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I'd like to make some Lavender bags but have no idea when I should be picking the lavendar heads / how to dry them etc?

Has anyone made them before and can give me some advice?

Cheers

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Shortie

"There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children; one of these is roots, the other wings" - Hodding Carter

Pick the flower heads when they are looking gorgeous and smelling even more wonderful. Keep them on their stalks and tie in bunches of about ten stems and hang upside down in a warm, dry, dark, well-ventilated place. Airing cupboard, warm loft or outhouse is great. Ideal drying conditions are 32 degrees C for the first 24 hours, then 24-26C thereafter. Allow to dry fully - anything from one to three weeks. Once fully dried, remove flowers and place in bags (I think you need quite a close weave fabric or they poke through)

Hope that helps. Drying advice from The Complete Book of Herbs by Lesley Bremness.

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Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

OOo thanks Shirl! I'll be re-using clothing fabrics that will be close weave so that should be fine

What a fab description! That made me smile

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Shortie

"There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children; one of these is roots, the other wings" - Hodding Carter

You wouldn't guess I like lavender then?

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Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

great, i was wondering what to do with mine,its lovely at the moment,so guess what? thanks for the idea.

I just wish rosemary was as easy! Lavendar helps you sleep (well it works for me) but rosemary helps you relax without making you sleepy.

Same instructions for drying rosemary Hilary B - tie with string in small bunches.

__________________
Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

Yeah, but it doesn't work the same way because it grows different.......
To avoid stalky bits on lavendar you to rub the flowers off the stalks and put just the flowers in the bags. Can't do that with rosemary.....

Ah, sorry, see what you mean now. What about if you crushed it up with mortar and pestle and mixed it with barley or something as a 'carrier'?

__________________
Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

Worth a try......

i always wondered about people working lavender feilds they wouldnt get the job finished as they would fall asleep me and my son love lavender *reminds him of his great granma bless him * we made pretty but simple bags 2 heart shapes edged using pinking shears to prevent too much fraying stitched round cm in with small hole in the top to fill with lavender then hand stiched at the top and a little bow or one of little predone roses you can buy and an matching colour hanging ribbon on the top so you can hang them anywhere. Pretty thin cotton or oganza even silk, i normaly hunt round charity shops and cut up old dresses etc

Argh! While pegging out my washing this morning I saw my lavendar has flowered. Is it too late to use it now?

__________________
Shortie

"There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children; one of these is roots, the other wings" - Hodding Carter

Tis the flowers you need Shortie. The lovely little bits of purple are what you are seeking to put in the bags. Pick with about 4-6 inches of stalk so you can tie the stalks to hang them for drying.

http://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com...rahflowers.jpg

If you have french lavender which looks like this...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...der_flower.jpg

I am unsure whether the flowers would separate to look like this...

http://herb-magic.com/lavender.jpg

after drying.

Hope that helps a bit

__________________
Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

Thanks Shirl. I always thought it was the unopened flowers that were used, lol. Thank goodness!

I was going to use my lavendar that looks like the top link

__________________
Shortie

"There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children; one of these is roots, the other wings" - Hodding Carter

can you not dry it in the microwave? i've dried other leaves and stuff out that way?

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sometimes i do talk complete and utter rubbish ...... just ignore me if i do ........i'll go away eventually

http://teachy.myminicity.com

I wouldn't risk it with FLOWERS. Might lose too much of the perfume.....

If you've got lavender that hasn't fully opened, you can make lavender 'bottles'. Cut pliable stems and tie under the flowers with a (long) narrow ribbon. Bend the stems back over the flowers and then weave the ribbon in and out of the stems, tying it off at the bottom. Doesn't work so well if the flowers are fully out. Makes a lovely present.

Sounds almost like a 'corn dolly' idea........Might try something of the sort if I can scrounge enough lavendar.....

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Flowers come in too many colours to see the world in black-and-white.

I tried this last weekend - I picked some with my daughter and she managed to get half of it wet. It made a great smell in the kitchen, but as I'd expected (and someone else has suggested) it lost some of the fragrance.

Picked some more today - love it.

After we did a bit of research (Culpepper's Herbal, aromatherapy guides) we found it's actually supposed to be more of a stimulant than a somniferous sleepy smell, though I do find it very calming and my daughter has been sewing little pouches to pop in her pillow. (Ah - bless, just become a teenager and still no crack habit ; )

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http://www.greenlung.blogspot.com
http://www.myspace.com/rolandfrompoland

For some strange reason the smell of lavender makes me feel queezy- ie can't stand the stuff to smell- but I think it looks fantastic!

I've grown quite a lot of thyme this year and it's in full flower at the moment so I've done the little bunches thing (as you've suggested) with those to see how they turn out!