Ice cream, chocolate truffles, lemonade, jewelry, dog biscuits: lavender is in more than your grandmother’s cologne these days. Apparently it enhances practically everything. 
This I’m learning from two Pacific Northwest farms, where acres of purple look like the fields of Provence in summertime.
One is Lavender Wind Farm, a few miles outside Coupeville on Whidbey Island, Washington. (Check my previous post for more on charming little Coupeville.) Sarah Richards grows some 9,000 plants of lavender in many varieties, plus rosemary and sunflowers, on her 8.75-acre farm. 
It’s part of Ebey’s Landing National Historic Reserve, a national park that covers a big swatch of Whidbey Island and encompasses farms, hiking trails, the town of Coupeville, a state park, beaches and a lake.
From Lavender Wind Farm I can see the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Vancouver Island, and the Olympic Mountains. It’s gorgeous. Visitors are welcome, so I’m happily strolling the property, admiring a labyrinth lined with lavender, a gazebo, and ponds with a trickling stream. There are flowers and vegetables, inviting benches, and every view another photo op. 
I get a peek into the drying shed and sniff the spicy air in the gift shop. Lavender massage oil, fabulous. Lavender mustard, I’m not so sure, but willing to try it. The whole place is enchanting.
The other farm is on San Juan Island, a ferry ride away. Pelindaba is a riot of organically grown purple in summer. A demonstration garden holds more than 50 varieties of lavender, you can pick your own bouquets in a cutting field, and there’s a craft workshop for making wreaths. Visitors like to bring picnics and buy lavender lemonade and cookies to go with them. Then they browse among 240 lavender products. I never imagined one plant could be used so many ways, 
handcrafted from flowers and oils. Pelindaba also has a shop in Friday Harbor, where I get to sample lavender chocolate ice cream and choose among soaps.
If you can’t get to San Juan Island, check the Pelindaba shops in Seattle or Santa Rosa, California. Lavender is definitely back in favor, and flavor. But really, it was never gone; it just needed a creative boost.
(Lavender field photo credit: M. Denis Hill)
John Parkhurst
Marilyn McFarlane
susan troccolo
[…] a nice article written about our farm and one on San Juan Island. Thank you, Marilyn! This entry was posted in […]
Hi Marilyn,
This looks wonderful. Can you tell me if the lavender was in bloom yet, or if it seems like later varieties would be in bloom in late April? Patrick and I are spending ten days or so exploring (and photographing) the Olympic Peninsula in late April and this looks like a special side trip.
I’ve really enjoyed your notes, and will take them with us on our trip.
Thanks so much!
Susie
Thanks, I’m glad you liked it! I’m eager to return for another lavender experience.
Thank you, Susie — These would be wonderful places for Patrick’s photography. Most lavenders are summer crops, but with so much variety, some may bloom earlier. I’ll check on what you will find in late April and let you know. Enjoy your trip!
As to what a visitor to Pelindaba Lavender Farm would see in late April… Our 25,000 organic lavender plants will be bright green and beginning to form flower heads which are in full bloom in the middle of summer. (To see the fields at their “peak of purpleness” mid-July is the best time to come for a visit.) There are several varieties in our Demonstration Garden that will be just starting to bloom in late April. Our Gatehouse Farm Store will be open for browsing and sampling the over 240 lavender products we handcraft on the farm. Additionally, the Visitor Center at the farm opens in May which features multi-media exhibits covering the history of the farm, lavender cultivation, processing of essential oil, and the many roles that lavender has played in cultures throughout the world. Audio Tours of the farm are also available. For more visiting details : http://www.pelindabalavender.com/the-farm/visiting-the-farm
Hello,
I work at Pelindaba Lavender farm and yes, there are some lavenders that will be in bloom in April, usually a small number of stoechas plants in the demonstration garden are already showing off their magenta flower heads that early in the season. The farm’s gift shop will also be open in April.
Andrea
Thanks, Andrea. This is useful to know; I had not realized some lavenders would bloom that early.
And here is what Sarah at Lavender Wind Farm says:
“In April you’ll see other flowers, lots of great green grass, a great view especially from the labyrinth, our weeders working overtime, and no hint of purple – that’s in the summertime.”
Thanks all,
I appreciate the info. All my lavenders are summer bloomers, so that was the reason for my question. It will be interesting to see the varieties that bloom early.
A lavender lover….Susie