Hello,
These are the lazy lavender days of summer. That’s me in a field of lavender on the Summer Solstice. The event at Woodinville Lavender, a fundraiser for the King County Library System, brought Flora Forager and me together to talk about paying attention to the natural world, creating art, and making books. “Magic” and “the transference of energy” was afoot on this midsummer’s night.
Here at home, it’s time to harvest the English lavender. I’ll create bundles to share and an especially buxom sheaf for my office to replace last year’s crop.
Lavender is potent. Too much for some. Never enough for others. All parts of the plant, not just the blooms, are infused with volatile oils, a redolent floral mix tempered with camphor and flint. A popular aromatherapy oil, lavender relieves stress, promotes sound sleep, and can even be used as an adjunct treatment for alleviating depression and anxiety.
— from my book, Color In and Out of the Garden
You can never have too much of that calming vibe in a workspace. I’m even more excited for this summer’s Cultivating Flavor personal project which includes plans for drying homegrown herbes de Provence so I can have a whiff of midsummer in the depths of winter. I’m so glad you’re here.
xo Lorene
In the Store
Six watercolor collages to colorize your phone’s lock screen. Each little chiclet of color is from one of my color studies. This is a digital download containing a zip file with separate images, red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet. Now you can carry the rainbow with you.
Enter the code: RAINBOW at checkout and you’ll get them for free!
Recent writing: Gardening with the Boys of Summer on Garden Rant. For years I’ve been mulling this essay about the “exquisite redundancy” of sportswriters and garden writers, both of whom tell the same story over and over, and over and over. I’m so glad I finally put this out into the world. My beloveds are true baseball fans. I am not. I am a fan of fans.
Recent reading: Technically, I haven’t cracked the cover, but I can’t wait to dive into Book of Earth, A Guide to Ochre, Pigment, and Raw Color by Heidi Gustafson. “Through our use of ochre and paint, not only do we draw and others and other places … but we can enable a part of our memory to live outside ourselves.” (pg. 27)
Upcoming Event: Workshop: Seeing Color in the Garden, a hands-on color workshop with Lorene Edwards Forkner at Fleurs Creative Studio, Saturday, August 12, 10 am to noon. Space is limited, reserve your spot today.
Hopefully you opened my recent email about the perks of sharing this newsletter with anyone you think might enjoy it and earn free access to benefits enjoyed by paid subscribers. Details here. Many thanks!
Color my World
June 28, 2023
Golden feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium). Plant medicine, pollinator friendly, garden workhorse, is a constant companion as it seeds and moves about the garden.
Now that I think about it, I wonder how it would behave if I moved plants into a bed that got care (& water) instead of the badlands of the untended front garden? Well, not so much untended as independent.
June 29, 2023
Blue tweedia is just that — truest blue. A celestial color that looks like a piece of the summer sky has fallen to earth. Or maybe a porcelain sculpture in a museum.
I picked this stem (right) earlier in the week when I was reveling with flower farmers and floral designers at the Slow Flowers Summit, but I couldn’t make this color study until today. The colors are a bit faded but at least I have this tender memory of a very special week.
June 30, 2023
It’s not for everyone but this plant color palette never ceases to delight me. Spuria iris from Jello Mold Farm provide a healthy helping of wonder (for me). Again, I know muddy and murky isn’t for everyone.
The above left bloom is regal, but that one on the left is what’s really got my heart beating!! Thank you to my dear friend Debra Prinzing for always scouting brown flowers for me🤎 and to Seattle Wholesale Growers Market for offering beautiful, local and sustainable blooms. Hot tip: You don’t have to be a pro, the market has public hours as well.
July 1, 2023
Sometimes I just want to color loudly!
Fuchsia speciosa is new to my garden. You can’t miss the almost fluorescent lipstick tubes with a coral corolla. The plant will eventually grow to around 3 by 3 feet, becoming a beacon to hummingbirds that (a very flashy) dinner is served. Felted lime leaves with peach accents provide a soft landing for this boisterous bloom. Hardy to 10* F.
July 2, 2023
Another color that thinks it’s a plant. Or is it a plant that thinks it’s a color? Contemplate this riddle as you lie on a soft blanket on a hot sunny day in a field of aromatic lavender, accompanied by a chorus of contented bees. Our association of this familiar Mediterranean herb with relaxation is so strong that just reading that sentence, you probably felt your shoulders relax and your brow begin to soften.
From my book, COLOR IN AND OUT OF THE GARDEN
July 3, 2023
Heavenly blue blooms that look like shooting stars and contented bumblebees hover above a gangly tangle of bristly stems and leaves. The borage is blooming.
July 4, 2023
This is about as close to fireworks as I’ll get this year—or any honestly. I love the sparkles but loud booms rattle me. I don’t need any further rattling. NO rattling!
With temperatures rising, the garden is thirsty and so am I. Ordinarily, watering is one of my least favorite garden chores. Hoses and I do not get along—don’t even get me started on matching diameter to spigots: This week’s nightmare.
This year, and with a complicated relationship with my back, time at the end of a hose is one way I can stay connected to my beds and borders.
Love in a mist (Nigella damascena). Seed pods like these remind me that there’s always next year.
One more thing… even though this newsletter is dragging on like “bonus panels” in a baseball game.
something sweet
Lavender Honey
Capture the flavor and scent of a Mediterranean summer and hold on to it for the coming cold months with this quick and easy lavender-and-honey infusion.
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