Sequim Lavender Festival is a celebration of the senses

Before I head over to Sequim, a.k.a. "The Lavender Capital of North America," for the annual festival, I'm hoping for answers as to why so many lavenders died last winter. Surely these hardy Mediterranean plants have survived similarly cold winters?

Carmen Ragsdale of Sunshine Herb and Lavender Farm tells me that most of the dead lavender we see around town are Spanish lavender (L. stoechas). It's just a little more tender than the rest of the 55 varieties they sell, which are hardy in zones 5 to 8 (which includes Western Washington).

And Carmen knows her lavender. She and her husband, Steve, grow more than 8,000 lavenders on their 10-acre farm (one of eight open for the festival). This year they've added 500 plants of L. 'Mailette,' an early- and late-bloomer with dark purple flowers so fragrant and rich in oil that they extract it for perfume.

But I'm not to be diverted by such heady distractions; didn't other kinds of lavender die, too?

"It wasn't the cold but the weight of the snow," explains Carmen. It melted, turned to ice, then cracked off limbs. And all that melting snow drowned plants without good drainage.

So how to protect hardy lavenders from such nasty weather? Carmen suggests amending soil with pea gravel or sand, and it doesn't hurt to mound the soil a bit, too, for better drainage. Lavenders are not deeply rooted, so a little mounding goes a long way. And always prune off old flower stalks in autumn, because water can run down through them into the plant and rot it over the winter.

"Most people don't prune enough," says Carmen. Turns out lavender responds like roses, growing bushier and more floriferous when pruned hard. Prune back two-thirds of the foliage in early October before danger of frost. If you miss that window, then prune in early spring after the hard frosts. Just be sure to cut off the spent flower wands in autumn, and prune the bushes hard enough to promote new growth. At Sunshine Farm it takes two people with power edgers two weeks to prune the 8,000 lavenders.

Carmen became fascinated with lavender 18 years ago when she began testing different varieties in creams and lotions. "Lavender's been used for healing, for the skin, to help aging for centuries," says Carmen. "Cleopatra used it."

Her favorite kinds are culinary, like 'Royal Velvet,' 'Munstead,' 'Melissa' and 'Provence.' These are all great landscape plants that are especially sweet and fragrant.

How do you tell which kinds are most flavorful? "Taste the bud," advises Carmen, who adds lavender to ice cream, teas, baked goods, barbecue sauce and salad dressing. All these products, plus lavender varieties galore, will be on display and for sale at the 13th Annual Sequim Lavender Festival July 17-19. See www.lavenderfestival.com or call 877-681-3035.

Valerie Easton is a Seattle freelance writer. Check out her blog at www.valeaston.com.