Scents of Summer; Lavender
June 17, 2014 2 Comments
This year I put some herbs in my garden. The first one on my list was Lavender. There is something almost innocent about this scent, and it brings to mind of a simpler time when all I had to do for the summer was enjoy myself. It has a clean scent, an aroma that could calm any nervous person.
Lavender comes in many varieties; English, Spanish, French and Fernleaf are just a few, but they all have one thing in common, the soft colour of purple. I planted English Lavender and I can hardly wait to harvest it. Lavender is one of 39 species of flowering plants in the mint family. It’s native to Cape Verde and the Canary Islands, southern Europe across to northern and eastern Africa, the Mediterranean, south-west Asia to south-east India.
Usages
There are many benefits to using lavender either as an essential oil or as a dried herb that I couldn’t list them all in this post, so I’m posting a site link.
Plant Lore
In the language of plants, Lavender represents love and devotion. It’s flowers are associated with purity, silence and caution. When given as a gift, it represent luck. They also offer the promise of new adventure. It is the colour feminity and represents grace, elegance, romance, something unique and special. It is also associated with spiritual healing and tranquillization. Lavender colour also represents refinement, luxury and wealth. This could be the reason purple is considered a ‘royal’ colour.
Lavender is one of the few plants that survive in my yard. I have four of them. I love to cook with it.
I’m hoping mine takes. It’s next to a peonies and I don’t think it’s getting the sunlight it needs. Cooking with it? That’s something new.