Michigan’s growing conditions are ideal for lavender production because of our well-drained sandy soil, warm summers, and unique microclimates near the Great Lakes. In the winter, the state’s ample snowfall acts as natural insulation for the plants. The result: Michigan has become a booming hub for the fragrant flower, joining California, Washington, Oregon, and Virginia as the top U.S. states for lavender production (California leads in total farm numbers).
Not only is lavender a beautiful addition to gardens, but it has multiple uses that range from medicinal purposes to bath and body needs to culinary delights.
On the following pages, we explore Michigan’s lavender trail, from the southwest region to the northwest — and a few points in between — and talk with home growers, family farmers, hospitality professionals, mixologists, and chefs.
Pick It: A Sensory Treat
by Megan Swoyer
After teaching a watercolor workshop at the Boyne Arts Center in Boyne City last summer, my husband and I were headed to our next destination along Horton Bay Road when we saw a sign for Lavender Hill Farm.
It was Aug. 1 and the surrounding fields were awash in various-toned purple plants that seemed to be waving us in — so we turned up the driveway. Rows upon rows of orchid-, pomegranate-, and amethyst-colored beauties greeted us as we exited our vehicle. It was the perfect time to enjoy some U-pick fun!
Two huge barns are located on the premises. One is a century-old, renovated structure that has been transformed into a terrific event site, while the other, which is more modern, is home to an all-things-lavender gift shop and also hosts special events. An amphitheater is the site of concerts and more during the warm months.
As we walked up a slope from the parking lot, we spotted a sign-up booth for a farm tour, and within seconds we found ourselves aboard a golf-cart-style shuttle that would take us out to the fields. Our guide/driver told us about the different types of lavender and plants that are grown specifically for toiletries and cooking (there’s a big difference).
Did you know that there are more than 400 cultivars worldwide? We learned that only some are suited to the growing conditions of this Michigan region, and Lavender Hill Farm typically grows about 30 cultivars, with new ones planted each year. Inside one of the farm’s two barns, we were able to see how lavender is dried.
Cultivars of English lavender are best suited for culinary use, as they have a sweeter and less bitter taste. Those of French lavender, or Lavandin, are better for products that feature the popular lavender scent. These plants have a higher concentration of camphor, which is one of the chemical properties that gives lavender its distinctive aroma.
The most popular varieties of culinary lavender on this farm are Hidcote, Melissa, and Violet Intrigue. Culinary lavender can be used in many ways; chocolate, ice cream, meat rubs, sodas, beer, cookies, wine, tea, coffee, dressings, and cheese are just a few of the foods that taste great with a little culinary lavender mixed in. Fans say lavender can add a unique flavor to nearly anything (see accompanying recipes).
Lavender Hill Farm uses steam distillation, where a copper tubing still extracts essential oil and hydrosol (floral water) from fresh lavender flowers and stems. The fascinating process involves packing lavender into the still, passing steam through it to the plants’ oil glands, cooling the vapor in a condenser, and separating the oil from the water.
In the shop, my husband and I purchased lavender mulch (left over from the distilling process), which is said to ward off critters in the garden. It turns out that lavender is a great plant for home gardens, especially if there are rabbits and deer who like to visit, because they don’t like its scent and typically will avoid it.
After a quick lesson on where to cut some lavender blooms, we sauntered out to the fields to cut our own fresh bundles of lavender.
I’m glad we pulled up the driveway of this fabulous spot, which opened in 2003. Beyond the mulch, we left with two large bundles of fresh periwinkle-violet flowers, and we also purchased lavender sachets and oils (they improve sleeping, really!), and lavender shortbread cookies (the best I’ve ever had!).
MORE INFORMATION:
Weather determines lavender’s blooming time, but it’s always fun to visit — whether the fields are ready to harvest or not. The peak bloom season often starts in June and lasts through August. Like wine and lavender? Traverse City’s Brys Estate Vineyard & Winery and its Secret Garden is a must-visit. You’ll even find lavender ice cream (by Moomers) here! brysestate.com
More lavender farms in Michigan:
Search for lavender farms in the search bar at michigan.org, which lists 31 lavender farms located throughout the state.
Grow It: At Home
by Julie Bonner Williams
It began with an afternoon drive through Greenville, en route to Lavender Vista farm. I’d spoken with Susan, an owner, on the phone, and was watching for forsythia bushes framing a mailbox on my left.
