A Bloom with a View: Lavender from garden to glass
I love lavender, seeing it bobbing in my garden with a flurry of bees circling its flower stems, there’s nothing more peaceful. However my first introduction to this wasn’t to the plant, it was too the smell. An overpowering chemical smell at that and it did not bring forth such soothing memories. It was probably in my early teenage years, old enough to think you know better and young enough to still have to follow your mom around to do the christmas shopping. She attacked this task with the forward planning and diligence of a five star general, while I floated around behind like a sort of edgy blimp with too much eyeliner. One of the main places to sweep up a load of christmas presents really fast in the early 2000’s was Boots. They did a startling array of gift choices that say, I’ve thought about you but this was also in the 3 for 2 offer so don’t look too deeply into it. In times of crisis there was always the bath gift set for nans and grans especially as it was floral not too showy with a Cath Kidston vibe and it absolutely reeked of synthetic lavender.
Needless to say after that nasal assault I wasn’t a fan, it took years until I discovered that natural scent of it wasn’t a sledgehammer of soap but a more delicate aroma. Reminding me of a sweet evergreen wood dappled with sunshine, floral but not intrusive with a smoky edge. Now don’t get me wrong you can easily slip into sledgehammer territory again if you use too much or steep your concoctions for too long but hopefully this post will help you avoid such things, or atleast only mess up once.
It’s is believed to be a plant of mediterranean descent, so while its a sun lover and quite drought tolerant it doesn’t like getting its feet wet. Be wary if your soil is heavy clay or you decide to grow it in a pot come winter. It sends up dense spikes of tubular flowers and varies in colour from the traditional purple to pink, white and blue.
How to grow
English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) and its cultivars are the hardiest varieties and offer the best choice for a longer lasting herb with good flower and scent. French and Spanish lavenders produce beautiful flowers but do not like our wet winters, so personally I would avoid unless they are in pots and can be moved somewhere like a greenhouse or polytunnel in the winter. If you don’t have either of those put your potted lavender against a wall for a bit of weather protection.
How to choose a good lavender
- April and May is a good time to plant lavender so check out your local garden centre about this time.
- Look for a healthy looking plant with lots of flowers/buds and strong stems
- Check the final growing height and width so there’s no surprises down the line.
- Keep an eye out for any mildew, fungus or scorched leaves.
Lavender looks great in herb beds or on flower borders just make sure you give it enough space to grow and thrive. If it’s going into the ground I’d recommend a sunny spot with a small handful of bonemeal in the hole to encourage root growth. Plants will always do better in the ground but if that’s not an option here’s what you need to grow well in a pot.
How to grow in a pot
- Pick a sunny sheltered spot
- Use a good sized pot with drainage holes
- Fill with John Innes No2 mixed with some Horticultural grit. 3 parts soil to 1 part grit.
- Dig a hole to the size of its current pot.
- Tip out of its current pot and fondle the roots to loosen them up.
- Once its snuggly planted gently press down to firm it in.
- Water well during its first summer as pots can dry out easily, a layer of grit on the top of the pot can help with evaporation.
Deadhead the spent flowers to encourage new growth, or leave the seedheads near the end of summer as food for seed eating birds such as goldfinches.
Prune in late spring, new growth will come from green wood so a severe haircut (just make sure to stop before woody brown stems) before the growing season starts will help avoid that new bushy growth on top of spindly bare wood. Eventually every lavender plant will start to look a bit scraggly and worn, even with a diligent gardener pruning it, you can either accept it in its new hag era or buy new baby lavenders to replace it.1
How to harvest
Lavender can be harvested when fresh or when its gone to seed (like below). You want to harvest the blooming spikes not the leaves and the great thing is once its been harvested it should put up new flowers in a second crop. The scent is most potent early in their bloom cycle and traditional herbalists recommend cutting in the morning, once the dew has evaporated but before the sun can dissipate some of the essential oils.2
Make your own Lavender Syrup
This is another brilliant recipe from “Homemade Cocktails by Helen Mcginn” it has become one of my top library finds and it’s so simple to make.
ingredients
- 125ml water
- 250g sugar
- 4-8 sprigs of lavender
how to make
- Harvest your lavender just before making
- Add the water an half the sugar to a small saucepan and bring to the boil.
- Turn down the heat to a gentle simmer and add the lavender to the pan with the rest of the sugar.
- Stir until the sugar dissolves and then turn off the heat, leave it to cool with the lavender in the pan.
- Strain into a clean jar or bottle, label and pop in the fridge.
Great to add instead of a regular sugar syrup to a cocktail or mocktail.
Lavender French 75 (Cocktail)
Now you can make this with champagne but there’s a cost of living crisis on so really any sparkling wine or prosecco will do. Ingredients are for two as it’s a great one to share, but just halve them if you want a fancy little cocktail night to yourself. This recipe is an adaptation of Helen Mcginn’s I did find a few other versions but I have views about buying to many extra ingredients for my cocktails.
ingredients (for 2 drinks)
- 50ml gin
- 30ml fresh lemon juice
- 30ml lavender sugar syrup
- Prosecco
how to make
- Add some ice cubes into the bottom of the cocktail shaker (I use 1 big and 2 small per person)
- Measure in your Gin, Lemon Juice and Lavender syrup.
