flower blog

Photos courtesy of Rich Dudley, The Bloomery Florist

Two readers recently wrote to me about how much they love lavender. Just thinking about this flower’s singular scent relaxed and recharged me.

Of course, it also made me pine for the South of France, especially Provence, one of the most magical places in the world, with its seemingly endless purple-daubed fields of this ancient flower.

In case you don’t have a trip planned there (it’s now harvest season for fine lavender) check out the offerings of an entire museum devoted to lavender: thelavendermuseum.com.

Or read more at: usa.loccitane.com/FO/Content/Our_Stories/LavenderHarvest.aspx.

Women appreciate lavender because it’s a true multi-tasker: Naturally, it’s used in fragrance and aromatherapy products. And, in various forms, it can be used as a sleep aid, disinfectant and insect repellant as well as to treat burns, relieve headaches or as an herb in cooking.

Here are a few other trivia tidbits:

• Lavender, along with saffron and cinnamon, appears in the Old Testament's “Song of Solomon” as “nard,” a variation of the Greek name, nardus.

• Lavender belongs to the mint family.

• In the Middle Ages, lavender was thought to fight disease.

• The Roman name comes from the verb lavāre (to wash). Fittingly, it was used in Roman baths to scent the water.

• Around the turn of the century, French washerwomen used it in washtubs.

Note to self: Flowers are a great gambit for getting to the front of a line. At least it worked for me when I joined the queue for coffee Sunday morning in Laurel Canyon.

The man ahead of me took one look at my lovely bouquet of larkspur with a collar of yellow roses and said, "If you have flowers, you've got to go ahead of me." I brought them to say "Happy Sunday" to my friend Lilly.

And before she even saw them, they were getting me special treatment. Awesome! Because the flowers were a complete surprise, Lilly was really pleased.

It was my second floral discovery of the weekend. On Saturday, I decided to buy flowers and make some simple bouquets. Browsing around my local florist, I saw a terrific flower that I'd heard a lot about but never actually seen.


At first I thought it was a wild rose, but it turned out to be lisianthus. It's a little smaller than a rose, has slightly frilly petals and multiple blooms growing from one stem.

Native to Texas and Mexico, it has a bunch of different names: Texas Bluebell, Prairie Gentian, Lira de San Pedro. In the language of flowers, lisianthus symbolizes both an outgoing nature and appreciation.

No matter what you call it, it's an enchanting flower – classically beautiful and slightly exotic. Lisianthus typically comes in white, pink, lavender and purple.

I blended pink lisianthus with white roses, white stock and some white hydrangea I'd bought earlier in the week, topping it off with some foliage called "pitts" that my florist suggested.

In the store, I noticed an exquisite bouquet with a single pink lisianthus bloom, a mauve orchid and a magenta dahlia, set against layers of Casablanca lilies and calla lilies.

Who knows what next weekend will bring?!

Flower Fact of the Day: Why do we go for gold in the garden? Beth Botts, of the Chicago Tribune's Home & Garden section, recently explored the drive to compete in the realm of junipers, succulents, lilies, dahlias and giant pumpkins, et al. Read up at: chicagotribune.com/features/home/chi-garden-competition-0727jul27,0,3337999.story.