The Lavender Lover's Handbook: The 100 Most Beautiful and Fragrant Varieties for Growing, Crafting, and Cookin

193 Pages·2012·42.818 MB·English

by  Sarah Berringer Bader, Janet Loughrey

The Lavender Lover’s Handbook
•

The
Lavender Lover’s
Handbook
The 100 Most Beautiful and Fragrant Varieties for
Growing, Crafting, and Cooking
•
Sarah Berringer Bader
Photographs by Janet Loughrey
Timber Press
Portland • London
Frontispiece: Lavender thriving on a raised berm;
this page: Lavandula angustifolia varieties in a mixed
border; page 6: A field at Lavender at Stonegate.
Copyright © 2012 by Sarah Berringer Bader
All rights reserved
Photographs by Janet Loughrey
Published in 2012 by Timber Press, Inc.
The Haseltine Building
133 S.W. Second Avenue, Suite 450
Portland, Oregon 97204-3527
timberpress.com
2 The Quadrant
135 Salusbury Road
London NW6 6RJ
timberpress.co.uk
Printed in China
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bader, Sarah Berringer.
The lavender lover’s handbook : the 100 most beautiful
and fragrant varieties for growing, crafting, and cooking /
Sarah Berringer Bader ; photographs by Janet Loughrey. —
1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-60469-221-1
1. Lavenders. 2. Cooking (Lavender) 3. Floral
decorations. I. Loughrey, Janet. II. Title.
SB317.L37B33 2012
635.9'3396—dc23
2011032472
A catalog record for this book is also available from the
British Library.
To Jerre Ann with love

Contents
9 Preface
11 Acknowledgments
13 Lavender Obsession:
An Introduction
23 Lavender in the Garden:
Landscapes, Containers, and
Herb Gardens
43 The Lavender Palette:
100 Varieties to Try
113 Care and Cultivation:
From Planting to Pruning,
Harvesting, and Drying
135 Lavender Recipes:
Herb Blends, Condiments,
Desserts, and Drinks
161 Scented Creations:
Wands, Wreaths, Swags,
Sachets, and Beyond
183 Resources
186 Further Reading
187 Metric Conversions
189 Index
“I think it
pisses God off
when you walk by
the color purple
in a field somewhere
and don’t notice it.”
—Alice Walker
Preface
V
ery few plants in the world today tantalize the senses like lavender.
I have watched countless people, on a warm summer’s day, stop and
stare in wonderment at a lavender plant in full bloom. As the fra-
grance wafts up to your nose, you notice the beautiful color that surrounds
the blossoming plant. Next you notice all the bees moving from flower to
flower, searching for pollen. If you allow yourself to be still long enough,
the faint buzzing of these pollinators will mesmerize you while you take it
all in. A full-faculty overload. I think that’s what drew me to love lavender
in the first place. One day I was out watering a large lavender bush in my
yard, and the gentle fragrance filled my nostrils and put me into a trance. I
had a sense of calm for the next thirty minutes and couldn’t get that expe-
rience out of my brain.
At the time, I was working as a recruiter but decided to leave when I
had children. I spent more time working on the farm and realized that get-
ting my hands in the dirt filled my soul like nothing else had. I was fortu-
nate enough to acquire a wide spectrum of lavender starts from a local
grower and began propagating them. My business, Lavender at Stonegate,
began when I was able to successfully grow and sell these beautiful variet-
ies of lavender in both the retail and the wholesale trade.
Once lavender became my full-time job, I would get asked the same
questions over and over again by visitors to my farm. People wanted to
grow lavender, but they couldn’t understand why their plant had become
woody, or they couldn’t decide which variety would work in their space. If
you have questions like these, this book is for you.
I have included detailed facts about lavender cultivars available in
North America, as well as information that will help you pick the right
plant for your favorite sunny spot. Questions about pruning, spacing, and
planting requirements are covered in depth. I have also included some sug-
gestions about how to use lavender in your everyday life. My sincere hope is
that this information will allow you to enjoy lavender in a multitude of
ways. Being able to grow lavender and use it for the abundant purposes for
which it is suited is a joy I hope more and more people can embrace.
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