On the Lavender Trails
Stop and smell the flowers at farms and festivals of the season
by Casey Hatfield-Chiotti
Photo Courtesy: Tamara Elliott
France is famous for its fragrant lavender fields, but Western residents don’t need a plane ticket to experience this summer pleasure. In Oregon, Idaho and Washington, lavender season can last from mid-June until early August, with the blooms typically peaking in July. Lavender farms offer extended hours, special activities and festivals to celebrate. Here are the best spots to pick and experience the hardest-working plant in the West.
Oregon
Photo Courtesy: Karen Grimaud
Newberg
With a climate similar to lavender’s natural environment in the Mediterranean, Newberg becomes the center of lavender festivities in the Willamette Valley each summer as the gently rolling hills surrounding the small city burst into a mass of purple blooms.
In addition to highlighting the monthlong Lavender Trail, which features 30 lavender-embracing local businesses, Newberg hosts the annual Willamette Valley Lavender Festival & Plein Air Art Show July 13-14 at the Chehalem Cultural Center. Visitors can sample a variety of distinctive lavender products, including lavender-flavored chocolates while viewing original paintings created en plein air during the weeks prior to the festival.
At Wayward Winds Lavender Farm, lavender lovers enjoy wreath-making, lavender snow cones and picking more than 100 varieties of lavender, along with the chance to explore the one-of-a-kind lavender-a-maze. The farm grows everything from culinary varieties to dainty dwarf plants and offers a wide variety of lavender products and refreshments. Chehalem Flats Farm Market, open Fridays and Saturdays is another must-stop for U-pick and fresh bouquets.
Hood River
Hood River Lavender Farms is on a mission to share the health benefits of lavender. Considered an herb, lavender is known to help with relaxation, insomnia and anxiety. Visitors enjoy the earthy aroma as they explore the farm’s organic lavender fields. Each weekend in July, Hood River Lavender Farms hosts its Lavender Daze Festival, with music, art and scoops lavender ice cream.
Southern Oregon
To celebrate lavender season, the family-run farms that make up the Southern Oregon Lavender Trail have two festivals during prime blooming season. This year, on June 21-23 and July 12-14, guests are encouraged to go on self-guided tours to explore six locations, such as a farm specializing in English lavender varieties and the Applegate River Lavender Farm, an ocean of purple set against a mountain backdrop. Those who arrive early enough may see bumblebees sleeping on lavender flowers.
Idaho
Photo Courtesy: Jill House
Northern Idaho
At the 10-acre Blooming Fields Lavender Farm in Athol, which opened for the season in May, it’s easy to enjoy a full day at the farm with its tours, tea-making workshops and U-pick experiences. Farm-made products, such as aromatherapy sprays and lavender-eucalyptus candles, provide visitors with a year-round lavender fix.
Southern Idaho
Not far from Boise, Vista Farms in Kuna is known for producing sustainably raised meats, but in June and July, visitors are engulfed in a purple haze. Guests may pick bouquets of French lavender—known for their long stems and pale purple hue. The farm also sells dried lavender bundles and lavender essential oils.
Photo Courtesy Blooming Fields Lavender
Washington
Photo Courtesy: Blue Mountain Lavender Farm
Sequim
The Sequim-Dungeness Valley has one of the highest concentrations of lavender fields in the United States, with a dozen farms dotting the verdant valley. Visitors will experience the region at its best during the annual Sequim Lavender Festival Weekend, July 19-21. Typically closed to the public, the farms welcome visitors to pick and learn about lavender. Attend a festival downtown, with art, vendors and live music at its LavenderStock.
Thurston County
The 60-mile scenic loop known as the Thurston Bountiful Byway transforms into an oasis of relaxation during lavender season. Farms grow dozens of lavender varieties, such as deep-hued Betty’s Blue and hardy Folgate. Evergreen Valley Lavender Farm, a pastoral paradise with more than 600 organic lavender plants and an iconic red barn with white trim, is open from late June through early August and is hosting a festival with vendors July 13. At Schirm Loop Homestead Lavender, visitors can stroll through rows and rows of lavender in the shadow of Mt. Rainier, and 30 miles south, Walupt Farms is known for its moisturizing lavender and elderflower oil balm.
South Puget Sound visitors find lavender without leaving downtown Olympia. Ember Goods serves a lavender latte, and the The Shiplap Shop & Coffee House’s coconut lavender lemonade is an enticing way to refresh on a hot summer day. The Olympia Farmers Market has an array of lavender goods in the summer.
Walla Walla
At Blue Mountain Lavender Farm, many wellness-based activities go beyond the typical U-pick farm (although picking lavender is typically included in a booking). Offerings include yoga with lavender field views, mindfulness sessions, wreath-making sessions and free educational talks with owner Jean-Paul Grimaud who brought a love for lavender from his home country of France more than 20 years ago.