The first lavenders to bloom in my Ojai garden are the Spanish Lavender,
Lavendula Stoechas.
Sometimes it's called Rabbit Ears,
Which seems timely since Easter was just yesterday!
This particular variety makes wonderful little arrangements and is extremely fragrant, with a piney scent mixed with lime.
Used primarily for lavender oil, it's great as a garden element both for its profuse blooms and amazing scent.
We used lavender extensively in our landscape; about 4 varieties in all. They will each bloom at different times throughout the spring and summer.
Once the first bloom is over they get a good "hair cut" and may bloom a bit more but this is the best (this variety) will look this year.
And they were so pretty yesterday.
The citrus is also coming into bloom. In about a months time the air is so full of bees that you hear this constant hum, almost like electricity.
These are the Meyers. Wonderful, round and sweet.
The blossoms are beautiful and I like to bring a few cuttings in and set them around the house.
It's a bit like lighting a candle...thats how strong the smell is.
The Meyers grow in large clusters of 5 or more and are disease resistant and need very little in the way of water or pesticides.
I picked a grocery bag full in about 5 minutes to bring home.
That how hearty they are!
Did I mention that Meyers make the best lemonade?
Meyer lemons are readily available in most Nursery's and also do well in pots on the patio.
More garden posts upcoming
All the rain this winter has made for an amazing spring in Ojai and a bumper citrus crop for our local farmers as well. That's some good news!
~*~
kelley
Jealous! We pay about $1.50 for a Meyer lemon. That's would about $18 for a pitcher of lemonade. Very different lavender too, never seen that before. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteI can just smell the meyer lemon blossoms! Ours are waaay behind yours..the naval oranges are just coming into little blossoms, the lemons will be a while still..
ReplyDeletelovely springtime post, and I never knew they were called "rabbit ears" lavender..fits perfectly1
Hope your Easter was wonderful!
Kit
Happy Easter, sweet Kelley!
ReplyDeleteMmm lavender and citrus wafting on the sea air - is there ANYTHING better? Few, if any. I love that the bees are abundant, they are one my favorite creatures. I'm so happy about the bumper crops this year. Mmmmm!
xo Isa
Hi Kelley,
ReplyDeleteI love meyer lemons too. We live across the street from a 39 acre citrus/botanical garden. I can't tell you how glorious this smells. They infuse the whole house. Just like you said, it's like lighting candles.
~janet
I love the way you photographed the lemons. Really beautiful.
That lavender is so gorgeous! I have a meyer lemon plant in a pot on my porch and the blooms are gorgeous right now but still no lemons...I've been waiting patiently for a year. :)
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoyed the holiday weekend Kelley!
T
Kelley--Do you ever make lemon meringue pies with those meyer lemons? I have heard that they are great for that. Have you heard anything about the Citrus Psyllid bug yet? That is what they called me in early for...to trap for that bug. It seems that it might be a potential problem, therefore we are trapping to make sure it doesn't get out of hand. The end of the week I start deploying my traps in the mandarin groves. Crossing my fingers I don't find any!
ReplyDeleteUmmmm. Yuuum. The orange and lemon blossoms are blooming around here too...the whole town smells sweet! Your lavender looks beautiful!
ReplyDeleteYou're so lucky to have the bounty of the citrus and lavender there!!!
ReplyDeleteWe started a lemon and an orange tree last yr. here, so we'll see if they start growing better...I think it might be like our wildflower seeds (the 2nd yr is the best) cuz we're finally seeing flowers that were dormant last Spring. When Luke was in Malibu, he loved how the oranges at their rental home, were like "grapefruits"!
Your pics , as always , look so good....what's your secret to GREAT photos? Good lighting and WHAT camera?? Yours are always the best photos!!
have a great day,
J
I too especially love lavender and lemons. I'm still debating about the variety to use in quantity along my road. I'd love to hear about the four varieties you used. And, yes! Would love to read about your secret for fabulous photos! Maybe a post someday?
ReplyDeleteDeborah
Hi...It is interesting how citrus and lavender go hand in hand. The cross pollination process is really important. The Ojai Valley is also home to many large Hass Avocado orchards which also need specific cross pollination in order to bear fruit. As for the citrus psyllid problem, we have yet to see it arrive here. The California Dept. of Agriculture baited our trees last spring but haven't yet this year.
ReplyDeleteAs for pie...oh boy does that sound good. I will need to find a good recipe. Most of the time we just squeeze a Meyer into a glass of iced tea. No sugar required!
I promise to do a little post about photography at some point. I just really enjoy taking pictures of things. I prefer nature to portraits. I think using a camera with some decent lenses is pretty important. I actually use 3...more on that later.
Thank you so much for the fun comments, it's so nice!!!! kelley
Just seeing the word lavender was inviting enough. Here I am, wishing my garden was under way. Still winter here. We'll get there, and pretty soon I hope to have the bees swarming around, along with a zillion hummingbirds. cheers, -s
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Santa Barbara and our family took weekend drives up to Ojai..this was in the 60's and the little town was not nearly as "cool" as it is these days.I often wish my husband and I had moved up there from S.B. instead of Auburn, Ca. We have crazy extremes of weather up here and I long to live near the beach again! I am so jealous of your meyers lemons!!!My lavender does well, but ohhhh, to smell the citrus blossoms of my youth! Love your blog.......
ReplyDelete