Have to confess it's not a favourite plant of mine Maggie, but I did enjoy your take on it. Loved the opening illustration again, is that another of your many talents? :-)

I've decided that making lav bottles is a double-therapy. Not only is it actual 'basket weaving'(!) but working the stems releases a stong dose of the oils to provide a relaxing aromatherpy too Its a great thing to do just before bed time - a natural sleeping 'pill' kinda thing. You know, I've had one lav bottle about 15 years and it is still as strongly scented as the latest crop. Same thing for a linen bag of dried flowers that I've kept in the jamie draw for 20 years now.

Enjoyed your lavender article. Having unsuccessfully tried for years to grow lavender, this year I put it in pots, and it seems to be doing rather well. If at first you don't succeed....blah, blah, blah....

Putting the 4" babies in larger pots works for me too Caro, because I tend to keep them watered better than I would in the beds - and a wet root zone is so crucial to their early developement. It's along that line of "rain during their growing season". Then the infants become drought tolerant after sinking deep mature roots in the bedding dirt.