FAQ
When is the best time to see lavender in bloom in Georgia? June for our big bloom of Lavender, but we have different varieties of lavender and each type has their own bloom time: Stoechas in mid April - May and again in late summer, English Lavenders in May and another lighter bloom in early autumn, and our big Intermedias the first part of June.
Are pets allowed on the farm? No, I'm so sorry due to liability and sanitary issues set by our insurance company and FDA guidelines we can't. We sell culinary lavender to restaurants, tea companies, and distilleries. We also have chickens on the properties which stop laying when a dog is here. The eggs they lay are given weekly to homeless families at Jeremiah's Place here in Dahlonega. We also want to respect other visitors to the farm that may be afraid of dogs and also allergic to dogs. Dog urine will also kill lavender. We do however love dogs and all animals. Thank you for understanding and being respectful.
mid you have a service dog please alert us before you arrive.
What other Flowers do you grow? We added 900+ Dahlias that begin to bloom the end of June through till autumn. The to add a great companion to lavender we grow 748 Sunflowers that bloom in June and our second bloom in Fall. And lets not forget our over 50 varieties of cut flowers so we now have flowers in bloom from Late Spring - Autumn! Always something to see!
Does it cost to visit to the farm? Its free to visit the farm during open shop hours and wonder the gardens, but the farm is only open on specific days and times: Wednesday - Friday 11-3, Saturday 10-4, and Sunday 1-4. Since our home is here we do need time to do other chores around the household and mow yard, etc. Also our insurance company will not allow visitors to come on closed hours. Thank you for understanding.
Why are you open all year and not closed after you harvest your lavender? Even when there is no lavender in bloom people want to see our other flowers in bloom, like our sunflowers and Dahlias. We also have our shop here at the farm with the Lavender Lover in mind, such as lavender lotions, bath salt, sachets, eye pillows, dried lavender bundles, e lavender essential oil, etc… We make over a hundred different lavender products.
Do you offer group tours? Yes, If you have a garden group or any large group of 10 or more we can book you a private guided tour here at the farm to let you know which varieties we grow, history, and benefits of our lavender. Please contact the shop during open hours to book your tour. Cost is 5.00 per person. Group Tours are offered during Wednesday and Thursdays only, due to our busy schedule.
Are we allowed to pick the flowers/lavender while visiting? NO. We have special days for u-pick lavender in June and sell tickets for these days in May. We want all that visit to enjoy the lavender flowers. There would not be any flowers if we allowed people to pick at any time. Also lavender is very particular as to where to pick the flower. If you pick the flower off in the wrong place it can kill the whole plant. We also have irrigation down throughout the rows and would be easy to trip over this and break the irrigation if one was up on the rows.
How does u-pick lavender work? Once May has arrived we have a better idea of when lavender will be ready to be harvested in June, we will add a link on our site for purchasing tickets. You-pick is always done in June when the lavender is at full bloom to be harvested. We do ticket sales to limit how many people are in the u-pick field at once, so it is an enjoyable time for all. Tickets usually sell out within 2 weeks and will not be available to purchase the day of u-pick harvest. Tickets can be purchased on our website or facebook page when available. There are farm employees or owners that will monitor u-picks in the field to help one pick lavender in the correct way.
How do I cook with lavender? There are many recipes online and we do have a Lavender Cookbook in our shop. Chick the link to get some recipes here. Click on the highlighted questions for some our our recipes or do a search online. There are now tons of replies with lavender today and we even sell a cookbook in our shop.
Do you allow weddings at the farm? We do not book weddings at the farm. We are not setup for reception areas. We do however welcome wedding parties for photos at the lavender fields in June with reservations. We also now have sunflowers and flower gardens here at the farm. Please contact us for fees and more information.
Can Professional Photographers take photos at the farm? Yes, we are happy to work with professional photographers in June and do require professionals to book time for taking photos. Check out our page here for more specific information or Email us for more information.You may also check our Facebook page for weekly look of the farm. Non-professional photographers are welcome to take photos during open shop hours without a fee.
Is the farm wheelchair accessible? The shop and the front yard is wheelchair accessible and fairly flat. The back yard has grass between rows and the yard slants back to the woods making it impossible for wheelchairs.
Do you have a shop? Yes, everything lavender! We make over 100 different lavender products right here at our farm for you. We also will have fresh flower bouquets from the flowers we also grow on the farm when in bloom.
What events do we have? See Events page classes and dates. We do have our next classes coming up in September.
Do deer like lavender? Mature lavender is known to teeter deer, but not young lavender plants, especially if they are hungry. The only way to keep deer out is an electric fence. Now once you have more traffic in your area they tend not to get into the lavender.r?
