It Is Lilac Season at Topsmead State Forest | Connecticut Charm

The lilacs are in full bloom at Topsmead State Forest. Topsmead is a public state forest in Litchfield, Connecticut, that was once the summer home of Edith Morton Chase, the daughter of Henry Sabin Chase of the Chase Brass and Copper Company. When she passed away in 1972 she had left the house and the land to the state of Connecticut to be used as a public park and I am so grateful that she did! This beautiful property is one of my “happy places,” a place that I return to time and time again when I need a moment of rest and rejuvenation.

The house is designed to look like a Cotswold English cottage and there are open house tours in the late spring through early autumn. As charming as this beautiful house is, the grounds truly ignite my imagination. If you follow me on Instagram @LiveLovelyTravel, then you may already know that I visit Topsmead quite often throughout the year. Every season is spectacular, but nothing catches my imagination quite like Topsmead in mid-late spring. The meadows, the trails, and the hillside covered in beautiful flowering trees….

…and most of all, the lilacs.

“The smell of moist earth and lilacs hung in the air like wisps of the past and the hints of the future.” -Margaret Miller

To the righthand side of the house there are a few white lilac trees and a collection of deep purple lilacs. The flower perfume is so fragrant you can smell is as you walk up the hill to the house.

“The spring is fresh and fearless
And every leaf is new,
The world is brimmed with moonlight,
The lilac brimmed with dew.

Here in the moving shadows
I catch my breath and sing –
My heart is fresh and fearless
And over-brimmed with spring.”

-Sara Teasdale

As you walk to the front of the house you will be greeted with the sight of a walkway lined in lilacs. There is an entire row of beautiful lilacs and several small lilac trees along the facade of the house. They bloom in early-mid May every year and once they are in full bloom they quickly fade away.

I wish there was a bloom report to track the flowers, but alas, I’m the one tracking them each season with several visits to check on the blooms. As of right now, the lilacs are in full peak and will most likely be in bloom throughout the rest of the week and start to disappear by the end of the weekend. So if you are hoping to see the lilacs, now is the time. Do not delay.