That Traditional Lavender Scent: Aromatic Lavender
There’s a misty sort of haze over the lavender fields at dawn, and as I step along the rows of aromatic
grosso lavender and gently let my fingertips brush the tops of the flowers, the fragrance sifts through then dewy air and makes me smile. That lovely, old-fashioned scent, so reminiscent of grandmothers and linens and the peacefulness of home, warms my heart. The allure of the timeless scent and elegance of lavender is what brings so many people to cherish it and want to make it part of their own lifestyle. Perhaps it is the memory of lying on scented sheets as a child
and relaxing into the fragrance of the night. Perhaps it is the feeling one gets when opening a drawer, picking up a sachet left behind long ago, and finding still that dusty, sweet smell of lavender. What comes to your mind when you smell that enchanting scent? The aromatic lavenders grown at Fragrant Isle are of the species lavandula x intermedia, a hybrid cross between English lavender, lavandula angustafolia, and lavandula latifolia, which is also known as Portuguese or spike lavender, and which commonly grows in the Mediterranean regions of western
Europe. Lavandula x intermedia is also known as Lavandin. The Portuguese lavender contains an extremely high content of camphor which is not even lavender-like in scent, so the cross with the softer, sweeter English lavender created the beautiful fragrance we most associate with traditional lavender
today. It is the presence of the camphor however, that keeps the scent strong for many years - even decades - in your sachets and linen closets.
It is also the presence of that camphor that makes aromatic lavenders taste like soap; bitter and quite unpalatable, so before you put just any lavender into your tea or cookies, check that it is indeed meant for culinary use. If you are uncertain whether the lavender growing in your own garden is aromatic or culinary, you can taste a flower bud - it’s not toxic - and if it tastes quite bitter, plan to make a pretty sachet. The aromatic lavenders bloom a little later in the season too. When you step onto the fields at Fragrant Isle in early July, you’ll notice the English lavenders coming into full bloom and the aromatic plants topped with just a purple or white haze. July is when the lavenders are fully blooming, the air is sweet with their scent, and the fields are a treasure to see.
There’s a misty sort of haze over the lavender fields at dawn, and as I step along the rows of aromatic
grosso lavender and gently let my fingertips brush the tops of the flowers, the fragrance sifts through then dewy air and makes me smile. That lovely, old-fashioned scent, so reminiscent of grandmothers and linens and the peacefulness of home, warms my heart. The allure of the timeless scent and elegance of lavender is what brings so many people to cherish it and want to make it part of their own lifestyle. Perhaps it is the memory of lying on scented sheets as a child
and relaxing into the fragrance of the night. Perhaps it is the feeling one gets when opening a drawer, picking up a sachet left behind long ago, and finding still that dusty, sweet smell of lavender. What comes to your mind when you smell that enchanting scent? The aromatic lavenders grown at Fragrant Isle are of the species lavandula x intermedia, a hybrid cross between English lavender, lavandula angustafolia, and lavandula latifolia, which is also known as Portuguese or spike lavender, and which commonly grows in the Mediterranean regions of western
Europe. Lavandula x intermedia is also known as Lavandin. The Portuguese lavender contains an extremely high content of camphor which is not even lavender-like in scent, so the cross with the softer, sweeter English lavender created the beautiful fragrance we most associate with traditional lavender
today. It is the presence of the camphor however, that keeps the scent strong for many years - even decades - in your sachets and linen closets.
It is also the presence of that camphor that makes aromatic lavenders taste like soap; bitter and quite unpalatable, so before you put just any lavender into your tea or cookies, check that it is indeed meant for culinary use. If you are uncertain whether the lavender growing in your own garden is aromatic or culinary, you can taste a flower bud - it’s not toxic - and if it tastes quite bitter, plan to make a pretty sachet. The aromatic lavenders bloom a little later in the season too. When you step onto the fields at Fragrant Isle in early July, you’ll notice the English lavenders coming into full bloom and the aromatic plants topped with just a purple or white haze. July is when the lavenders are fully blooming, the air is sweet with their scent, and the fields are a treasure to see.