Lavender

Last week my very sweet sister dropped off this beautiful pot of French Lavender for Valentine's Day. It already smells wonderful, even though it is not yet blooming. It's almost to the blooming stage but not quite. I can't help but wonder when the growers started growing such a mature plant for it to be so large at this time of year.

I know I will treasure it because I have wanted a lavender hedge since I went to the Biltmore Estates several years ago and walked in their gardens. The main garden was surrounded by a hedge of sweet-smelling lavender. Everywhere you walked, the smell followed. Their lavender hedge made a very pretty, hazy purple border around their garden. It was a beautiful experience.

I love lavender because it is such a sweet-smelling herb. It has so many useful purposes, including adding fragrance to cleaning supplies, bath soaps and perfumes. It's edible, you can add it to shortbread or other recipes and did I say I just love it?

I think the leaves are so unusual and such a nice green -- almost fern-like.

We did plant one lavender plant in our herb garden last year. It didn't grow very much but looks like it will come back in the spring and I thought that was a good start, but ...

I did receive some English Munstead Lavender seeds from Renee's Seeds and I have planted them in Jiffy seed pots and put them under grow lights. I hope they sprout and grow for me, though some herbs can be hard to grow. I will then have both English and French lavender and I will certainly be drying lavender for sachets and more. That is my plan. I will keep you posted on the progress.