Do you sell lavender plants and flowers? Yes, from April through through June while available. We propagate from cuttings of our lavender plants in October and then grow over winter. None of our lavender have been hit with pesticides or fertilizers.
How to plant Lavender? Sign up for our class. Taking a class is the best way to know exactly how to grow lavender in Georgia. Our climate is not designed to grow lavender here and most people do not succeed growing lavender past the first winter. There are many reasons why. First off Lavender is a Mediterranean plant and prefers dry, sandy, rocky soil. They don't like getting their roots wet. They do not like a lot of rain or humidity. They also do not like acidic clay soils. So be sure to amend your soil to allow for drainage and even if you plant on a hill, this is not a solution. Hill planting causes erosion and can even wash your lavender away. Planting lavender in pots can work, but only if you have at least a 5 gallon pot, since lavender grows very quickly (lavender is part of the mint family). We recommend for planting: dig hole 36" diameter and down, add amendments, such as rock and topsoil to mix with clay soil, don't touch lavender roots while planting, fill in with your amended soil, and water once a day if no rain till establish. Bone meal is a great added to bottom of hole before adding amended soil and then plant, since you do not want roots to touch bone meal. Do not let lavender bloom the first year, so you can let the energy of the plant go to the roots instead of producing flowers. This way you establish a good rooted plant to last years. Last tip - be sure to harvest flower stems beginning with year two - don't let it bloom and leave spikes from flowers stay and prune back 1/3 to 1/2 of the plant each autumn (at least 6 weeks before the first frost) to prevent your lavender from getting woody.
Is Lavender hard to grow in Georgia? Yes, it is not meant to grow here in our climate, since lavender wants dry, rocky, and alkaline soil - total opposite of what we have here in Georgia. Cost is very expensive to grow large amount of lavender, since amendments must be trucked in by the tons. Also upkeep is never ending, since weeds must be kept away. Growing in rows and rows cannot be done due to our high humid and large rainfall. Lavender is highly likely to getting root rot here and transferring it to the rest of the lavender. Lavender needs then air space to dry up some of the humidity and wetness caused from rains in summer, so one must grow in small garden sections. It is also so important to prune back lavender and to harvest the flowering stems, since this can stress the plant out and cause it not to survive. Pruning is done in the fall to allow more flowers next year and to allow air space within the plant. Lavender does not like fertilizer at all. Fertilizer causes roots to burn. We are also further south than where lavender normally grows, so they do not have the intensity of sun rays as we do nor the longer summer. If you notice your lavender dying at the top of the plant this is caused by the sun burning the lavender. There is so much to think about when planting and growing lavender. This is why our home is at our farm, so we can do daily maintenance on our lavender. UGA did a study to see if lavender could be a feasible crop for Georgia and the answer was NO, due to this not being the right climate or soil to grow lavender in. It must therefore be an AgriTourism farm that grows lavender on a small scale with must expense and time. We grow lavender since it is a hobby and a passion to enjoy the benefits of lavender and to share its benefits with others.
I want to distill lavender for my own oil, how much lavender must I grow? This depends on which variety of lavender you will be growing, but to get the most oil you need either Grosso or Super lavender plant. Approximately three pounds of lavender flowers are required to produce just 15mL of lavender essential oil. For Angustifolia (English) lavender to distill requires 6,000 pounds of the plant to distill just a single pound of essential oil. That equals around 63 pounds of English lavender per 5mL bottle. That's a lot of lavender needed! This is why pure lavender essential oil is so expensive, but doesn't require many drops of the essential oil to work well. I've tried distilling on the stove with many pots, tubes, and equipment and made a mess, not to mention burning myself. I highly recommend getting a copper still for specially distilling essential lavender oil. They run about $1,000 and you will need a glass separator for separating oil from the hydrofoil, as well as an aquarium pump and tubing to keep the condenser cool to condense the stem back to a liquid.
How do I dry my lavender from my garden? It’s important to harvest when 1/3 of the blooms have opened, then bundle together and hang upside down in a air conditioned building. Never hang in a barn or any outside building here in the South to dry, since your bundles will mold in the center of your bundle, and you might not notice it by just looking at your bundle. Our climate just won't allow us to do this. I have dried lavender in my dining room and guest bedrooms in the beginning. We now dry bundles in our basement and in the shop. And yes, we get buds everywhere, but that's a lavender home and the smell and health benefits are so good.
If you have any other questions, please contact us. We would be glad to also take any recommendations for our FAQs page.