“Lavender’s blue, Dilly, Dilly, Lavender’s Green.

When I am king, Dilly, Dilly, you shall be queen!”

Bees love lavender. They home in on the flowers buzzing away while I watch, reluctant to disturb them by cutting the stalks and removing the flowers for my own purpose. However, lavender flowers so prolifically that I can always take enough to dry the flowers for lavender-bags without impacting on the bees. I also need fresh lavender stem to make “lavender rockets”. I learnt how to make these when I was a child – so many years ago that I have forgotten who taught me. I do recollect that since our garden in Leicester had no lavender, I would cycle the two and a half miles through Evington out to visit my Godmother who lived in Spencefield Lane. She was always pleased to see me and her garden had masses of lavender bushes. I recall her explaining that she and her husband had turned most of the garden into lawn since neither of them was gardener. They allowed a neighbour the use of their vegetable patch in return for the basic maintenance of the rest of the garden – or have I just imagined that rather than remembering? Who knows? It is a long time ago now. My Godmother was called “Hilly Hood” and I was thoroughly intrigued by her: she wore trousers AND she smoked! The only lady of my acquaintance who did. And even then I worked out that her husky voice must be because she smoked.

So: lavender rockets. I have made a ‘canva’ worksheet with instructions:-

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