Its Coming Up Lavender

The whole house smells like lavender. I have about 15 plants - 3 different species of lavender. The Spanish just looks pretty. The French wooly lavender looks pretty, but has little aroma. The English lavender has the wonderful smell. I usually pick the English lavender and make lavender wands or sachets, but this year I decided to do something different - make a lavender wreath.

I've been pricing them in the stores and they are very expensive. In addition, many don't look very lush. So I decided to give it a try. I've made lots of wreaths before, but learned a lot making this one.

I started with a metal frame base. The inside diameter was 12". Starting Sunday afternoon, I fought the bees and picked about 1/3 of one of my large bushes. I actually just started by clipping the portion overhanging the walkway. After attaching it all, I went out after dinner on Sunday and picked another 1/3 of the bush. Spent another couple hours attaching them. Then Monday morning I went out and picked the rest of the bush. Finished attaching those stems and made several more smaller passes for lavender. Eventually after about 7-8 hours worth of work --