After our big harvest of Japanese plums, it was a nice and fragrant treat to harvest the long stemmed lavender, Lavendula grosso. Although this year, the plants again flopped over, and many of the stems were bent, and only good for harvesting the flowers for potpourri. But I got a few good bunches of the long stems to share with family and friends who enjoy them.
Since the flowers are clean and 100% organic, they could also be used in cooking. In the past, I've made
lavender jellies and even lavender ice cream. But I don't have any plans for that this year.
I also decided to cut the globe thistle, Echinops bannaticus. It makes a great dried flower, if cut before the little spheres burst into flower, and become a magnet for bumblebees. I cut the ones at the front, next to my driveway, and leave the bit patch in the back yard, where I can enjoy watching the bumblebees.
Although the stems are very sturdy, the stem at the flower head is soft, so they either need to hang upside down, or lay flat on the counter until dried. The little globes in the bottom right of the photo were from the side shoots. Those can be useful for a small dried flower arrangement, too.
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