Lovely Lavender
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Michael and I took a little drive to scout out a wedding venue that we will be photographing at soon up in Michigan and we discovered the loveliest place just across the street from the church. It is a lavender farm named Lavender Hill Farm in southwest Michigan. Michael loved it as soon as he saw it because it was a see of purple, not sure about his nose though, as he has allergies.
We stopped in and spoke to the lady in the gift shop, and she told us that the owner--Martha O. Wilczynski-- was away at a show selling the products that she makes by hand with her own lavender. She told us all about the history of the farm. There are over 4,000 lavender plants of eight different varieties, and the best time to see them all in bloom at the same time is around July 1st. Martha and her husband bought her parents family farm in the late 90's and have been working on the ecological restoration of all 30 acres ever since. They planted their first 2000 lavender plants in 2001 and in later years started to distill their own plants to make lavender fragrances.
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The butterflies loved the lavender as much as we did, probably a little more as they actually ate it.
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It really was just a sea of purple! So lovely!
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The plants are actually quite interesting to look at when you get up close that is.
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The farm also produces their own honey, Michael tried some and said it had a very good and mellow taste.
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With scissors in hand, I went to get me some purple fragrance!
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Once you find your spot, you just cut the stems above the bottom portion of the plant.
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Even though there were bees everywhere (and I hate bees) they didn't even notice me as they were too busy collecting nectar!
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Can you find me in all this purple? Good thing I wore black.
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As you can tell, I am very selective. LOL
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This is what the lavender plant looks like when the purple flower stems are cut away.
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I really liked the look of this patch next to the fens line.
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And of course we had to buy some and bring them home to put up in our bedroom. Oh, they have such a lovely fragrance I am so happy we discovered this place on our way to the wedding chapel across the street. It just goes to show you that getting out and exploring your own community can lead to wondrous discoveries! Michael and I just can't wait to go back.