Category: Flowers

The Lavender Festival, 2

Yesterday’s weather wouldn’t have thrilled sun-worshipers, but the lavender at Jardin du Soleil was bright enough to make a lavender lover happy.

Purple Haze Lavender has beautiful fields in all directions, rain or shine.

And the fields at Olympic Lavender Farm were a vivid contrast to a grey day.

This display of plants for sale at Lost Mountain Lavender would have visitors believe that life is just a bed of lavender in Sequim.

I understand that the farmers who make up the Sequim Lavender Farmers Association are a cooperative group and supportive of one another. But at times while visiting the farms on the Lavender Farm Tour it seems like they’re all trying to be tops in having beautiful vistas across fields of fragrant lavender. It’s quite a treat.

The Lavender Festival, 1

After a day of off-and-on rain Friday, Saturday’s Lavender Farm Faire enjoyed a respite. We checked out Sunshine Herb & Lavender Farm. Above is a view of one of their garden areas. Sunshine is where we tasted our first lavender latte and remembered it as the best ever. After yesterday’s resampling it continues to hold the honors.

Like most of our lavender farms, Sunshine has its own line of lavender products including scented lotions and lavender-infused culinary products (yes, I came home with some!). The farm cultivates some 65 different types of lavender on 10 acres and sells plants. Its farm store is open year round.

Color spots

Our wildflower patch – mostly batchelor buttons and golden poppies – this year has drawn a steady stream of goldfinches that are making meals of the available seeds. There’s a goldfinch nestled in amongst those blue blossoms. It’s amazing to see these tiny birds navigating on the thin stems of the flowers.

The Cutting Garden

There are a number of u-pick flower operations in Sequim and welcome signs come out as summer progresses. Here’s the Cutting Garden which offers both flowers and a venue for special events. On one side of the property is a beautiful house and gardens.

On the other side of the property, beyond this trellis, are rows of “u-pick” flowers.

Peonies, delphiniums, and columbines are blooming right now but more blooms are on the way. The cost for a large bouquet is around $8 or $8.50, though some “premium” flowers are purchased by the stalk. Next month local lavender farms throw open their fields for u-pick bouquets.

Native honeysuckle

One of my favorite scents on a warm summer’s day is honeysuckle. So it was a disappointment to discover that this native honeysuckle (lonicera ciliosa) which grows freely in the Dungeness Recreation Area landscape does not, alas, have a fragrance. But it’s bright, pretty, and the hummingbirds love it. That’s not bad at all.