Lavender for Luck!!!

“There are some things I know for certain: always throw spilled salt over your left shoulder; keep rosemary by your garden gate; plant lavender for luck; and fall in love whenever you can.” -Sally Owens- Practical Magic

One of my favorite movies of all time, Practical Magic gives this Magical and life advice that may or may not be originally from Shakespeare.   

Lavender for luck outside my 

front door!  It is freshly planted but it will fill in the pot by mid-summer.

I know that Rosemary is for remembrance - it really has been proven to be a memory booster among other things -but I have always wondered why plant Lavender by the door for luck?  Maybe so that as you pass through, a bit of the luck will waft up and dispel the negative that might try to follow?  Lavender has been used for that purpose.  Dispel negativity.  I haven't been able to find a really good answer for the question even in the Magical realm, but Lavender is also known for calming nerves, quieting the mind, allowing for good sleep and also for being a disinfectant when used in cleaning products (also it smells heavenly)!  If I had to choose just two plants that I could keep through the winter, in ideal conditions these two would be my two - Rosemary and Lavender.




However...and luckily, I have not been made to choose just two and  I don't have ideal conditions either inside the house or outside to grow Lavender - Rosemary I can do  indoors all year but I have tried Lavender six ways to Sunday and it just doesn't thrive.  But, Oh, these summer months when we can have it like that special treat that only comes once in a while - that is what fresh Lavender is to Alaska.

Photo Right - two Rosemary plants that live in the house almost year round - I sometimes put them out for a bit in the warm of summer - usually Mid-June and let them soak it up for a few days at a time.

I do have one tough little Lavender plant that has lived through 6 winters now outside, and it is coming out slowly but surely, but I will never have that majestic, magical, purple field of wonderful that is "as seen on TV" so to speak!  It is extraordinary to harvest a bit of that magic each summer and know that it grew due to my magic!

This week we have been working on getting planters and containers planted, and getting things spruced up since it has finally warmed up a bit here.  We spent last week hardening off the plants that were to go outside, and culling out those that weren't going to make it.  One of our projects, other than the Lavender for luck outside MY door was to get a little bit of beauty outside Reed and Riley's door!  Including Lavender for luck!

Because they live in a bit of an industrial area, making room for gardening for now is limited to containers of various sizes and shapes, and making use of some of the bounty of friends and family that have been shared!  These have some Asters, Alyssum, Dianthus, and Lavender, as well as a flower that I have not been able to identify so I can remember the name (in the top pot in the back).  Im sure it will come to me in the middle of the night through my Lavender dreams, at which time I'll write something unintelligible on my bedside notebook and still won't know the name of the plant in the morning!

But when they pass through their door, maybe a little luck will rub off, and they will definitely have wonderful summer smells to calm, fortify, and bless them as they go about their day!

May you have Lavender for luck, Rosemary for remembrance, and all the Love that you need!

Blessed be!