Text and photographs are © by Ellen Spector Platt & Ellen Zachos, all rights reserved.


Thursday, January 22, 2009

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)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Ellen: I loved the "Magical Lavender" post. Your photos are beautiful and the text inspired me to consider lavender yet again. Having seen you work on many projects, I can appreciate the thought and planning that went into the lavender topiary. It is EXQUISITE! Congratulations on the book - I can't wait to see it. Sincerely, Linda


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