I have not been fortunate enough to see the vast purple lavender fields in bloom in Provence. It seems as though I’m always missing it by a few weeks. Hopefully one day I’ll plan my trip accordingly.
But I have maintained a very small lavender garden in my own backyard over the years. It consists of several mature plants that yield a nice amount of lavender that I enjoy harvesting and drying.
It’s a source of pleasure every summer for me in late June to early July to clip the tall stalks and gently tie bundles up to dry.
After a couple weeks, I spend some afternoons rolling the dried stalks between my hands to release the fragrant buds that I use to fill sachets.
I can usually almost fill a large Provençal tian with the fragrant lavender.
I absolutely love the scent of lavender. I use it in my laundry and as scented ironing water. It smells heavenly when sprayed on sheets before bed. I always keep lavender linen water close-by.
There are lots of lavender items in the markets of Provence. This is one of my favorite photos..a vendor in St. Remy with a lavender-filled cart!
There is never a shortage of this fragrance! This photo was taken in L’Isle Sur la Sorgue.
Do any of you have good luck with growing lavender in your area?
I’ll be sharing about a great brocante in Nice, France later this week!
Blessings,
Kim
5 comments:
Kim, your lavender is so pretty; and I know it smells wonderful. We grew some a couple of years ago; but, we lost it all to a winter ice storm. I hope to replace it next year.
Oh what a great pic of the lavender and in addition to the great bundled lavender I would love to have that cart!!!...Would love to travel to Provence!
Do not have much luck growing lavender here.
I absolutely love lavender. I was very surprised this summer that so do the hummingbirds. They seem to pay my lavender bushes a daily visit. Carolina Elizabeth http://carolinaelizabeth-art.blogspot.com/
Kim, Your lavender is so pretty.
I had a huge healthy perfect lavender patch for years, but late last summer we discovered an earth bees nest underneath it. They stung me terribly when I disturbed it - and the stings on my shin got infected and I had to go get a Tetnus shot! So....in order to get rid of the nest (right up against the house near the water spigot, bad spot for bees, hated to do it but we had to get rid of them and the bushes.)
So no harvest this year. Boo hoo.
But because of our bad winter on one of my southwest garden "islands" we lost all our rose bushes. So we planted lavender there. Wish me luck. Will take a few years, but hoping they grow well there. I really missed my lavender this year, more than I would have ever believed.
Lovely I post on my Pinterest
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