Where Lilacs Still Bloom

by Jane Kirkpatrick

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Like a slow-moving river, this story came to me many years ago through Betty Carlson Mills. Once a Planter’s Day Princess, Betty married Roland Mills, a grandson of Hulda Klager. Throughout her life in Woodland, Washington, Betty worked with family and volunteers to keep the Klager Lilac Gardens flourishing. One day several years ago, Betty sent me an invitation to come to Lilac Days, but I was busy and, not being a gardener, didn’t appreciate what a treasure awaited me. A faithful reader of my other books, Betty expressed hope that this would be a story that would interest me, about a remarkable woman who taught herself horticulture and how her generosity came full circle to touch lives.

  More years passed, and Betty occasionally sent me copies of newspaper articles about the garden, from Sunset magazine to the Farm Journal to the American Magazine, the latter a 1927 gem by Ruth Graham Case. Betty provided local histories, and every now and then reminded me of the dates for Lilac Days stretching nearly a month each spring.

  Two years ago, with my friend Carol Tedder, I took Betty up on visiting the lilac gardens. There, in the midst of lilacs blooming, I was swept back to the early nineteen hundreds and my own lilac experiences: shrubs planted next to the one-room school gate just a quarter mile from our Wisconsin farm; lilac windbreaks, that heady scent in spring. There was so much more in Hulda’s garden, and I knew that here was a story of resilience and pleasure that celebrated beauty and generosity, persistence and love. So I thanked Betty immensely for her persistence and belief in the gift of Hulda’s story and for the privilege in being able to share it with others.

  Judy Card, board member of the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens, became an indelible part of whatever is good about my version of Hulda’s story. A genealogist and historian, she located resources, drove me to the Cowlitz County Historical Museum, the Longview Public Library, the Kelso courthouse, up bluffs and along the river bottoms, and she and her husband, Stuart, offered hospitality to my husband and me (and our dogs) in their home. Her genealogy listings of descendants kept me straight on who belonged in what family, and her retyping of Fields of Flowers and Forests of Firs: A History of the Woodland Community 1850–1958 helped me locate important dates and descriptions that I hope lend authenticity to the story about early Woodland life. Judy was always available for questions and shared speculations with me about events. She has become a friend, one of the gifts of sharing stories.

  President Patti Audette gathered the board together to give me entrée into this remarkable story and provided important consents for access whenever I requested it. I am grateful. Ruth Wendt, Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens gardener and board member, answered questions and toured me through the site, sharing works she’d written about the garden and plants, and I’m grateful. Fran Northcut, horticulturist and board member, gave of her time and wisdom and provided me with the detailed accounting of individual Klager lilacs completed by the International Lilac Committee in 1999, a critical resource, and I thank Fran for sharing it. This list provided names of varieties attributed to Hulda’s phenomenal efforts of hybridizing. The varieties listed included those identified in Cooley’s catalog, from arboretums across the country, and more in Wister’s Lilacs for America, published in 1943. Any horticultural errors noted by avid gardeners belong to me. Ruth and Fran and the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens members and volunteers gave nothing but the best horticultural insights and Klager history.

  Karen Eddy of the house committee of the board graciously answered questions, told stories, and reviewed items in the history room (on more than one occasion). Other board members met with me—Cicely Perry, Juanita MacMahon—to share insights. Joyce Carlson, currently of the Woodland Historical Museum Society but former president of the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens, shared her incredible scrapbook and retrieved other historical tidbits, such as Dr. Alice Chapman’s accident that enhanced the history of early Woodland and the Klager family saga.

  I also spoke with or exchanged e-mails with other descendants, such as great-nephew and Woodland City Mayor Chuck Blum (who as a child lived next-door to Hulda’s garden) and great-granddaughter Carolyn Wing, as well as Joyce Gilbert, Clara’s daughter, who shared lively stories of visiting her grandma Hulda and the dogs, always named Bobby. There were others willing and offering, and so many descendants I didn’t personally meet, but whose stories through the years have become a part of the lore of Hulda Klager’s exceptional life. I’m grateful to them all.

  Thanks as well go to my editor Shannon Marchese and all the WaterBrook team who I know prayed for me and my husband during his medical emergencies as this book was being finalized. I thank them and my prayer team, and my own family for their generosity and love.

  Finally to Jerry, who researched with me and then began his own journey into healing, I thank you and see in you those Hulda Klager qualities of persistence, generosity, and love. I’ve taken to having fresh flowers on the table as often as possible for their healing presence.

