Product Description

Gorgeously fragrant, invigorating, and rich with healing properties, lavender has been cultivated from the beginning of recorded civilization. THE LAVENDER GARDEN is a beautiful guide to planting and using this versatile herb. Garden expert Robert Kourik profiles 16 of his favorites and provides recipes and directions for using lavender in desserts, teas, bath oils, decorations, and more. 30 color photos.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #155654 in Books
• Published on: 1998-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 120 pages

Amazon.com Review
If you consider yourself a lavender lover--that is to say, if you are mesmerized by the plant's delicious aroma, enchanted by its long, rich history, and passionate about its medicinal uses, The Lavender Garden is for you. This lovely book offers instructions on growing, maintaining, harvesting, and drying the plant. Author Robert Kourik includes a comprehensive profile of each variety including history, cultivation, bloom period, flower and foliage shapes, and landscape and culinary use--information that's most useful in determining which of the 16 varieties are right for one's garden. Each entry also contains suggestions on companion plantings that achieve the most aesthetic effect.

The sections on craft projects and culinary uses are outstanding. Kourik offers simple instructions on making oils, potpourri, perfume, and pillows, and the ins and outs of cooking with lavender. Twelve recipes and a list of display gardens and seed sources round out the back of the book. If you are looking to grow your knowledge about varieties of lavender, or would like to foster a friend's interest, The Lavender Garden is sure to delight. --Karen Karleski

Review
"Lavender is hot-that's what friends in northern California have been telling me. A year ago, you aspired to a personal olive grove and your own first virgin cold press. But now those in the know are planting fields of lavender You'll be doing it, too, my sources assured me. Not me, I thought, smug with Yankee conservatism. Then I visited Sonoma County...

Kourik has been growing lavender in 12 species and dozens of horticultural strains for more than 20 years, and he notes that some form of this herb will grow any place in North America where winter temperatures don't drop below oF (north of that, Kourik recommends it as a pot plant). Still, as a group, lavenders struck me as the ultimate Californian plants: elegant, sensual, and almost effortless.' -- Conde Nast House and Garden

About the Author
Robert Kourik has written articles that have appeared in Garden Design, Fine Gardening, Country Life, and elsewhere. His books include Designing and Maintaining Your Edible Landscape Naturally. He lives in Northern California. Read our interview with Robert.

Deborah Jones has won an International Association of Culinary Professionals award for her photography. Her images appear in many cookbooks, including Michael Chiarello's Casual Cooking (0-8118-3383-6), A Perfect Glass of Wine (0-8118-1295-2), and the Vege

Customer Reviews

Lavender 101
Lavender is a mysteriously elusive plant that encompasses many different facets of enjoyment. Botanists talk of color and leaf shape and ignore fragrance. Perfumists sniff the air for the sweetest smell. Landscapers push for the toughest or the smallest or the largest. And, gardeners want them all. The Lavender Garden sorts through some of the most asked questions and makes the task of choice a bit easier. Brief sections on choosing the right lavender, planting the lavender, pruning the lavenders, and using the lavenders provide just the right amount of information for the novice grower.   Particularly useful are the tips garnered from folks who work with the plants. The craft and recipe section is enjoyable and answers those pesky questions, like when to cut and how to dry and what is a lavender wand.  There are few points we couldn't embrace, like putting sand or gravel in the soil and using chemical fertilizer. But, overall the information is helpful in choosing the right plants for the right place and use.  It is Lavender 101 and a great starting point for those just discovering lavender.

Tons of information and fascinating facts
I purchased this book to determine which variety of lavender would be best for a new garden I was planning. Not only did it address my technical questions regarding each of the varieties, but it also unfolded this plant's fascinating history, diverse uses (including old European recipes for lavender flavored foods) and a has directory of lavender farms. Learning about the many varieties of lavender and their growing requirements is just the beginning of what this terrific book will reveal to you.

A lovely book sure to make you fall in love with lavender...
Mr. Kourik has provided thorough detail on all aspects of lavender - history, uses, species, cultivation and even recipes - in one gorgeous all-inclusive book. Beautiful photographs. Truly a pleasure to own.

Heather Neill | The Scentual Body