- Shake until well combined, usually until the shaker starts to feel too cold for your hands.
- Strain into a chilled flute or other fancy glass of choice.
- Top up with chilled Prosecco and a twist of lemon.
While I really liked the cocktail the lavender lemonade is the drink I’ve been coming back to again and again. It has that sharpness of traditional lemonade with a floral earthy aftertaste just after that sour hit.
Lavender Lemonade (Mocktail)
Ingredients:
- 25ml lavender syrup (1 shot)
- 25ml fresh lemon juice (1 shot)
- soda water
Add syrup and lemon juice to a fancy glass, stir to combine. Top up with soda water and add some ice, maybe a cheeky slice of lemon.
Ash from the Hearth
Folktales, History and Tidbits about this plant
A fragrant plant of the mint family the word Lavender stems from the latin “lavare” meaning to wash or cleanse3. The flowers and oils were used in Roman bath houses and for scent in the washing of clothes, so commonly used that the Romans introduced it to Britain.
The flowers were placed in linen cupboards to ward off insects and were a common ‘stewing herb’ in the middle ages (a name for fragrant herbs scattered on the floor to ward off pests and add fragrance to the air) it is still used today in dried herb sachets to ward off moths4.
It has strong associations with Love and chastity, in the book “A language of flowers” published in 1819 listed the giving of this flower as an acknowledgement of love.5
“She sent him Lavender, owning her love.“
Lavender is also one of the fabled ingredients in “Four Thieves Vinegar”, the story goes during the Bubonic plague four thieves were apprehended robbing the bodies and recently vacated abodes of plague victims. To plead for leniency they offered to share with the judge their recipe for a vinegar they bathed and breathed (in a special mask) that protected them from the plague, ending with them dying anyway but in a less brutal way than they were originally offered. The story and recipe change with each retelling so it is more than likely a more modern folktale set in the plague times to give it more gravitas. However in 1709 Italian perfumer Giovanni Maria Farina moved to Cologne and using this tale as inspiration added lavender to his “Eau de Cologne”6 scent, adding the associations of deception, self-preservation and thievery to this little plants list of accolades.
Spoonie Friendly
For when you just don’t have the energy
Growing your own herbs is meant to be fun and enjoyable so here’s some tips for when you just don’t have the energy
- Buy a bigger lavender, the more established it is the sooner it can be harvested
- Fondle your herbs when you’re feeling low, smell is a powerful driver of memory and a sense of wellbeing.
- Herbal tea with lavender in can help with headaches and combined with Chamomile makes a good sleepy time tea
Prepping for the times you don’t
These are great for when you’ve got a bit more oomph and can prep for times of low energy, crashes or flare ups.
- Buy a small vase and trim a few sprigs of lavender to bring the scent into your home.
- Lavender simple syrup should be good for about 6 months in the fridge so stagger the laborious parts of cocktail making
- Lavender Oil can help bring that scent into the home when you can’t go out, rubbing into the temples can help with migraines and headaches. If you buy one for your skin use only the prescribed amount and do a patch test beforehand.7
Reading the leaves
What I’m reading…
Weeding Without Chemicals – Bob Flowerdew
If you listen to gardeners question time on radio 4 you’ll recognise this name, he has such a soothing hippy vibe that his writing really reflects. I was skeptical at first but its a really interesting little read, more of a brain retraining with how you think about weeds. Definitely recommend if your going down the organic root.
What I’m watching…
Godzilla Minus 1 – Netflix
I am an avid monster movie fan and yes I’m late to the party by 2 years but dear god I can see why this won an oscar. It’s so good to see Godzilla back in a Japanese filmmakers hands. This is a moving and poignant story which happens to include monsters unlike most reboots which is just a CGI glory fest. Watch it with subtitles to get the full force of the performance and I need to now source the original 1950’s film because I’m on a Godzilla nostalgia trip.
Footnotes
- https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/lavender/growing-guide ↩︎
- https://homesteadandchill.com/how-to-harvest-dry-lavender/?srsltid=AfmBOorwuDTajDpM5RL5PGI5bbKbAu0UcPZO0PKLmOKrsIhG2erD3a9X ↩︎
- https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=lavender ↩︎
- https://annafranklinhearthwitch.wordpress.com/2023/07/11/lavender-lore/#_ftn1 ↩︎
- https://www.adoredvintage.com/blogs/shop-journal/language-of-flowers-verbena-lavender-and-rosemary?srsltid=AfmBOorr2FCTxTT8p3N8LYci96Wj8mVKNgERYmFF61PwnTrO3_bfa0aR ↩︎
- https://www.icysedgwick.com/lavender-folklore/ ↩︎
- Seriously guys I’m not a doctor do a patch test, be smart do not use if it goes against medical advice and use in conjunction with regular pain killers ↩︎
Thank you so much for reading my little blog post, I hope you’ve found it entertaining and informative. Let me know in the comments if you make any of these Botanical Concoctions.
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