George Washington Lavender Farm

It's January and I'm already dreaming of Spring, 

daffodils and lavender!  I am thankful that 

we are not knee deep in snow and 

that we did have sunshine today.

I think of my east coast friends and their 

blizzard conditions and count my blessings and 

hope all are safe and warm!

I think winter is a nice "vacation" for gardeners from all the work we do but I do miss my garden this time of year and can't wait for spring.  I find myself frequently on Pinterest finding new ideas and plans for this year's garden.  I am going back and looking at photos I took on vacation for more garden inspiration.  My photos from the George Washington Lavender Farm make me anxious to get out and plant
 more lavender in my garden! 

George Washington Inn and Lavender Farm is located in Sequim, Washington where we spent part of our Pacific Northwest vacation in July.  What a treat it was to visit this incredible place.  The owners built a replica of George Washington's Mount Vernon home that is an inn and they surrounded it with lavender and a farm store.   We visited during the lavender festival and the weather was perfect!  The views were stunning from the bluff overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the north and to the south toward the Olympic Mountains.

The inn has won many awards and the grounds are beautiful.

There was a string orchestra on the front porch 
playing classical music for the visitors.

The farm store was full of their lavender products and they were serving lavender ice cream too!

The soldiers reenacted battles in full uniformed dress

 and the ladies looked beautiful as well. 

One of the local restaurants from Port Angeles had set up a food tent and served amazing seafood chowder

 and fish salads. 

The sunroom was set up for high tea.  

Our visit was perfect and we definitely want to return during the lavender season again. 

If you love lavender this area is the perfect destination. 

Here is the link to the inn and farm:
http://www.georgewashingtoninn.com/

I'm linking with Bernideen's Tea Time Cottage and Garden

Sequim Lavender Festival

When I started planning our trip to Seattle and Victoria, British Columbia I realized Sequim wasn't that far from either location. We decided to add on a weekend stay during the lavender festival before taking the ferry across to Victoria.   

Loving all things lavender, I was so excited to be introduced to Sequim by our local
 lavender farmer. 

She had discovered Sequim when her son was stationed at the Navy base on
 Whidbey Island, WA. 

She even ordered  the 'Grosso' variety of lavender plants from one of the farms and had them shipped to Oklahoma.  

 She now has over an acre planted from those original plants.   Her pretty farm and cottage shop is only open for special events and weddings now, but in previous years she has taught seminars about growing lavender
 and held craft classes for groups.     
  Click the link to read more about her farm outside of Oklahoma City. 

Sequim is one of the sunniest places in Washington state.  I've always thought of  the Pacific Northwest as cool, wet and green, however Sequim is in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains.  They receive the same rainfall amounts as Los Angeles...who knew? The climate makes it the perfect for
 growing lavender.

Sequim is also considered the lavender capitol of North America and I quickly fell in love with this small town!  

Downtown by the high school they close the street and it's lined with vendor tents, food and local entertainment.

We arrived just as the Lavender Queen and her court were singing on the main stage. 
There were times I felt we were visiting a time gone by,  like visiting Mayberry with Andy and Aunt Bea!     

My hubbie even got his picture with the official mascot of the festival! 
We spent the first morning downtown and then headed out to visit the farms over the next two days.  

There were ten farms on the official tour and shuttles were available to take visitors from downtown to each of the farms. Several farms are not on the official tour and charge a small fee but most of the farms are free to visit.  All the farms have craft vendors, food tents and live musical performances.  The music ranged from a classical orchestra to a blue grass band.  Each farm had a farm shop that sold their oils and lavender products.   The owners were on hand to talk about their farms, practices or to even scoop up some of their homemade lavender ice cream for visitors!

Le Jardin du Soliel had wonderful fields of 'Grosso' lavender along with several other varieties.   'Grosso' produces the best oils and strongest fragrances.   
U-cut lavender 
was only $12 for three generous bundles!  What a treat it was to cut lavender to 
my heart's content!

 (Olympic Lavender Farm)

Lavender lovers like me owe it to themselves to schedule a trip to this wonderful festival.    The Olympic National Park and the ferry
to Victoria, British Columbia 
are just minutes from 
Sequim.  
  

Each evening we returned to the cottage to watch the hummingbirds, otters and eagles from the deck until the sun went down.

