and got to sniff a half acre worth of lavender! Heady stuff. She said to harvest herbs before the plant flowered and flowers before the buds open, for best concentration of essential oils.

I'm having "Girl' sleep-over" this week- and one of our activities will be to make lavender bouquets with the harvest from my purple and someone else's white lavender (is that an oxymoron??). In years past, when it was time to harvest my plants, my neighbor and I made bouquets (tied with purple satin ribbon) for gifts -- hers were "natural" (she just grabbed a bunch and tied) and quick to assemble --mine were more precise (heads organized neatly, with stems blunt-trimmed) and lots more work. I suspect the recipients liked them both just as well. :-) The "pros" who sell commercially hang their bouquets upside down for 1 week in a cool, dry area. I've seen bouquets wrapped in small battenburg lace doilies, tied with 2" satin ribbon beautiful!

Last year I made Lavender Rice Bags (1 lb rice + 2 cups of lavender buds) for gifts. Works like a heat pad (or to cudedle up with on a cold winter night) microwave the bag for 1 minute on high = a scented heat pad. Inner bag is like a pillow cover, stitched closed to hold the lavender buds. Outer bag is like a pillow case - can be removed and washed. I just used fabrics I had laying around-- Most anything works for the outer bag - from sheets to lace (be certain fabric can be microwaved). Use a dense fabric like sheets for the inner bag.

I also made little gift sachets out of leftover satin-- 2" satin ribbon also works well, but is much more expensive.

I've created a 2" x 2" gift card to tie onto the sachets (with fine, glitzy ribbon) - using business card stock folded in half. Front has a nice sketch of lavender - inside it says "Fresh English lavender from Jean's garden." All these items make wonderful, personal gifts!