This article was submitted by Swampscott historian Lou Gallo.
You don't have to go to the Arboretum in Boston to see lilacs.
Just go to Monument Avenue in Swampscott.
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The lilacs are in several stages of bloom.
There are 130 lilac bushes and two trees, 67 varieties from dark purple, pink white, double blossom, early blooming, late blooming, very fragrant, no fragrance, double color, dwarf, and of course lilac.
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There are plaques telling the variety and the donor with each plant.
Come and enjoy — look, smell, but please do not pick.
The Swampscott Lilac Garden is located on the former site of Lady Deborah Moody's farm. She was perhaps one of the earliest strong women in this area.
She bought the farm called "Swampscott" and worked it from 1640-1642. She was thrown out of the church at Salem for her belief that babies should not be baptised. She was an extraordinary woman.
She is listed as one of the founders of the Baptist Church, and was an original settler of Brooklyn, NY.
Garden Club of Swampscott members will work in Lady Moody's grove on Monday, said club President Carol Regan.
The club does not maintain the lilac garden but members will volunteer there Monday.
"We are going to work — weeding and mulching under the memory plates," she said.
Memory plates are named in honor of Swampscott people including Kay Jauron, who was a secretary at Swampscott High School; and Joe Balsama, who was chairman of the science department at the school.
Other plates include the names of Sir John Humphrey and actor Walter Brennan.
Regan invites anyone who wants to help to be at the Monument Avenue garden at 9 a.m. Monday.
The lilac blooms last only a couple weeks, but those weeks are now.
