My daughter sends me a photo of an apple blossom she discovered in Montpelier, Vermont, just this weekend, end of October. For anyone not a Vermonter, this is odd news that evokes suspicion and distrust. In New Englanders, distrust is a carefully curated character trait. Good lord, don’t be naïve. Naïve people don’t put on snow tires, and those people drive off roads.
Later that same afternoon, we walk through a pasture and then cut through a town cemetery. There, the lilac bushes are sticks, as you’d expect at this time of year. But at the very top of one bush, lavender flowers bloom. My daughter stands on her tiptoes and gently pulls down a branch. My house is surrounded on three sides by lilacs; late May is a joy. But this year, there were hardly any blossoms. Now: lilacs in late October in northern Vermont? Any sane person would look at this askance.
Nonetheless, I stand on tiptoes, too, and breathe in that ineffable scent of fresh lilacs.
Here’s a few lines from poet Amy Lowell:
Even the iris bends
When a butterfly lights upon it.
Stony Soil Vermont 
In Kentucky, our blackberries were hammered by -26 degrees last winter. So very few BB’s this summer….yet while mowing (for the last time?), I happened upon a perfect berry which I promptly ate. Is this late blooming a sign of the coming apocalypse? Dunno.
Who knows? At least there’s some sweetness there….
Lilacs are my favorite flower.
Me, too! Or one of them.
Brett, check out last year’s Vermont Almanac, Vol. III, p. 18… it explains this phenomenon ‘remontancy’ that we are experiencing (unusually) in Vermont this year. I remember when you wrote about finding a lilac in bloom in your yard recently, I also observed, at the same time, things blooming again (abnormally) on our walks here in North Danville.
“Outside of plants that were bred for the trait, remontant blooms are believed to be caused by weather, including droughts, abnormally warm periods late in the growing season, and other stresses. the mechanism is not well understood.” aka climate change:(
I will have to look that up! Thank you!!!!