When I am king, dilly, dilly, you shall be queen
Who told you so, dilly, dilly, who told you so?
‘Twas my own heart, dilly, dilly that told me so…
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Remember the beautiful song that Cinderella sang in the attic? At that time, I thought of lavender as such a secretive plant, concealing many different magical powers. Imagine standing on a hill, looking out at flowers and bushes imprinted against a light blue cloudless sky. It is like standing in a painting, only better.
July 12th, the day to visit lavender finally came. The sky was clear and the sun shone brightly as we drove towards the lavender farm in Prince Edward County. From block to block, the scene changed from skyscrapers to small towns and then to farms. Soon, the violet-colored flowers started popping up: in trail openings, on the side of the road, near fenced areas that belong only to the wild. Even with a gentle breeze the small flowers shook violently, as if saying hello to everyone around. Some small but cozy-looking houses were also built, a great place due to the vast farmlands, beautiful skies, and friendly environment. Soon, we drove into a small parking area. The sign said, “Prince Edward County.”
As soon I stepped out of the car, I smelled the fresh scent of the lavender, heard the bangs of hammers removing tents from the lavender festival held a week ago, and saw rows of lavender planted with surrounding trees. There are many different kinds of lavenders, and at the Prince Edward County, I saw violet colored and white colored ones. They have such small petals that stick out of a short, thin stem. A white lavender store also stood nearby, with customers going in and out. Outside the store, lavender was growing in pots neatly placed in rows for sale. Inside the store, shelves were piled high with lavender soap bars, lavender shampoos, lavender face washes, lavender perfumes, and lots more. Lavender paintings were hung on walls, and furniture stood on tables. As a summer treat, lavender ice cream, or as they called it, lavender gelato, and lavender soda all stayed cold in their fridges. I would also mention delicious lavender pastry – they went well with the ice cream. I never thought lavender could be used to make so many things!
When we lined up at the cashier, two volunteers, a boy and a girl, caught my eyes. The boy was wearing a light blue shirt, explaining and selling products from shelves to the people, with incredible knowledge and maturity. He seemed like quite an interesting boy. I had a strong interest to interview the boy and he didn’t disappoint me. Owen Tyurs, surprisingly, is the same age as me. We found a quiet corner in the store, and began the interview.
“I’ve been volunteering here for the last 4 years,” he said. “I live right down the road, and I just got the feeling of coming down here.”
“A good time to come is in August, because the lavenders start blooming better, but you only have a couple days, maybe only a week to admire them.” The oldest lavenders in Prince Edward County are only about seven years old, the same age as the farm itself. The frost in May also slows down the growth of lavenders. Therefore, these flowers aren’t the tallest yet.
Lavenders create a variety of foods. “You’ll see bees flying around the field, and they take the lavender pieces back to the hive. The beekeepers empty the bee hive every few weeks, and extract lavender honey.” Owen enjoys lavender foods too, especially lemon lavender cookies.
We also bought a lavender plant, and Owen gave us a card with tips for planting lavender. Avoid planting it under pine trees, for example, and only water it when the plant is showing water stress (drooping leaves). There are 11 kinds of lavenders growing at the Prince Edward County: Hidcote, Melissa, Common, Grosso, Hidcote purple, Musntead, Krajova, Rosea, Mailette, Folgate, and Provence. We bought the Mailette kind, which was developed in France and will grow to be 90 cm. These small violet flowers can be used to produce medical treatments, smells, foods, lavender oil, and bug repellant. One of the well-known functions is that they help you to have a good and tight sleep.
At the end of the interview, Owen brought me outside of the store, to a lavender field. He explained that you can eat lavender raw, which surprisingly tasted pretty good. He picked off a stem, and as a gift, gave it to me. Basically, the taste in the ice cream, lemon lavender cookies, and soda all came from here. I was so thankful for Owen’s wonderful gift.
The sun started to sink down below the canopy of the woods as we left. We drove along the contours of the countryside until we reached our modern city, Mississauga. On the way, I munched on lavender lemon cookies – yum! The exquisite taste entered my mouth, and my sweaty body immediately cooled down. Lavenders are the star of summer treats! Meanwhile, I wondered what Owen’s life would be. It was then that I realized how different his life is. He helps the farm and store every so often as a summer job. He is so close to the mother nature. There’s a lot he has learned that we could never learn from a book.
With a lavender plant in our garden, I won’t have to go to a farm every time I want to admire lavenders, but I still desire returning – next time during the festival. Let’s think of lavenders as a blue symbol of summer!
