Late Season Lavender

Lavender season is nearing its end. Generally, lavender is harvested in the bud stage before flowering. But if you are like me, you leave some on the plant to enjoy as long as possible. The long stems of lavender create a beautiful showpiece for a flower garden. Even when the blooms are past their prime, they dry nicely on the stems and provide fragrant beauty throughout the summer. This time of year lavender is past bud stage and is now in full bloom or past.

But that doesn't matter when it comes to lavender wands and bottles. Both can be successfully made with lavender that is past its prime. The flowers are fragrant and encase nicely into the ball portion of a lavender wand.

Small bundles of lavender are tied at the top of the stems with a string or rubber band. The stems are folded over the flowers to create a 'cage' and then ribbon is woven in and out of the stems. A tutorial can be seen here (you will need to scroll down the page to view the tutorial). This creates a pretty lavender wand. A lavender bottle is similar, but instead of weaving ribbon in and out of the stems, they are left open and a simple ribbon is tied around at the base of the flowers after the stems have been folded back. Lavender wands are valued for their contribution to fragrance and decor. Lavender bottles are generally tucked into a dresser drawer as potpourri. Because the bud and flowers are not compactly contained by the woven ribbon, bits of flowers break off into the drawer, but that is generally considered a gracious thing and is nothing to worry about (although you might need to vacuum out your dresser drawers now and then.

Little bundles of ribbon tied lavender bouquets and lavender wands look pretty placed in a basket or vase, creating a pretty addition to any room!