Lavender and Echinops Dried Flower Harvest

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.

Lavender Harvest

I had the wonderful pleasure of harvesting some of my lavender today, with the bees buzzing about the flowers as I cut them.  I believe the variety growing beside my granite bench is Lavendula "Grosso", since it forms long and sturdy stems, and makes wonderful floral arrangements.  I have other forms of English lavender at the front of my house, which are great for harvesting the flower heads (for potpourri or in various recipes, such as lavender jelly), but don't have nearly as impressive stems or flowers.

I also had the wonderful pleasure today of sharing some of my lavender stems and flower heads with my current massage therapist, Maguin, and my former massage therapist, Gael, who I consider a good friend, even if we don't see each other more than once or twice every year.  I often think of Gael when I pass the lavender in my garden, so was happy for the excuse to phone her, and since I was surprisingly "single" tonight (my husband is away on a business trip, and the kids went to stay with their grandma for a few days), we were able to enjoy an evening together of dinner and good conversation.  I hope to see my mom soon, so I can share some lavender with her.  After all, one of the pleasures of having a garden is being able to share the abundance with friends and friends.

Garden Related Glimpses : mid-Aug 2008

Here goes with some more garden photos, and other miscellaneous photos from August. Instead of my usual close-ups, here are a few wider views of my garden:

Here is our fairy house, with blooming lilies towering above it:

Here is my hummingbird corner, with a lush butterfly bush cascading over a clump of crocosmia, and a set of red monarda falling to the right:

Here is one of challenges I regularly deal with, blackberry vines reaching over the fence into my garden (those nasty things seem to grow one foot or more per day!). The large purple plant on the right is a purple sage. To the left of it, the straggly flower stalks of Stachys byzantina (Lamb's ear). I don't much like the look of the flowers, but I leave them for the bees (especially the little mason bees) which are all over them. To the far left, our red currant bush, which bore more than a 4L (1 gallon) bucket of berries this year:

I was very pleased to gather a large harvest of lavender flowers from my neighbour, before her landscaper removed the large plants this year. While I had the lavender drying on a number of cookie sheets and other trays on the kitchen island, the fragrance throughout the house was amazing:

I also made a batch of lavender jelly. I was very pleased with the natural colour of it (yes, just lavender, certo & white sugar, no other additives or preservatives). Oh, and did I mention that it tasted good, too? My 9 year old daughter has been asking for it on toast for breakfast ever since.

While I'm posting photos, here is one of Alouette Lake, BC, from above. My husband and I discovered this viewpoint while off-roading a few weeks ago:

Yesterday (Sunday) we took the kids canoeing from Barnet Beach across and up into Indian Arm, to escape the heat. It was indeed much cooler there, and ended up being a beautiful day to canoe, with only the occasional drops of rain. We spotted this harbour seal with her pup on the shore, mainly because a pair of kayakers ahead of us had already stopped to watch. Otherwise we may have missed them on the rocks, since they were quite well camoflauged:

Here is a closeup from the same photo, you can better see the mother seal with her pup (he was not interested in looking at us, so that is his back end, you can see the flipper on the right side):

Garden Glimpses: Mid June 2007

Here's a few more photos from my garden, taken this past week...

I love the big fuzzy bumblebees on our Lavendula Stoechas (Spanish Lavender). Here's another photo:
I love watching the bees buzzing from flower to flower. A few days ago, I almost got too close...
I was deadheading one of my hardy geraniums, and didn't notice this bee resting on one of the remaining flowers, until I had it in my hand. Good thing it was evening, he was pretty docile, and I was able to clip off the flower and lay it in the garden, before stuffing the handful of clippings into a clear bag for composting.

My daughter noticed this damselfly resting on the blue oat grass. It was getting evening, and the flash created an interesting effect, making it appear to be glowing.

I love this time of year, when there are lots of hopeful signs of fruit... such as this first blush of red on the red currants.

My espalier apple tree is not loaded with fruit like last year, but I'm pleased to have some apples to look forward to.

This espalier asian pear will need to be thinned soon, to allow the fruit to develop fully. What a delight to see so much fruit this early on.

The rule in our garden is that if the kids find any ripe fruits, they are welcome to pick and enjoy them, although I encourage them to show them off (and occasionally pose for a picture) first, such as this photo-worthy strawberry found by my daughter.

Garden Glimpses : Early June

I've collected some highlights of my garden this evening, small glimpses into the many wonders I enjoy when I make time to stroll through it.

Garden Painting Day 6 : Spanish Lavender

With the pansy leaves on the bottom left corner of my painting, I started on the bottom right yesterday, with a clump of Spanish Lavender (lavendula stoechas). It was gorgeous weather yesterday, sunny and calm, and I actually took the easel (thanks to my brother John) on the deck and painted outside for a while in natural light - what a treat! Good thing I took the opportunity, the clouds had rolled in by the evening, and today was overcast with occasional showers all day.

I have now realized that it will be easier to work from top to bottom, so I can paint each successful flower on top or in front of another, rather than figure out how to paint the next flower behind this one. It is easier, though, to visualize the garden from front to back, so I'll need to do some more thinking about layout. I've already deviated from the paper layout, so I can't just follow that.

I also realized that I should not be hasty with adding the actual flowers. Once I was done, I realized that the foliage looked too flat or two-dimensional (photo left), and I added in highlights and shadows with two different shades (photo right). It would have been much easier if I didn't need to work around the flowers which were already painted in.

See also Garden Painting Day 5 : Pansy Leaves & Kids Projects.