Falling for the scent of endless summer

Now, with just a hint of fall in the air, we’re all moving back indoors. The cabin is closed for the season. The boat is back in storage. The kids are back in school. We’re lucky to live in a climate with dry summers, hot sun and cool nights. The perfect recipe for a reliable crop of lavender year after year. And lavender – as anyone who has ever grown it knows - is the gift that gives again and again. I planted a row of Grosso – fat spike – lavender under the large picture window on the front of my house several years ago. The tall stems grow long and lush. By mid-summer every plant is covered with blooms. Not only does the row of lavender look good through the window, the plants perfume the warm air by the front door and swarm with honeybees. Every time I walk past the row of plants, I sweep my fingers along the blooms and capture the scent, breathing deeply as I bring my hands to my face. As much as I love what lavender does to my landscape, I love even more what it does to my life in the coldest, darkest days of winter. Each summer I harvest lavender and dry it on a repurposed window screen, letting it bake in the hot sun. I strip the buds from the stalks and bag them into sachets. These sachets are tucked into birthday, Christmas and housewarming gifts. They are slipped between pillowcases in the linen closet, tucked into lingere drawers and folded with towels and tablecloths. They perfume my home all year long. I sprinkle the herb into my bath and relax in the fragrant steam, bringing much needed humidity to the winter-dry interior of the house. Simply by picking a bouquet of lavender blooms in the summer– they’ll dry on their own if placed in a tall vase – I am able to combat the long, often dreary days of mid-winter. Cottage industry Lavender has become a successful cottage industry in this area. Small farms, some not much more than a patch of lavender grown in the front yard, have flourished. Others cover acres and draw crowds each season. More than just U-pick enterprises, many local lavender growers have added created gourmet items and specialty products featuring the calming scent or flavor of the easy-to-grow herb. With fall on the way, you might want to think about ways to let summer linger indoors. These products, all locally produced, can help you do just that: • Leisure Lavender Farm: Therapy Spritzer, $8.50 • Garden Gate Lavender Farms: Lavender scented soy candle $9 • Fleur de Provence Lavender Farm: Dried Lavender bundles $5 each.