Provence Lavender – The Guru Guide
Everything you need to know about Provence Lavender
When to visit?
Provence Lavender is in full bloom between June and early August. The colour peaks earliest at lower altitudes – late June in the Luberon, early August on the Plateau de Valensole.
Beware impostors
The purest form of Lavender is lavande fin which only grows at over 2,000 feet. Most fields of lavender are actually Lavandin a hybrid plant, bred to be more hardy and heat resistant.
Always ask a market trader selling lavender products where he sources his goods, the Chinese produce lavender at a much cheaper price than their Provencal counterparts.
Uses of Provence lavender
Modern medicine might as well give up, because according to Provencal folklore lavender essence can be used to 
cure almost any ailment from arthritis to whooping cough.
Children’s hair invested with headlice? Then a dab of lavender essence will quickly drive them away. Scorpions in the house? Then line the windowsills with essential lavender oil.
And of course a little sachet of dried lavender will keep your clothes smelling nice and drive away the moths
Food
Entire menus are composed around lavender, but the plant is at its best when infused into ice cream or made as nature intended into honey by the hundreds of thousands of bees that make the fields audibly buzz when lavender is in flower.
Want to find out more?
Visit the Lavender museum in Coustellet or watch the video below
Thanks for this! A lot of people don’t understand that lavender only blooms for such a short time. I have a feeling that I’m going to get lots of requests for photo shoots in the lavender fields during July. It’s going to be busy!