Lombard’s Lilac Time a post-bloom party

In many years, Lilac Time in Lombard is a preview, celebrating the flowers and fragrance of more than 700 lilac bushes about to bloom.

This year, it’s an after-party.

The lilacs started blooming in mid-March, the earliest Lombard Park District horticulturist Jerry Budd remembers seeing them.

Some groups, such as the Lombard Historical Society, started the party early by offering horticultural and historical tours of the park weeks before Lilac Time’s scheduled May 5 start date.

Visitors to the 8.5-acre park could be seen throughout the day and evening, sneaking a peek and a sniff of the lilacs, daffodils and tulips that make Lilacia Park shine every spring.

But all the events of Lilac time still are scheduled for May 5 to 20, kicking off with the Lilac Queen coronation and concluding with a parade.

Community groups organizing different aspects of the festival say people will be drawn to the park for the Lombard Garden Club’s annual lilac sale, a plant sale, wine and beer tastings, a gift shop and, of course, lilacs — even if they’re post-bloom.

“There are so many great activities, so I think people will be coming to the park regardless,” said Sarah Richardt, senior program coordinator for the Lombard Historical Society.

Lilac Time this year includes a historical society quilt show, an art and craft fair sponsored by the Lombard Area Chamber of Commerce and Industry, several concerts, a 5K run and 1-mile walk and a sculpture show, among a variety of other events. And as always, admission to the park will be free.

The garden club has been playing farmer the past month, tending to more than 400 lilacs of 18 varieties to be sold, lilac sale co-chairwoman Joey Dawn Priens said.

“We pride ourselves on trying to get a wide variety of lilacs,” Priens said.

Bushes will be sold for $25 from 3 to 7 p.m. Thursday, May 10; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, May 11, and 8 a.m. Saturday, May 12, until they’re all are gone. One type of lilac tree will be sold for $50.

All lilacs for sale will have laminated tags bearing the plant’s name. Varieties called Sugar Plum Fairy, Pocahontas and Tinkerbelle will be available, said Darlene Bartt, lilac sale co-chairwoman.

“But many people are looking for just a basic purple,” which is available as well, along with a basic white variety, Bartt said.

The historical society quilt show will give visitors another sight to see with sewn creations including at least some shade of purple on display at the Victorian Cottage Museum, 23 W. Maple St., throughout Lilac Time.

“At least one of the fabrics had to have purple, so that leaves it up for a wide variety of what people can bring,” Richardt said.

Art Deco posters from the first few years of Lilac Time in the 1930s also will be for sale at the cottage and at the gift shop inside the Lilacia Park carriage house. Painted by late Lombard artist Charles Medin, the images have become “iconic,” and are being released one a year during Lilac Time, Richardt said. Five will be available this year for $10 or $50 depending on the poster’s size.

Even with all these activities and more around Lilacia Park, some people flock to Lombard each spring simply to see the lilacs in bloom. Those people likely knew to come early this year, so Lombard Village President Bill Mueller said he doesn’t think the village will lose tourism because of the early flowers.

“Attendance at the park will still be up,” Mueller said. “The activities don’t depend on the flowers being in bloom.”

As Lilac Time progresses, check back in the Daily Herald or at dailyherald.com for previews of the art and craft fair, sculpture show, 5K run and 1-mile walk and of course, the Lilac Parade.