 Homamde lavender, chamomile, and lemon potpourri. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022. Nothing speaks to being calm and relaxed like the aromatic floral scent of lavender. Retail stores are filled with essential oils, incense, candles, and potpourri with the lavender scent.  Image by googlerankfaster from Pixabay. As an amateur gardener who has been growing a few select herbs for several years now, lavender has been one of those plants I’ve been chomping at the bit to get my hands on, and this year was finally the year I succeeded! I have my dad to thank for that…He gifted me a couple of plants for my deck, one of them being a small lavender plant that had yet to develop blooms. There was no label with identification of the specific plant type and care instructions, so I had to guess the exact type of lavender, but--now that small blooms are appearing--I’m pretty sure the plant is of the French or Spanish variety.  Lavender bloom from my potted plant. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022. I’ll never understand why these garden stores don’t label the plants to let you know what plant you are buying! That information is crucial so you know how to care for your new plant, right? And here’s why it’s important: When it comes to growing lavender, there are many varieties from which to choose. I was astonished at just how many varieties of this purple beauty exist! Some lavender varieties thrive in drier climates, and some can tolerate colder temperatures over the winter months. So, it is critical to understand exactly which variety you are growing so you can enjoy your lavender and get the most use from it.  Image by Sabrina Wisian from Pixabay.  Image by gianniarmano from Adobe Stock. In addition to the French lavender plant my dad bought me, I have also decided to experiment and grow some Munstead English lavender from seed. The tiny plant is growing very slowly, but it is growing! It’s still tiny-- and probably won’t be of much use to me this year--but this plant (along with the other lavender plant) is sitting on my front porch just soaking up all of that warm southern sun, which lavender loves.  Munstead English lavender seedling in a pot on my porch. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022. There are a couple of concerns with the climate in my area and whether or not it will be suitable for allowing these plants to thrive. The first concern is the high humidity in the summer months, and the second is the cold temperatures in the winter. I’ve decided to keep both lavender plants in pots so that they can either be moved to different spots or be brought indoors where I can better monitor their needs. Lavender does not require a lot of water, as it thrives in drier Mediterranean climates, so be careful not to overwater! That’s an issue for my lavender plants right now. The summer weather in my area has become humid and rainy, so I now have to decide to relocate my pots to a better-suited area or bring them inside. How to harvest and store At any rate, I am super excited to see how these two distinctly different lavender plants grow, and I’m on a mission to learn how to use clippings for scenting my home with potpourris and oils. My goal: learn as much as possible about growing, harvesting, storing, and ultimately using these aromatic herbs. I’ve been spending a lot of time researching, and below are a few tips I’ve uncovered…  Image by ExQuisine from Adobe Stock. Harvest below the flower, where the stem meets at the junction of another stem. Harvest lavender in early spring or summer or early in the bloom when the buds are just opening so you can get another crop later. The more you harvest or deadhead (remove old flower blossoms), the more new growth is encouraged. If you leave the flowers too long, they may lose their potency and therapeutic benefits, so keep that in mind when harvesting for these purposes. Always harvest in the morning to minimize the stress on the plant and preserve any oils in the blooms. You can prune up to a third of the plant to promote future growth (especially in the fall). If you prune heavily in early spring, you’ll get a lot of new growth during the spring and summer. You can prune in the fall to shape the plant for the next season. Prune only the top 1/3 of the plant, right above the woody growth, and only when the plant becomes too woody. Seeds from the lavender plant can be gathered by hanging stalks upside down with a bag underneath. Store clippings in a dry place and let hang dry for at least a week. Make the bundles small to reduce the chances of mold developing from trapped moisture. My quick and easy lavender chamomile citrus potpourri Now that I have my long-coveted lavender plants, I’ve been itching to create a potpourri mix using lavender clippings, so I looked around the internet for ideas. Many of the summer recipes I found included lavender, rosemary, chamomile, and some citrus scent, and they all sound so lovely! Many of these recipes also include essential oils, and I just so happen to have recently bought