Late lavender

In a patch by the pond
with driftwood surround
late lavender blooms in the sun
nurtured by hand
it’s now looking grand
with fragrance ’til summer is done

It’s watered each day
and tended with care
for it’s something with pleasure to bring
late lavender there
with beauty to share
so much as to make your heart sing

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

That lavender time again V

Permeating everywhere
heaven’s scent again
that ‘lavender time’ is here once more
bring on that sweet refrain

An afternoon spent bagging it
that heady fragrance there
as I breathe in its loveliness
a thing beyond compare

And what is totally sublime
is that throughout the year
I simply have to squeeze a bag
to rekindle summer cheer

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

[In July each year, one of my favourite pastimes is a day spent bagging the dried crop from my annual lavender harvest. Although I’ve been doing this for years, the last five (2016 through 2020) have been marked with a ‘That lavender time again’ poem, added to Jemverse on 23 July each year]

First Lavender III

We’ve not been to our allotment
Covid-19’s seen to that
But Emily our daughter
has been keeping it intact
We’re seeing lots of pictures
which she takes from time to time
and I’m pleased to say as ever
that it’s looking mighty fine

But no substitute the pictures
for actually being there
and by that we’re disappointed
as the work we’d like to share
But in spite of that of course
the allotment keeps on growing
and Emily, bless her heart
continues with the sowing

So imagine my delight
when today she brought a gift
Something from our allotment
my spirits for to lift
First lavender in its glory
fragrant, wonderful, sublime
With the promise of abundance
when it’s lavender picking time

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Lavender bagging

Bagged up all my lavender
in bunches hung above me
drying out and making
all around me smell quite lovely
A bumper crop this year
has meant a lot more bags to do
which later on as little gifts
may find their way to you

It’s really a cathartic way
to spend a summer day
bagging up the lavender
I’ve grown along the way
A day I spend least once a year
each harvest to remember
Sometimes in late August
Sometimes in September

©Jemverse

Photo – this year’s lavender crop, bagged up and ready to go – Jempics

For a smile

There are times such as these
when alone with my pen
and lavender scent in the air
I will, pensive of mind
sit here and unwind
and think of some verses to share

Life has that for me
Moments captured in time
which I can hold as a thought for a while
Yet as is my way
and my forte each day
I will write each one down for a smile

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

That lavender time again IV

I’m going to need a bigger basket
this year I think as I
harvest all my lavender
which has grown tall and high
For this year all my bushes
a bumper crop have grown
and I have much more lavender
than I have ever known

It’s fragrance it will permeate
as it does from room to room
before a day spent bagging
which will come again quite soon
July each year arrives to see
that lavender time again
repeated as the years go by
with pleasure from the grain

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Two lavenders

Bought two big lavenders in pots
two years or so ago
and whereas one has grown abundant
the other one’s been slow
Having said that, the one I planted
is the one that’s done the best
So there’s a lesson here I think
to learn and in that time invest

So now I have transplanted
the one that was pot bound
to join the other in the sunshine
planted firmly in the ground
And I guess that I am hoping
it will do the same for me
and next year come out in flowers
like the other, brilliantly

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Bumble bees and lavender

The bumble bees
love my lavender
They’re on it all the time
Drinking up the pollen
when the weather is sublime

And I’m jolly pleased
I planted them
last summer on a whim
As a bumper harvest later on
to me they now will bring

©Jemverse

Photo – Jempics

Heaven sent

Lavender is heaven sent
bringing peace and contentment
typified with fragrant scent
expressed here in this sentiment

©Jemverse

Photo – from #Jemverse on instagram, July 2018 – Jempics

That lavender time again III

3 in the annual Jemverse ‘Lavender’ series

On twenty-three seven
it seems every year
a lavender rhyme
will often appear
For it is at this time
that my harvest is due
so I’ll always have words
to share here with you

©Jemverse

Photo – from #Jemverse on instagram, July 2018 – Jempics

See also ‘That lavender time again‘ (2016) and ‘That lavender time again II‘ (2017)