Lavender Harvest

I have one very scraggly looking lavender plant.  It is in the corner of the herb garden, tucked between a very healthy and rather aggressive lemon balm, and rampant, self-seeding parsley.  I'm not sure how this lavender has survived its years between such over-bearing neighbors, but somehow it persists.

Our climate is barely suitable to lavender but I try because I love this plant dearly.  And even though mine doesn't look anything like the lovely plants up in Sequim, WA, this one plant manages to give me enough lavender every year to make fragrant, long-lasting bouquets.

How lavender is supposed to look, Courtesy of the Sequim, WA Lavender Festival

I won't post a picture of my plant--truly the poor thing is nothing to look at.  But I do have fun with the lavender I harvest.  Like so many people, I am drawn to its soft fragrance.  My initial $3 investment (of many years ago) and 15 minutes of annual trimming is enough to make pretty vases of lavender.  By far this is the easiest and most rewarding of harvests.