a box with several different scents that I would like to use in my home. So today, I decided to take this opportunity to create a dry potpourri using my homegrown chamomile and lavender, some slices of lemon, lemongrass essential oil, and lavender essential oil. This DIY project's goal was to create a quick potpourri that I could put out on a table to scent my living room for a few days, maybe a week. So here’s the recipe I tried… Lavender & chamomile potpourri fresh lavender clippings fresh chamomile clippings 2 small lemons, sliced thinly 3 or 4 drops lemon grass essential oil 3 or 4 drops lavender essential oil a decorative bowl The first things you’ll need are the lavender and chamomile stems. I went out to my yard and clipped chamomile flowers with stalks, choosing the ones where the flowers were open but not drooping. Next, I headed to my lavender plant and cut several stems with the blooms. You don’t necessarily need the lavender flower because the leaves are very fragrant, but I wanted to add some visual interest to my potpourri mix, so I cut the blooms as well. And it’s worth noting that French or Spanish lavender is perfect for use in potpourri.  Chamomile growing in my garden. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.  Lavender clippings from my plant, keeping fresh in a glass vase of water. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022. The next step is to cut a couple of small lemons into thin slices. It is essential to keep the slices thin so they don’t take as long to dry out. To dry out my fresh lavender, chamomile, and lemon slices, I spread everything out on a baking pan and place it in the oven at 200˚ F for at least a couple of hours or until all the moisture is gone from the flowers and lemon slices.  Lemon slices and lavender clippings on a tray, waiting to be put in the oven for drying. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.  Dried chamomile, lavender, and lemon slices on a tray. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022. At this point, you can decide what essential oils you want to use to enhance the fragrance. The reason I used essential oil is that--while the lavender, chamomile, and lemon are fragrant--the mixture isn’t potent enough to scent the room on its own. Essential oils infuse the dried flowers with a strong scent that lasts longer. For my mixture, I wanted to use essential oils that enhanced the citrus and lavender aroma, so I chose to use a few drops each of lemongrass and lavender…and it smelled AMAZING!  Newly purchased box of essential oils. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.  White ceramic vase filled with potpourri herbs and lemon slices. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022. The only step left is to find a decorative bowl to put the potpourri in and a nice spot in your home where you would like to smell your new potpourri. I didn’t have a nice bowl, so I went to my nearest Hobby Lobby and bought this beautiful green ceramic bowl that perfectly fits my decor! It ended up being just perfect for my potpourri mix.  My freshly dried herbs and lemon in a newly purchased decorative bowl. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022. Just a word of caution…If you have cats like I do (and this probably also goes for dogs), be aware that some essential oils and herbs can be toxic and even fatal if ingested. My cats don’t bother my plants or potpourri, but I am careful because lavender and chamomile are toxic to cats, and essential oils are toxic to pets. So please use these things with caution! So, I hope you found this article interesting and maybe learned something from it as I did, and I’d love to hear from you in the comments about your tips for growing lavender or potpourri recipes you love. And if you enjoyed this article or my blog, please share so we can expand and grow this community! Related blogs you may want to read: Tips for harvesting chamomile for homemade tea Learning how to harvest and use fresh mint from the garden How to care for 11 common herb seedlings Tips for planting seeds indoors Six herbs I planted indoors It’s planting season again Growing tomatoes and cucumbers for my garden How to repot a pothos plant How to propagate bromeliad pups Small houseplants that love bathroom humidity Sources: https://www.gardenloversclub.com/edible/herbs/lavender/types-of-lavender/ https://www.proflowers.com/blog/types-of-lavender https://www.gardeningchores.com/types-of-lavender/ https://homesteadandchill.com/how-to-harvest-dry-lavender/ https://preparednessmama.com/lavender-harvest/ https://bytherfarm.com/homemade-potpourri/ https://afternoonteareads.com/make-homemade-potpourri/ https://nwmaids.com/how-to-make-potpourri-2-methods-1-aromatic-result/ Affiliate Disclosure Some of the posts in this article contain affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. I will only recommend products or services I use personally and/or believe will add value to my readers, so there is no conflict of interest.
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