Fragrant Blooms and a Cream Tea

A few weeks ago just before the summer holidays P and I met up with my parents for the afternoon at a really delightful spot - the New Forest Lavender Farm. It was the most heavenly flower-filled place, and I think I got enough of a flowery boost to charge my batteries right through the winter! Let me show you.

There was a pretty garden, full of perennials where we sat outside to eat our lunch.

I wished I'd tried my mum's lavender cream tea, it looked so pretty. The lavender cordial and tea was pretty good, though.

Past the drying lavender, we headed through rows of blooming purple plants and inhaled the perfume.

My favourite bit was this wonderful scented area which was full of annuals. I could have stayed here all day, surrounded by buzzing bees, butterflies and wonderful perfumes. Pathways of grass led through huge swathes of riotous colour.

It was a hot day and the scents wafted on the air, making me feel drowsy and very happy indeed.

So much colour.

Just look at this gorgeous wirework bench. I could just imagine sitting there with my crochet for an afternoon. Bliss!

Everywhere I looked the blooms jostled with each other, and reminded me of one of those millefleur Medieval tapestries where green backgrounds were stitched with many tiny colourful flowers.

This restful, tranquil white garden was calming after all that fabulous colour.

One last sniff of the lavender fields before we left,

and at home I arranged my souvenir on our table - a dark purple bunch of lavender flowers which I later hung up to dry. Wonderful.

Lavender Bottles

Lovely lavender is in bloom at this time of year in my part of the world. Our own is just about over now, but there's plenty of it still around in gardens, blooming away and smelling wonderful on the warm late summer air. This was ours about two weeks ago. It did smell good, and was full of bees most of the time.



Most of it is now cut and dried, and ready to make lavender bags and sleep pillows with. I've blogged before about my love of lavender here, here and here, and showed you some of the things I've made.



This year I thought I'd try a tutuorial-style thingy, and show you how to make something a bit different - lavender bottles. Here are some I made 2 years ago, and they still scent my drawers beautifully. They're called bottles because of their shape, and are sometimes called wands too. They are quite fiddly to make, so I keep mine quite small and short, but you can make them as big as you'd like.

First you need to cut some fresh lavender with stems as long as possible on a warm, dry day, ideally before the buds have opened. I usually use 15 stems for a bottle. Always make sure you have an odd number, as you'll be weaving in a spiral.



I use a length of fairly narrow ribbon about a metre long and cut off any I don't need at the end. Firmly tie one end around the stems just below the flowers.

Gently bend the stems back on themselves all around the flowers, trying not to break them.

This is why they must be fresh and not dried, so that the lavender is nice and flexible.

You should aim to make a little cage all around the flowers, holding the stems gently at their base.

Now comes the fiddly bit. Space out the stems evenly and pull the ribbon to the front so that it comes to the top of the bottle.

Once it's through, very carefully start to weave the ribbon under and over each stem, turning as you go.

It's most fiddly at the start, but gets easier as you go, and is important that you try to keep the stems in place as you weave.

Round and round you go. Each time you weave the ribbon under or over a stem it should be opposite to what you did last time you went round. That's why you need an odd number of stems.

Tuck any stray flowers in as you go. You can see it's coming together now, wrapping the flowers tightly inside.

As you get closer to the base of the flowers, pull the ribbon a little more tightly to make the neck of the 'bottle'.

Now wind the ribbon tightly around the stems in a spiral until you reach the ends. It needs to be tight because as the lavender dries it will shrink and the ribbon will loosen.

Tie the end up very tightly. You don't want all that hard work to come undone!

Snip the ends of the stems neatly.

And make a hanging loop with the ribbon.

Finished - ta dah! It's all ready to use to scent your wardrobe or drawers, and will gradually dry on its own. I like to make them in different colours, and often give them as little gifts. Purples, blues and greens work well. I always keep a few for myself, though!

If you decide to have a go at making one, I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
See you soon x