History of lilacs in New Hampshire

Are you craving a little warm weather? Has the muted palate of winter got you wishing for the colors of spring? On April 17 at 7 p.m., join landscaping expert and Sanbornton resident Guy Giunta as he brings one of the season’s most popular and enduring flowers to life in his slide presentation "The History of Lilacs in New Hampshire". Giunta will explore how lilacs went from being rare 18th-century ornamental plantings to their current illustrious position as New Hampshire’s widely grown state flower.

As Landscape Specialist for the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, and Chair of the Governor’s Wildflower and Lilac Commission, Giunta has put his 40-plus years of landscape experience to good use around the state. Thanks to his efforts, over the past several years flowering shrubs, street trees, and wildflower plantings have become increasingly more visible on New Hampshire highways and byways. Although these modern plantings grace the roads and provide beauty and visual interest to New Hampshire’s unique landscape, it is often still the mysterious and seemingly random lilac bushes and other cultivated flowers which appear in the woods that inspire the most curiosity.

The presentation will be held in Laconia Rotary Hall of the Laconia Public Library. The program is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. For additional information call Judy Loto at 527-1278 or email "lhmslpl@metrocast.net".