Lilacs & Daylight Tablescape

I was thrilled to have found lilac bundles at Trader Joe’s about six weeks ago, which was the inspiration for this table~ a surprise as delightful to me as their fragrance~ and the only way to enjoy them here since our climate is too warm for them to grow.

I pulled out my Mikasa Daylight Dinnerware for this table~ instead of dining with butterflies, I’m feasting on quilted fields of flowers with the lilacs~

Little clusters of flowers on the lilacs diffuse their heady fragrance, that I arranged with white hydrangeas and the new, green blooms of Chinese snowball viburnum  for a centerpiece.

I love the viburnum’s first lime-hued blooms, that appear before they transition to white. . .their arrival holding the promise of the flowers to come. . .

. . .and whose blooms are the same vibrant shade of the leaves on my Mikasa Daylight pattern~ a hue that reminds me of the energetic, new growth of spring~  trailing across the plates, winding their way inside the bowls & outside the cups.

Since our style is relaxed at the lake, quilts are my table covering of choice~ since they serve double-duty on beds as well as the table and best of all . . .don’t require ironing :-)

A few open-face cucumber sandwiches garnished with the last of the violas (organic!) and basil leaves for fresh-from-the- garden flavor~

And a cup of Chilled Berry Soup, recipe courtesy Southern Living

While the recipe called for blueberries, I used a medley of berries that I had in the freezer.

Refreshing and light for hot summer weather . . .

 And fun for a lunch with the girls, served with a salad garnished with the last of the violas and edible organic nasturtiums. . .

Strawberry Fields Salad, recipe courtesy Southern Living

A flavorful as well as colorful combination of strawberries, nectarines, feta cheese, green tomatoes, glazed pecans, and fresh basil~ on a bed of mixed baby salad greens~

 This 5- Star rated recipe is served with Lemon-Poppy Seed Dressing. Not a huge fan of Poppy Seed Dressing, we enjoy Balsamic or Raspberry Vinaigrette on this salad. Adding a rotisserie chicken, would make this an entrée salad to be enjoyed in hot weather without heating up the kitchen!

“What makes lilacs treasured is not the years they can accumulate, however, but the beauty of their flowers, which come just as the last memory of winter and its ice and snow and barrenness are passing away in the May sun. They flower exuberantly then, hundreds of cobs of bloom appearing over gaunt, gray trunks. That conjunction is itself an emblem of the renewal of the year, but we wonder whether without the fragrance peculiar to lilacs they would matter so much.”

 – Our Life in Gardens

Please Eat the Flowers  :-) Lunch Menu

Lemonade Iced Tea~ with Floral Ice Cubes, how to courtesy Martha Stewart

Open Face Cucumber Sandwiches~ a mosaic “how-to” can be found in my post here.

Chilled Berry Soup~

Strawberry Fields Salad~

 Lilac & Daylight Table details:

Dishes/ Mikasa Daylight Dinnerware

Contoured chargers/ World Market

Flatware/Portmeirion Botanic Garden/HomeGoods

Green Goblets & Napkins/HomeGoods

Bird Napkin Rings & Green Urn/ Pottery Barn

Thank you for your visit, sharing with:

 Metamorphosis Monday, The Scoop,

 Tablescape Thursday