Photographing the Garden | Lavender Harvest and Garden Disappointments | 2025.6.1
June has arrived in the blink of an eye, and
today, having my first day off in a while, I harvested lavender flower spikes, made bouquets, and sent them to my loved ones.
they somehow end up looking like I don't know what.
The six Grosso lavender plants I planted have all grown into large bushes, and they have started to produce many flower spikes.
Grosso is highly resistant to heat, has a strong fragrance, and the leaves naturally grow into big, bushy, ball-like shapes. I really like it, but the disappointing part is that the flower spikes stand up in all sorts of directions.
It seems the beauty of the flower spikes just can't compete with English lavender.
So, starting this year, I've decided to harvest them early.
In any case, lavender is meant to be harvested while in bud, so I guess that's fine.
It smells so good.
I turned the harvested lavender flower spikes into mini bouquets for my family, friends, and relatives.
I delivered them in person to those nearby and mailed them to those far away.
Convenient services have emerged recently that allow you to send items with some thickness via mailbox delivery, which is very handy. The shipping costs are reasonable, too; it's wonderful.
After finishing the lavender work, I spread a thin layer of rice bran over the entire garden.
I'm grateful that I can get this for free at a nearby unmanned rice milling station.
Lately, I've been so happy about the roses blooming that I've only been writing about that on Note, but I've decided to write about the state of the other plants as well.
I'll try writing about the disappointing points in particular.
This one is growing up nicely.
The Wagga Wagga olive didn't bloom at all this year.
Following the advice of Nonsharan, whom I follow mutually, I've been checking for olive weevils to see if there's anything resembling sawdust at the base of the plant, but so far, there's nothing.
However, not a single flower bud formed.
I wonder why.
Since the Wagga Wagga didn't bloom, I don't expect to harvest any fruit from the Mission this year either, as it couldn't be pollinated.
I'll resign myself to this being a year for the plant to grow and continue observing it.
Next up is a disappointing point: the Buddleja.
It's not that it's in poor health, but it just keeps growing vertically forever without producing flowers, so I'm feeling a bit conflicted about it.
Flower-like buds are starting to appear, but I feel like they won't bloom for quite a while yet.
Even though it has soft branches, it grows unnecessarily tall, so I'm nervous that it might suddenly fall over.
On top of that, the tree shape isn't beautiful, and it completely hides the plants behind it... I'll prune it back heavily once the first flowers are done.
And this winter, I'll either get rid of it or move it. It's been a few years since I started building this sloped garden, and I've come to understand things like 'this is too much to handle' or 'this doesn't suit the environment'.
The next disappointing point is the Salvia nemorosa 'Caradonna'.
This depends on the individual plant, but the one that had grown into the largest clump has become sparse in the center during this year's blooming.
Normally, this is a variety where deep purple flower spikes stand up straight, but it's flopping sloppily in all directions and trying to stand up from there as best it can.
I plan to prune this back hard this year to reshape it.
There is no end to the list of disappointing points and areas for improvement, but I truly love the garden we created ourselves.
It's only been a few years, so we're still just getting started! We're having fun trying out all sorts of things.
I think gardening will become our life's work.
Since today was my first day off in a while, I spent it relaxing, drinking beer in the afternoon, and making Morioka cold noodles. Pure happiness.
After this, I'm going to go deliver some lavender to a friend.
Ah, what a wonderful day off.