  When we moved from our remote ranch, I brought two Hulda Klager lilac plants with me. They bloomed this spring beside an older lilac bush on property recently purchased near Bend, Oregon, that is now our home. The previous owner said that bush had never bloomed. But as I finish this book in 2011, in a year when Jerry works to recover, there are buds ready to burst. It’s a deep purple flower. I think Hulda would approve.

  READERS GUIDE

  Based on a true story, Hulda Klager’s life reminds us of both strength and generosity as she endured hardships in the midst of unique achievements. It’s my hope that her life will inspire our own lives as we experience challenges and disappointments on our way to present joys.

  1. What was Hulda Klager’s first love? Family? Flowers? Faith? The challenges of crossbreeding? Hulda’s father urges her to be faithful to her gift. Did Hulda have a gift or a calling, or were her interests and abilities merely passions that she pursued?

  2. What do you think about Hulda’s father’s comment: “Some would say that meddling with nature isn’t wise. Frank might agree—especially if the one meddling is a mother who should be content with looking after her family”? Was her father right? Was Hulda “meddling” with creation? Should a mother be content with raising her family?

  3. On this page, poet David Whyte is quoted: “I am thinking of faith now … / and what we feel we are / worthy of in this world.” Do you have a passion or gift or calling that you have yet to pursue? What barriers stand in your way? Do the voices suggesting that you are not worthy of that dream speak more loudly than you’d like? Was Hulda lonely in her pursuit? Did she feel she was worthy of the joy of accomplishment?

  4. Hulda comments on the consequences of progress: The electric lighting at the exposition that faded the stars; her objection to indoor plumbing; the impact of steamships docking and ruining the riverbanks. Yet she sent her children away to pursue their education, celebrated the work of Luther Burbank making changes in food production, worked to have a crisper, bigger apple and 254 individual varieties of lilacs. How do you account for these contradictions in Hulda’s character? Did they make her more human or more difficult to understand?

  5. Suffering, and its consequences and causes, was a theme in this book. How did Hulda come to terms with the losses her family endured? Do you think that suffering can be a consequence of pursuing a dream? What role did Hulda’s garden play in helping her deal with life’s trials?

  6. Barney Reed challenges Hulda’s work and points out the tragedies in her life. She says, “It did trouble me that so powerful a God would let bad things happen. And I often did learn something when a tragedy struck. But did I have to suffer to learn the lesson?” How would you answer Hulda’s questioning? Does she eventually answer her own question? What did you think of her conclusions?

  7. Do you agree with Hulda when she tells her sister, “Beauty matters.… God gave us flowers for a reason. I think so we’d pay attention to the details of creation and remember to trust Him in all things big or little, no matter wha
t the challenge. Flowers remind us to put away fear, to stop our rushing and running and worrying about this and that, and for a moment have a piece of paradise right here on earth.”

  8. What role did the characters of Jasmine, Nelia, Ruth, Shelly, and Cornelia play in this story? Could Hulda’s story have been told without them?

  9. Where did Hulda draw her strength from to keep going after the deaths of so many in her life? after the flood? Where do you draw your strength from? Are there ways Hulda (and you) enhanced those tools to better face an uncertain future?

  10. Dr. Karl Menninger once wrote that the single most important indicator of a person’s mental health was generosity. Who was generous in this story? How did generosity bring healing to people of Hulda’s world?

  11. Did Hulda pay a price for her obsession? Would she say that the price was worth it? Do you think it was? Why or why not?

  Huldie, don’t deny the dreams. They’re a gift given to make your life full. Accept them. Reach for them. We are not here just to endure hard times until we die. We are here to live, to serve, to trust, and to create out of our longings.

  Jane often participates in book groups through speakerphone conversations. To have Jane “visit” your book group, contact her at www.jkbooks.com/Pages/contact.html, indicating the day and time, to see if Jane’s schedule permits her joining you. Please consider joining her Story Sparks newsletter for inspiration and the latest news of her writing and speaking events. Join at www.jkbooks.com.

  A mother’s tragedy,

  a daughter’s desire, and the walk

  that changed their lives.

  In 1896, in order to save the family farm, Clara Estby reluctantly accompanies her mother on a cross-country journey that redefines a mother’s tragedy and a daughter’s desire. Over two decades, friends and faith help Clara move through a family betrayal and into a future of her own design. But will the tentacles of the past keep her from finding the real joy in forgiveness?

  Read a chapter excerpt at WaterBrookMultnomah.com!