Who is In Control? Not Me!

 Mother Nature is such a whimsical dame.  Little did we know that she had a lavender farmer's worse nightmare up her sleeves which was about to whistle down from her armpits, guided through her hands and directed to cover  the land, affecting everyone who came into contact with her.  She was showing mere humanity that she was nothing to be trifled with!

This winter started mild for Central Oregon.  We enjoyed the crispness in the air and the cold nights.  The lavender seemed fine, nothing the Test Block and Block A hadn't experienced in the past.  Even the young plants planted in Blocks C and D that year were withstanding our weather change.  One thing was different, though, and that was the wind.  We have wind but this year it was stronger.  It hurt the ears and dried up the nose, making it difficult to breathe.  We woke up to the beautiful "sush" of falling snow one morning.  That was o.k.  It covered the plants and put a "hush" over the land that calms the soul.  Then more snow fell.  That was o.k., too.  Cross country skiing, for me, requires at least six inches of snow to cover the gravel roads around the area and onto BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land where I could go to Idaho (and beyond) should I choose.  Then, after a few days, the snow melted off the plants, but the wind kept blowing and the temperature started plummeting.  For several weeks, we watched in horror as the uncovered plants endured minus temperatures.  Then came the -32 degree nights.  A sickening feeling hit my husband and I in the pits of our stomachs:  this definitely was not good!  There was nothing we could do but sit and watch and wonder whether we would have any lavender left after this winter punch.

Come spring, we read the reports from back East and the Midwest.  Our hearts cried for those who had endured so many freezing storms and lost most, if not all, of their lavender.  Then came the reports of tornadoes which destroyed homes and barns in the Midwest.  My husband and I felt like "little mouth frogs"...we did not have any right to complain after hearing of the devastation some of these families experienced.  We kept saying to each other, "Wait until June 15; wait until then to see if there's any life in the lavender."  And, lo and behold, life was there, close to the Earth and under the dead stems.  We would walk the fields and shout to one another as we found new growth coming.  We did lose almost all of three varieties:  'Gros Blue', Provence' and 'Silver Leaf'. I was surprised with the first two but the 'Silver Needle' was zone 6 and I planted it because I saw it in the valley (Willamette Valley) and was so impressed with it I planted it against my better judgment.  I moved all the 'Provence' that was left in Block A to my Test Block and planted 'Phenomenal' in its place.  Another interesting observance was that the cold negatively affected my big, established plants more than the little plants.  On a positive note, we had almost 100% survival rate in the plants planted in 2013 (Blocks C and D).

I haven't put together the statistics yet of the survival rate of our plants.  We have been pretty busy weeding and getting the place ready for our first lavender festival.  Mother Nature has given us an unusually hot summer.  To date, we have broken the record for temperatures in the 90's for July.  Normally, we get this hot weather in August.

I remember reading a long time ago that the hurricanes that come up in the Mediterranean bring much needed water to the land of Mexico.  While some may consider the hurricanes bad as they sweep over the land and wreak havoc, others see the storms as good and welcome the life-giving rain that nourishes the soil.  I don't know why we had such an extreme winter nor why the the summer is breaking heat records, I only know that I am leaving that to the One who created all things.  Jean Louis Agassiz stated "The study of Nature is intercourse with the Highest mind.  You should never trifle with Nature." Perhaps the extreme cold of last winter is bringing the extreme heat of this summer and is bringing something much needed to another part of the world.  That Mother Nature... perhaps we should just leave her alone and let her do her thing!