I didn’t know this until last year, but there’s a Maryland Lavender Festival! Thankfully, I remembered early enough this year that we were able to get tickets before they sold out. Yay!
It takes place at Springfield Manor in Thurmont, Maryland. Aside from being a gorgeous venue for weddings and other celebrations, Springfield Manor is also a winery, distillery, brewery. So, if lavender isn’t your thing, there are other reasons to visit.
Their lavender field has 2600 lavender plants, both the English and French varieties.
The Lavender Festival is scheduled in mid-June each year to coincide with the first bloom of the English variety plants. In addition to the lavender field, the festival boasts vendors, live music, food trucks, crafts, lavender products, plants, and seminars. Oh, and beer, wine, and gin! People bring chairs and blankets and just take in the blooms. And the food. And the beer, wine, and gin!
I’ll be honest. In my head I’d pictured vast, rolling fields with acres upon acres and rows upon rows of lavender. You know what I’m talking about, right? I was basically picturing Provence. Well ... this wasn’t Provence. Vast is not exactly the word I’d use to describe the lavender field at Springfield Manor. First of all, it’s a single field. Not fields. Definitely smaller than I had pictured in my head. But no biggie, I’m not a landscape photographer, so grand vista shots aren't my thing. I can adapt!
Aside from the overall size of the fields, I was momentarily disappointed when we first cleared the entrance. Sparse would be the word I'd use to describe the blooms at that end of the field closest to the gates. Perhaps those are the French variety. But, not to worry! There were plenty of fully blooming plants just waiting for me at the other end of the field! Huzzah!
Here’s a quick visual to give you an idea of what it was like. The left-hand side is the side closest to the entrance. We spent most of our time down the hill to the right.
I’ve run through my pictures from the day a few times, but so far, I’m super excited with what I got! Definitely hit some of my wish list shots. Will be adding to my print gallery and Etsy listings in the coming weeks, but here’s a quick peek at some of the pics you may see in my inventory.
Despite our initial concerns, we had a grand time! We strolled through all the booths and they had lots of great crafts and vendors. We decided to skip the lavender gin tasting, but our tickets came with a free glass of wine or beer, which we thoroughly enjoyed on the patio. Before hitting the road, we grabbed some lavender chicken salad for lunch … I highly recommend it, it’s DELISH! And obviously I couldn’t leave without trying the honey lavender ice cream.
All in all, a lovely morning! Put it on your calendars for next year! Be sure to keep an eye on Springfield Manor’s website. They have a page on their website dedicated to the Maryland Lavender Festival. I’m sure they’ll update it with the 2020 dates soon!
By the way, the French lavender plants peak is in July and the English lavender plants bloom a second time each year in September. So, for my DMV peeps, all is not lost if you didn’t get tickets to this year’s festival!