Lavender days

It was kind of a tough year for lavender around here. We've heard from more than a few customers about how some of their normally-hardy, older lavender plants just pooped out. Some of ours did, too (at home and at the shop). Robert spent some serious gardening time yanking out dead, gnarly lavender bushes. Something about the early cold snap, lack of moisture, extended winter (or just the natural life cycle)? Maybe one of you can shed some light on the situation. We're very careful about bringing in only the varieties that can take our Central Oregon conditions (nothing we've planted is too delicate).

But, the ones that made it through are just lovely right now, and probably ready for harvesting (although I can't stand to cut them down: just love looking at them and running my hands over their fragrant buds). We have just a few lavender plants left for sale at the shop: they're quite pretty and ready to plant up. And, we've got some great new lavender products available. Some of it was supposed to be here in time for our garden party last week... but arrived this week instead. Oh well.

With lavender on the brain, thought I'd share this wonderful post, in case you're feeling ambitious about cooking with culinary lavender. What a dreamy dessert bar. I'll have a wee taste of everything, please, starting with the Lillet!