us for our dedication. Join us!