By BECCA LOWRY
I have said it before and I will say it again—I absolutely adore lavender. It helps you relax and it smells lovely. One of the places where you can smell a mountain of lavender is one of my favorite places, the Cape Cod Lavender Farm, in Harwich. They don’t just sell the lavender plant, they sell over 20 lavender products. The Lavender Farm is just one of quite a few beautiful, charming gardens across Cape Cod and I have recently seen a number of gardens across the Cape. But first, let’s discuss the wonderful Lavender Farm.
Shed at the Lavender Farm in Harwich
The Cape Cod Lavender Farm is run by Cynthia and Matthew Sutphin and you have to drive down a very long, windy dirt road before you reach the farm. The farm opened in 1995 and since then, three generations of the family have helped to tend to the farm. Now, they sell over 20 lavender products, consisting of everything-from home décor, to culinary spices, a lavender scented facemask—I bought one and I love it—lavender body butter, lavender lemonade mix and much more. You can also browse their gift shop from their official website. Part of the farm’s property consists of a very large back area where they grow all of the lavender; the shop owners pick the lavender themselves and then put it in bunches to sell.
They sell seven different varieties of lavender, consisting of Provence, Jean Davis, Phenomenal, Munstead, Vera, Grosso and Twickle Purple. For those who need some tips on how best to care for their lavender, you can check out their website, www.capecodlavenderfarm.com/care-tips. You will learn everything you need to know about how to keep your lavender growing strong.
For planting, they need full sun, sandy soil or sweet soil and in regards to culinary options, you can use dried buds in sweets and meats, you can add adrop of pure essential oil to homemade whipped cream, or you could sprinkle some of their Herbes de Provence on chicken, veggies, and pasta.
A bee hotel is one of many features at Heritage Museum & Gardens.
And before you leave the Lavender Farm, you absolutely must visit their little Enchanted Garden. The Enchanted Garden includes a small castle, which truly looks like the perfect little home for a couple of fairies. Over time, guests have also thrown many, many pennies on the ground surrounding the castle, I thought that only added to the sweetness factor. There is a plethora of of delightful options for you to choose from at the Lavender Farm, I promise you will enjoy your visit!
Later, I went to Heritage Museums & Gardens on their opening day, April 24. Besides their very widespread gardens, Heritage also has their American Automobile Collection, which features 41 old automobiles, consisting of everything from the 1899 Winton to their latest acquisition, a 1965 Ford Country Squire station wagon.
The history behind all the automobiles is fascinating. I felt like I was stepping back in time when I looked at all of them.
When I went to Heritage Museums & Gardens, much of what they grow was not yet in bloom but I still had a very nice visit. One of my favorite places on their property was the bee hotel. I’ve always found bees to be fascinating and the addition of the bees has not only helped to aid in pollinating, but it has also helped to keep harmful insects away. The bee hotels are actually very different from a beehive; bee hotels only attract solitary bees, which are not aggressive and which rarely ever sting.
If you go to the museum’s website, you can learn more about the bees that frequent their beehive and there are several. There’s the mason bees, the leaf-cutter bees, the small carpenter bee, the large carpenter bee and more. Remember, Einstein said that if the bees die, then we all die. So do your part to help protect the bees.
The Enchanted Garden at the Lavender Farm includes a small castle, which looks like a home for a couple of fairies.
There are also over 100 varieties of rhododendrons. They have a Rhododendron Festival in May, in addition to seeing thousands of world-famous rhododendrons, you can even get to take home one of the signature plants from their special plant sale.
There are a number of events you can choose from to attend at the museum through the summer, all of which you can register for from the website. From July through September, there is also going to be the annual Cape Cod Hydrangea Festival, which celebrates this iconic plant. During your visit, you will get to learn more about the museum’s eight species of hydrangeas and over 170 cultivars.
Heritage Museums & Gardens is quite huge and this summer it will be a sight to see.
Last, but certainly not least, is the Thornton W. Burgess Society: Green Briar Nature Center and Jam Kitchen in East Sandwich. I cannot say enough sweet things about this amazing little center. Besides all of the delectable jams you have to choose from in the gift shop, you can also sign up for a private jam class. The classes are $300/session and you can reserve a class by going to www.thorntonburgess.org.
Now, moving on to the gardens. The Shirley Cross Wildflower Garden is not very big but it has over 300 plants, all maintained by a small group of volunteers. They have everything, from Snowdrops, to New York Ironweed, Swamp-thistle and more.
According to www.thorntonburgess.org, this award-winning garden was conceived and designed by Dr. Shirley G. Gross and it is a living museum for all of those interested in the study and use of wildflowers and is a highlight of the Green Briar experience. If you wish to help out and be one of the volunteers, I encourage you to email Janice Dill at jdill@thorntonburgess.org. The garden is absolutely stunning and not everything was even in bloom when I went there to visit.
For any animal lovers out there, I think you would get a lot of joy from donating to the Green Briar Nature Center. They have a lot of little animals that need caring, among them bunnies, which are adorable and they need our help! As a thank you if you donate $20 or more, they will also send you two guest passes to the Museum of Natural History. So everybody wins!
You have to go check out the Green Briar Nature Center, it is simply delightful and make sure to pick up some delicious jam as well.
I hope that you learned some interesting facts about these wonderful gardens and that you have a great time exploring them.