Lavender Season


Summer is lavender season in these parts. My lavender bushes (?) have been peaking in mid June, which is why I was excited to see this lavender farm in Sonoma County outside of Santa Rosa.

A while ago, I stumbled upon an older article online about the lavender field located inside Matanzas Creek Winery. There are a few of these lavender fields in Northern California, but unlike Matanzas Creek they don't allow people to show up unannounced and instead open up their fields during a weekend festival. One of these fields is in Kenwood, California (also in Sonoma County), which holds a 2-day Lavender Festival (not free) every year.

June is a busy month for me. Schedule is very tight. This year I managed to find a free weekend to visit the farm. I was hoping that I wasn't too late with the peak season, especially since my own plants were blooming for weeks already.

2013_06_09 009
The drive through the wine country is scenic. I never get tire of it.

2013_06_09 011
Summer sees a lot of fresh fruit stand popping on the roadside.

2013_06_09 017
The location is a bit remote, but the curvy road offers nice views of rural California.

2013_06_09 021
There it is.

Unfortunately, the lavender plants were just starting their blooms. How could that be when my plants have been going at it for weeks? I have no idea. We seemed to be at least 2 weeks too early. I learned later on that the winery was hosting a special event at the end of June, the peak of blooming season.

Despite the lack of blooms, the garden is nice and inviting. There are chairs and tables for picnics, bring your food. We saw people doing that. But be careful of bees. They were everywhere, and they were plentiful.

2013_06_11 007

2013_06_09 074

2013_06_09 091

2013_06_11 023

2013_06_09 018

2013_06_11 019

2013_06_09 090

2013_06_09 046

2013_06_09 042

2013_06_09 063

2013_06_09 036
Saw quail in the garden, which is a very nice sighting.

OUR WORLD TUESDAY.

SIGNS

Comments

  1. At first I didn't think we'd see any lavender at all, so you can imagine my delight to see it in your last images. YAY. It is such a wonderful plant...and very calming to the eye (and nose). You may know that its oil is used to calm down Alzheimer's patients, especially at the sun-downing time when they can get so agitated.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful! The scent must have been wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Too bad you missed the peak of the season at this farm. The shots of the lavender are very good. The close up so the pretty color very well.

    ReplyDelete
  4. These photo are SO beautiful! What a place.

    ReplyDelete
  5. i love the poetry of the 14th photo. beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The lavender is beautiful. Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wonderful post. I love lavender.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh, yes, I love lavender, too, and what a wonderful collection of photos for the day!! Beautiful post! Hope you have a great week!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love the shots of the lavender just coming into bloom.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I would love to be sitting in those chair enjoying the lavender fields. They are so pretty. Love the quail shot. Great post, have a happy week!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love lavender, too. This is a really wonderful collection of images, very fine post!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great series, I liked the shot of the single lavender bloom.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I am putting this on my bucket list of trips. So peaceful and beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Absolutely beautiful! I definitely want to make a trip there now.

    ~Lindy

    ReplyDelete
  15. What dreamy and lovely photos!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wow..wow..it must be heavenly scented to be in the lavender field..

    ReplyDelete
  17. It is the right time for this. That's a beautiful experience. I like the 3rd photo from the top. Very nicely framed.

    Alexander
    Alex's World! - http://www.kakinan.com/alex

    ReplyDelete
  18. Looks like an absolutely lovely spot to spend the day!!!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Is that a vineyard (1st pic)?
    Lovely take.

    ReplyDelete
  20. What beautiful images! I can't imagine the lovely fragrances strolling through those fields!

    ReplyDelete
  21. That must be amazing when all the plants are flowering!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Such a scenic place. How wonderful to wander through so much lavender. And love the road scenes too.

    ReplyDelete
  23. It all looks so absolutely gorgeous. However I hate the smell of lavender and against all popular opinion, it actually gives me a wicked headache.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Nice, very nice series of photos. I want to visit that Lavender garden too. :)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Even if they were not yet in full bloom, the lavender field looks very mesmerizing. Your photos are stunning.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment