MAGICAL LAVENDER

Lavender grows in containers or in the garden (above, my Manhattan rooftop).

It’s a tasty
culinary herb,
has a delight-
ful aroma
which some say
reduces stress.
(right,
lavender
Madeleines.
One plant pro-
duces enough
buds for a full
year of home baking.


It’s excellent as a cut flower,
both fresh and dried.(Right,
lavender spiral topiary
with dried larkspur, globe
thistle, et al). Select hardy or
tender species with flower
power from deepest
purple, lilac, pink and white.
I'll be starting two new
varieties from Renee's
Garden Seeds on my
windowsill in early March.
Plants will probably bloom
the first season from seed.


Doesn’t that sound like the
perfect plant for New York?
Granted it needs full sun,
but to balance that one re-
striction, it repels deer
should you have any on your
balcony, fire escape, roof-
top, or Brooklyn backyard,
and it’s a perfect perennial
for an organic gardener
because it needs no spray
and little fertilizer.

Learn all about it in the
NEW edition of my lavender
book, hot off the presses,
'Lavender:How to Grow &
Use the Fragrant Herb', 2nd
ed. Stackpole Books 2009.
Purchase signed copy at my
website or unsigned from
your favorite bookseller.

Visit one of the lavender fairs and festivals described in the book, a treat for both gardeners and non-gardeners who will appreciate the tastes, music and aromas of an agricultural party. No need to go to Provence to see the real thing, try the US and Canada and you’ll be amazed.

( above, Purple Haze Lavender Farm, Sequim WA, below, two of my favorite gardeners in a lavender patch)