20/04/2011

Issued By Yorkshire Lavender

The history of lavender has been well documented for 2,500 years, particularly its strong connection with the royal family.  Only time will tell whether this long standing love of lavender will continue down the royal line.  If wedding preparations and seating plans are causing Miss Middleton a headache then she needs look no further than a nice cup of lavender tea - Queen Elizabeth I can certainly recommend it!

Up to ten cups of lavender tea were drunk daily by the daughter of Henry VIII - Queen Elizabeth I to ease her migraine headaches.  It has been said that she commanded that the royal table should never be without conserve of lavender and she issued orders to her gardeners that fresh lavender flowers should be available all year round.

Queen Victoria loved lavender so much she insisted it was used to wash the floors and furniture.  It is thought that this was because her beloved Albert courted her with a nosegay of lavender and heather.  Her passion made lavender popular across England and it could be found, in one form or another, in every one of her rooms.  She liked to freshen the air with the heady fragrance and had it strewn across the linens.  Lavender was used for polishing the wood, lavender soap was used for washing the laundry and lavender scented the Queen's bath water.  As the Queen did, so did many Victorians from all classes. 

Queen Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I, grew masses of white lavender. She filled the long borders at Wimbledon with it, cutting it to scent every room in the palace.  She had white lavender pot pourri and bathed weekly in white lavender water.

The royals raised awareness of lavender amongst the classes and the result was that lavender began to be farmed.  Imports from around Naples and France which were brought in by the fleeing Huguenots meant that the burgeoning industry grew rapidly. There was an explosion of commercially available lavender products.  Lavender soaps and oils, lavender pomades for men's hair, creams and waxes, lavender perfumes and waters all filled the shelves of the chemists' shops.

Today you will find an extensive and unique range of quality lavender products, Lavenderworld's  own unique range of merchandise and novel purple household products available to buy online.  Log onto http://www.lavenderworld.co.uk/ for more information.

In fact Lavenderworld can recommend how best to make a soothing cup of lavender tea.  Firstly it is a case of experimenting to find the quantities which best suit.  It works particularly well with Yorkshire Tea and dried Lavender Flowers in equal proportions, together with dashes of fresh lemon. Warm a teapot and pour your boiling water over this mix - again, in about the quantities you would use for the same amount of tea-leaves alone. You may add sugar if you wish: Elizabeth's servants would have added honey - most likely the honey which had itself been created by bees nourished in the same Lavender garden.  Finally, sit back, relax and enjoy!

Ends