Winter’s grip
Morena Winter’s grip is well and truly upon us with light snow falling on the lavender fields last week. The lavender is nicley pruned and awaits the first warmth of the coming Spring – although thats probably two months away. Winter is a great time to soak in the memories of summer, the scent of our lavender and sensation of our lavender […]
Read more…Overlooking Akaroa harbour
Morena from the hills overlooking Akaroa harbour. It has been a long hot summer and even now we enter winter with very dry soils. This is reflected in our harvest, which while still good for both Grosso and Pacific Blue, was down on our expectations. Our Grosso and Pacific Blue is now all pruned and sits calmly overlooking the harbour as we […]
Read more…Summers blue
Morena: summers blue is bursting into flower in the lavender fields. Pacific Blue startling deep violet shades are spreading across our fields. Every year this cloak of colour reminds us that Christmas is just around the corner. Oringally from France, Pacific Blue, was later developed and named by Peter Smale from Crop and Food Research in Nelson. In one of his last […]
Read more…The beginning of Spring
Morena It must be the beginning of Spring. We thought we caught the faint sound of the first pipiwharauroa (shining cuckoo) somewhere deep in the native bush that surrounds the farm. Despite some heavy frosts, our Grosso and Pacific Blue plants have come through winter well and rapidly showcasing some of their future beauty. We have been busy planting after growing on over […]
Read more…Sleeping through the daytime
Morena All of the Grosso and Pacific Blue plants are now beautifully pruned and “sleeping through the (winter) daytime”. Given the upheaval over the last few months the work programme is running a late this year. The recently pruned plants, including some newly planted growing on lines, have survived some heavy frosts in June. In all another 500 young plants (mainly Pacific Blue) […]
Read more…Summer solstice
Morena Summer is heading our way with the summer solstice having just passed. Stuck for ideas combining Christmas and lavender then check out these ideas from Jersey Lavender in the UK ! Lavender Baubles: Empty clear glass or plastic baubles are available to buy quite inexpensively online or in craft stores, then all you need to do is choose your filling. We love […]
Read more…a Spring shiver
Morena It’s a Spring shiver kind of week; 19C to 5C and thick snow all around the tops! We know its spring, and there’s plenty of evidence in the new growth on our Pacific Blue. Apart from some ornamental lavender around the house, Pacific Blue is always the first to lead us into summer. Because you should know many of the ‘true’ lavenders […]
Read more…rain, snow, and Ray…
Morena It’s a late winter’s day; rain all around, snow on the hills and Ray LaMontagne oozing through the speakers. Yesterday we finished the last of the pruning. An annual event we usually try and complete before the first frosts of Autumn. We are a little behind this year, but the older Grosso plants are capable of handling a “haircut” despite the […]
Read more…there are gnomes and genome’s in our lavender fields
A recent Canadian article outlines the range of genomes lurking in the lavender fields. A team of researchers, including University British Colombia’s Soheil Mahmoud, have recently sequenced the genome of lavender. “The best way to describe our findings is that we have built the roadmap for the discovery of the genetic elements that define lavender. Now researchers can follow our map and […]
Read more…Spring is slowly springing!
It’s true, Spring is slowly springing in the lavender fields. As I write, the first flowers are opening on some ornamental lavender we have adjacent to the house. Some of the stoechas (which originated from Europe) are well into bloom, with one variety covered in masses of long purple spikes. Stoechas, while not producing the quality or quantity of our Pacific Blue […]
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