 We enjoyed the most glorious sunsets and the sunrises were spectacular too!  

Next post:

George Washington Inn and Lavender Farm

  

Dreaming of Lavender

February has been so cold and we have snow on the ground. This time of year I am dreaming of and planning my spring garden.   We have been in a drought for a number of years and this spring I want to include many more plants and flowers that have minimal watering requirements.   We are already on a year-round water rationing schedule so planting the right flowers is important to keep my garden full of blooms this summer.  

Lavender is one plant that tops my list each year since it doesn't need a lot of water.   Our winters can be harsh too so I find myself replanting a few plants each year as some don't make it through the cold.   I don't mind though because I am rewarded with such beautiful flowers 
for cutting and lavender has few pests.  
It's also bunny and deer resistant too!

I've been trying a few more varieties each year to see which will grow best in my climate.  I think Provence, Grosso and Blanco top the list so far for Oklahoma.   This year I want like to try a few of the deep purple varieties and will have to order online since my local nurseries only 
carry the more common varieties.  

My hubbie and I will be putting in a few more beds for lavender this spring.   I will be ordering my 'Grosso' plants from Purple Haze Lavender in Sequim, 
Washington this year.  

                           
                                   Purple Haze Lavender Farm

For our anniversary in July we are headed up to  Washington for the lavender festival and then up to Vancouver Island, British Columbia to enjoy the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest.  There are so many lavender farms in that area and I can hardly wait to experience all that lavender in person.  

   The Sequim Lavender Festival  is a three day event and I hope to visit each and every farm on the tour.   

(Photos used by permission)
 Purple Haze Lavender Farm

  Just looking at lavender via Pinterest and 
visiting lavender farm websites
 is therapy this time of year. 

I'm counting the days until Spring!

              I'm linking with             

Marty's Inspire Me Tuesday and

Susan's Outdoor Wednesday

Washington Creek Lavender Farm

I love lavender and when my sweet hubbie offered to take me up to Lawrence, Kansas last Sunday to visit a lavender farm I was more than thrilled.   

I had been searching for lavender farms in driving distance to our home when I found

Washington Creek Lavender Farm's 

website.  There are only two lavender farms in Oklahoma that I know about and one was closed this year so I was 

excited about the opportunity to visit a farm this season that was just finishing their harvest. 

We were warmly greeted by the owner,  Jack Wilson and given a personal tour.   Jack shared lots of great information about  growing lavender and the different varieties they grow at their farm.  He showed us the damage that his mature lavender plants endured with -45 degree wind chills this past winter.    I was sad to see all the dead plants some of which were 10 years old.   They are letting some of the partially damaged plants remain in hopes that next year they will continue to show more growth, but many will 

have to be removed. 

Kathy and Jack Wilson started the farm in 2005 and they now have about 6,000 plants on the farm.   The varieties are labeled and Jack said that  'Melissa' performed well and didn't have a lot of winter damage. 

  I am definitely going to try it in my garden next spring.   'Grosso' is one of my favorites and their ten year old 'Grosso' plants were heavily damaged.   I think farmers and gardeners are optimistic people...even in the face of adversity we hope for a better and more productive year.   I think it's in our DNA. 

The beautiful red barn was built last year and houses the drying room for the lavender and the gift shop.  It is solar powered and the farm is certified organic.  We were impressed with the Wilson's hard work and commitment  to the environment.   

Kathy hand paints and makes 

most of the items in the gift shop.  

There is a nice selection of lavender products, sachets, eye pillows, dryer sheets, lavender bouquets, culinary lavender and wreaths are just a few of the organic 

products they offer. 

I've already used the lavender dryer sheets

 and my towels and sheets 

smell wonderful!

The drying room was beautiful and what a treat it was to walk through the rows and pick out a fresh bundle from the different varieties.   A little piece of heaven!

They have started a new garden in the front of the barn that will showcase different lavenders and companion plants that grow well together.  They don't any have running water on the farm so Jack has to bring it up from their nearby home in a large drum to hand water new plants.   Once established the plants rely only on rainfall.   

The countryside surrounding the farm was beautiful and we noticed so many wonderful old barns on our way to visit Washington Creek Lavender Farm.

I can't wait until next year when we can return to see

 how their plants do after the winter.  

Thanks for the tour Jack, we loved our visit!