Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum is a jewel in the Emerald Necklace park system designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. A treasure right in the heart of Boston, it includes rare trees from all over the world. On this beautiful, sunny morning, we were greeted by the sweet smell and soothing lavender, purple, white and pink colors of the lilacs in bloom.

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A 281-acre preserve in Boston, the Arnold Arboretum has an amazing collection of temperate trees including cherry, wood plants, azalea and rhododendron blossoms. The arboretum is a great place to immerse yourself in nature and learn something new on each visit.

Lasting only two weeks in the spring, the Lilacs provide a fragrance that perfumers, candle and soap manufacturers have tried to capture in bottles and essence. In nature is where it is the best!

Quoting from Amy Lowell‘s beautiful poem that captures the beauty of these springtime blooms:

Lilacs,
False blue,
White,
Purple,
Color of lilac,
Your great puffs of flowers
Are everywhere in this my New England.
Among your heart-shaped leaves
Orange orioles hop like music-box birds and sing
Their little weak soft songs;
In the crooks of your branches
The bright eyes of song sparrows sitting on spotted eggs
Peer restlessly through the light and shadow