My mother has always loved lavender products, but I never cared for the scent as a girl. Now that I'm older and appreciate flowers more, I have also come to love the soapy, somewhat pungent smell of fresh lavender in many forms. When we were in Blanco this past weekend, the home of
Hill Country Lavender, I purchased a small pot of lavender to bring home. Since this is the season for it to bloom, I'm hoping
my little plant will do well. I also brought home some lavender soaps in different scents, and I love putting them around my bedroom, in my dresser, and in the closet to lightly scent my clothing. My mom taught me that trick, too. And, of course, there's nothing better than the scent of lavender soap in the bathroom, which lasts long after your shower has ended. Hill Country Lavender's festival is coming up in just a few short weeks if you'd like to buy some of your own.
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| My little lavender plant in a recycled pot from James' school. |
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| Lovely lavender soaps. |
I've been tending
my plumbago plants for a while now and am so pleased at how quickly they've grown. Though they come in several colors, I purchased the blue variety, and I like to think of them as a sort of poor man's hydrangea. They are inexpensive, easy to care for, grow quickly, love the Texas heat, and offer such a pretty pop of color in the backyard. So much easier than hydrangeas, which are gorgeous, but have to be carefully tended to produce flowering plants.
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| Plumbago in bloom. |
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| I'm trying to get it to climb the fence, which it can be trained to do. |
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| Reminiscent of hydrangeas. |
And now that summer is unofficially here, with temperatures reaching the mid-90s in the afternoons, I'm using my trusty clothesline to dry laundry again. I love seeing clothing drying on the line, and in the middle of summer, wet towels will literally dry within minutes, so there's no need to turn on the dryer at all.
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| My placemats look so pretty alongside the geraniums and begonia. |
