If you drive up Hwy. 101 on the east shore of the Olympic Peninsula during late summer, you’ll come to lavender farms along the way. The south of France isn’t the only place claiming capital status on the 
lavender business. Join the many visitors who experience these luscious smelling farms each year in Western Washington.
The Sunshine Herb and Lavender Farm is one example of the kind of afternoon excursion you can anticipate. The farm borders Hwy. 101 a few miles south of Sequim, WA. The main entrance welcomes 
the visitor with a profusion of blossoms and lush plantings that whet your appetite for more visual goodies to come. A hundred yards further the drive delivers you to the main building and flower gardens of the farm.
Lavender-scented air greets you as you step from 
your vehicle. In every direction you’ll see beds of flowers; corral roses cuddle with brighter nasturtiums, purple Echinacea tries to lord it over the simple Euphorbia inches away, scarlet crocosmia startles the viewer as it bursts from the greenery. Bountiful 
hardy fuchsia puts forth thousands of tiny Chinese lanterns to brighten the leaves holding them captive.
These enticing and whimsical beds of blossoms distract the visitor for only moments before visual focus moves outward onto row after row of lavender in bloom. The rounded purple rows of waving stems of the fragrant herb snare the eye and the mind.
Seen en masse, the herb appears blurred, as if the colored wands were trying to paint everything around them. A sense of peace flows from both visual and olfactory 
sensations. The desire to touch, fondle the delicately blossomed stalks, near overwhelms one’s discretion.
There need be no fear of indiscretion. Under a canopy sits smaller potted plants for taking home. Other available 
culinary and fragrant herbs also share space in the shade. Attendants are willing and eager to talk about the farm, the products, and the joy of doing what they do each day.
Inside the main commercial building are many products that use those tiny purple blossoms as ingredients. Soaps, lotions, perfumes, and sachet name only a few of the creative ways this herb can be taken home as a souvenir from the farm where it was grown.
Spending an afternoon down on this farm is an exercise in pure sensory delight. Be sure to take the opportunity to stop in and partake of a walk through tranquility and fragrance in the scented sunshine of an Olympic lavender farm.
For additional information go to: http://www.sunshinelavender.com/
Trailing Inspirations 