Lavender; more than a color

Lavender

It’s in the garden this year and I am very curious to see how well it grows for me. I’ve always adored lavender. It’s intoxicating fragrance has infatuated me for as long as I’ve known it and hence is why I needed it in my garden. Well…. Partly the reason I need it in my garden. Read on, dear friends.

I keep dried lavender in the cupboard for tea and I keep lavender essential oil with me at all times because it has so many benefits. Besides a topical benefit, it is also believed to have emotional benefits with respect to calming anxieties. I spray the bed linens with a mixture of lavender essential oil at night. I add it to my bath. I add it to my lotion. I am surrounded by lavender! Maybe this is how I cope with life???

Is lavender a plant or an herb? Schools are still in session on this but what I have learned is that the origins are of the Mediterranean region. That’s not a surprise to me. A lot of good things come from that section of the world…like grapes. Lavender likes to be grown in dry and sandy soil and I have both attributes right here in my back yard so I am hopeful that lavender will pump the brakes on my back yard despair.

Nothing I do will make grass grow on this area of dust and craters. I have scatter seed; pounds and pounds of it. I have aerated and I have watered and I have fertilized. Even now that we are in the wet spring months where new growth emerges on any flat surface that is the least bit porous, I have nothing. Not even a weed. So here we are again, another year of lifelessness no matter how diligent I’ve been at sowing.

How’s that for an analogy of life? Sometimes we work on the same dry ground with the same tired tactics thinking the results will be different this time. But in the end, we see no change. So, this year I am changing the toolset. Introduce lavender. Yep. This is my new tool this year. I am planting lavender randomly in my back yard. While I know the soil is conducive for it, it will be a trial year to see if Tennessee is kind to it. And while it’s not ideal to plant the entire back yard full of lavender, it is tempting. Can you just imagine the gentle sway of purple sweetness in the summer breeze? Close your eyes and take a deep breath. The smell calms even the most anxious soul.

So back to the analogy of life thought…I am aware of some things I need to work on in my life; new seeds I need to sow, new ground I need to plow, and old plants I need to revive. I am adopting new tools to help me and new ideas for a better harvest. After all, it’s the growing season and no better time to get at it!

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. – John 15:2

#lavender #growingseason #tennessee #pruning #essentialoils #herbs #plants