bend wyatt one crop

bend wyatt one crop

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Welcome to the Lilac Garden!

The 'Hulda Klager' Lilac Garden in Woodland Washington.

Hulda Klager was two years old when her parents brought her to America from Germany in 1865.
The family moved to Woodland and purchased a farm in 1877.
This is the home today.

Even though Hulda was busy with the demands of home, marriage and family, she was able to make time for her flowers.
While recovering from an illness in 1903, she received a book about plant propagation.
Her first tests began with an apple tree at the farm. She successfully crossed a mild Wolf River
apple with a sour, juicy Wild Bismarck apple, creating a larger fruit that took less time to pare.

Her work with Lilacs began in 1905.


By 1910 she had 14 new varieties to share.
In 10 years she had enough new varieties to host first open house, which she continued until 1960.
 
In 1948 her home and farm were flooded for some 6 weeks. Virtually all of Hulda's work was destroyed. But at age 83, she wasn't about to be defeated by a little water and went to work restoring the gardens. Many of the people who had previously acquired lilacs from Hulda, sent her starts to replace those she lost. Working hard for the next two years, she was able to restore her gardens and resume her open house.
After Hulda's death, when a local garden club heard her legacy was in danger of being plowed under for a housing development, the 'Hulda Klager Lilac Society' was formed.
The Society strives not only to preserve her Lilac heritage, but provide visitors the opportunity to experience the tranquility of a pioneer garden.
"Lilac Days" Open House is celebrated annually from mid April through Mothers Day.

Stanzie displays her new scarf from the gift shop!


and YES, lilac plants are for sale there!
Here are some of the varieties that Hulda developed:
Alice Christensen

My Favorite

Fritz Klager

Pink Elizabeth

True Pink

Thank you Hulda, your legacy lives on!
Wyatt

30 comments:

  1. Pretty spring pics - love Stanzie in her new pretty scarf!

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  2. What an amazing lady. Stanzie looks beautiful on her new scarf.:)

    Love,
    Teddy Bear & Sierra

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  3. Love the story, pictures and of course the scarf model
    Benny & Lily

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  4. Those are beautiful flowers. Stanzie looks gorgeous with her new scarf!

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  5. Incredible woman and gorgeous lilacs!

    XXXOOO Daisy, kendra & Bella

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  6. You look gorgeous in your lilac scarf, Stanzie! Boy, would our mom ever love to visit this lilac garden!

    Love ya lots,
    Maggie and Mitch

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  7. The Lilac's are really nice, one of my favourites.

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  8. What a marvelous and heartwarming story and what beautiful flowers. Thanks for sharing.

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  9. I bet I might be related to her since she is from Germany.
    What a fascinating story and beautiful lilacs.
    My mum wants a place likes dat.

    Puddles

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  10. Oh Momma is a snifflin yet again. When she lived in Michigan, she had da Lilacs all over da place and loved dem so much. Here in Florida it's too hot to grow Lilacs and Momma is sad!

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  11. Lilacs are sooooooo wonderful! It just doesn';t seem like spring, without the scent of lilac wafting though the air! When we get to the PNW to visit you and Stanzie, we'll plan to visit when we can also visit the Hulda Klager Lilac Society.

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  12. STANZI.. you look LOVELY in Lilacs...

    This was such a very much interesting post. I loved every word.

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  13. Fascinating! I love gardening but do not know much on flowers history. Lilacs are my favourite. Currently we have 3 special ones - all made from cuttings of very old lilac bushes from my husbands Grandparents garden - makes them extra special to us.

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  14. What a wonderful story! We love lilacs very much. We have one bush in our yard and when it blooms, it is so beautiful. I wish we had more! Lots of love, Debbie and Holly

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  15. Lilacs smell so good but they make my nose itch after more than 5 minutes :(

    Kari
    http://dogisgodinreverse.com

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  16. I love lilacs! My four just dropped their petals, but before then, my back yard smelled heavenly. :)

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  17. Wyatt, Mom so enjoyed this post - she loves lilacs but they really give Dad the sneezies, so we have none here. All those different varieties are so beautiful. What an incredible woman Hulda was - thanks for sharing her story and her homestead.

    Woos ~ Phantom, Thunder, and Ciara

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  18. That is just SO cool!!! The house still looks fabulous after SO many decades! That's just incredible.

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  19. Very nice. Lilacs are my moms favorite flower and her favorite color~~purple!! We love the smell of em too!!

    wags
    Jazzi

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  20. Oh a lovely post, I didn't know there are so many different ones, on my morning walk we go passed Lilacs and the smell is lovely.
    Hey Stanzie is it OK to have that photo of you for my side bar ;)you look so pretty in your new scarf, you look pretty to me without it to.
    Love and hugs
    George xxx

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  21. This is remarkable. I just love to hear stories like this about the perseverance to establish gardens and to maintain them. I watch a program called "Recreating Eden" which tells many stories like this one. If you ever have a chance to see the TV show make sure you watch the series. Spectacular. Thanks for this. Happy Lilacs!

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  22. Hey there!! THey just planted lilac bush in my yard...i water it every morning...and my aim is pretty good:)

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  23. Wow! That is so neat, great history and beautiful flowers!!

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  24. Wow, that's an amazing and inspiring story! I can almost smell the lilacs looking at those pictures. I had no idea there were so many varieties.

    Your pal, Pip

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  25. This is in Washington?? I have never ever heard of this place. Lilac's are my favorite flower. I will have to check it out.

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  26. Good ol' Hulda! Such beautiful flowers she produced! I'm thinkin my favorite is My Favorite :D

    Stanzie you look marvelous in your new lilac scarf :)

    Thanks for sharing the story. Much fun :)

    Waggin at ya,
    Roo

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  27. Gorgeous lilacs! I wish I could smell them all. I love the smell of lilacs.

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  28. Oh, my! Lovely lilacs! Stanzie looks bee-yoo-ti-ful in her scarf!

    The Road Dogs

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  29. I like this intrigues. I just love to hear stories like this about the perseverance to establish gardens and to maintain them. I watch a program called "Recreating Eden" which tells many stories like this one. If you ever have a chance to see the TV show make sure you watch the series
    sell my home.

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