Susan met me as I parked in her gravel driveway, and she offered me a glass of lavender lemonade before we walked her lavender fields. She challenged me to smell different plants’ blooms and identify each scent: camphor, citrus, a peppery aroma. I learned which lavenders are used for soaps, lotions, and potpourri, and which are for culinary purposes.
Susan said her own journey started while she was on vacation in northern Michigan. Suffering from a headache, she walked into a store filled with lavender — and walked out minus the headache. Inspiration struck. The result was a lavender farm and business. I was smitten. On the drive home, I planned my own lavender field.
Some sell lavender to artisans or cooks; others make soaps, lotions, and linen sprays; and still others offer “U-pick” at their farm. My goal was to help people who suffer from anxiety — people like me.
Does lavender really do all the things I’d heard it can do?
I sought articles to discover what research has determined. “Lavender and the Nervous System” (National Library of Medicine, 2013), cited three clinical studies on the efficacy of lavender oils. Lavender was shown to ease anxiety, sleeplessness, medical- and dental-related anxiety, and more: “This study indicates that lavender effectively ameliorates generalized anxiety comparable to 0.5 mg/daily lorazepam.” (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3612440/)
Partnering with a local therapist, I made dozens of lavender sachets and donated them to her practice. She shared clients’ experiences. A client’s teenage daughter kept a sachet in her pillowcase to help with anxiety. Another took hers to yoga classes, while yet another reported the lavender simply made her happy.
Since then, the lavender I harvest each summer has found its way into more people’s lives. Twenty bundles were used in a bride’s wedding flowers. A woman uses my culinary lavender in her teas. I’ve given bundles of dried lavender to the stressed-out college students I teach.
Today I have more than 300 lavender plants, and about 12 cultivars including Loddon Blue, Melissa, and Folgate.
The past two growing seasons I’ve had setbacks, including recovering from surgery and being instructed not to bend and lean, as a lavender-grower must do. Last year, a minor health issue kept me out of the sun. They weren’t wasted seasons, though. Although I was unable to do the heavy work, I savored walking through my lavender fields, happily watching dozens of bees and butterflies rejoicing in the plants that I started years ago.
Farm It: At family plants some new seeds
by Giuseppa Nadrowski
In 2022, my husband, Andrew, and I had a wild idea — we wanted to start growing lavender at my grandparents’ former Christmas tree farm in northwest Michigan’s South Boardman, even though we live 3.5 hours away in metro Detroit. We wanted to find a way to pay tribute to my grandparents by keeping the farm they had worked so hard for alive.
That fall, we started G’s Family Farm — named after my grandfather, Giuseppe “Joe” Lucido. He and my grandmother, Maria Lucido, immigrated to the U.S. from a small rural town in Sicily in the late 1940s and ’50s, and were known for their selfless generosity and unparalleled work ethic. In the late ’60s, my grandpa began purchasing a few acres at a time in Kalkaska County, slowly building what would become Lucido’s Quality Christmas Trees. A barber by trade, with a beloved shop in Eastpointe, he hand-planted thousands of trees and meticulously pruned and shaped each one.
Photo by Giuseppa Nadrowski
He had a contagious passion for his farm, and it’s why my husband and I, along with our two children, love the land as much as we do. My grandfather put his heart into each field, and while trees hadn’t been planted in years, and rows once lined with Fraser firs were now riddled with thistle and grass, we knew we could make the land flourish as he once had.
Wanting to try something different, we learned that lavender thrives on the property’s sloped terrain, sun-drenched fields, and sandy Kalkaska soil (all which help to prevent roots from getting “wet feet”). In addition, the lake-effect climate is just right for certain cultivars, too (our location shares the same parallel with Provence, France, which is known for its picturesque lavender fields).
We started with roughly 1,500 plants, placed in 19 rows. The work was far from easy, but after witnessing the plants grow beautifully, we ordered another 3,500 for the following season. Three years later, our plants, which are grown using all-natural and organic practices, are flourishing; each July, the deep-purple blooms and sweet, sugary scent of lavender takes hold of our fields. Then the monarchs, mantises, and bees arrive, and the fields come to life. With blue spruce and white pines towering behind our rows, it’s the perfect mix of past and present — and it’s a sight we hope my grandparents would be proud of.
By August the plants are ready to harvest, a task that’s done completely by hand. From there, we steam-distill the flowers to create pure lavender essential oil and hydrosol. We use our oils to handcraft small-batch products that are inspired by the land — from our beloved soy wax candles and cold-process soaps with scents like Fraser Fir & Lavender (a nod to the trees that once grew in our same fields) and Lakeside Lavender (reminiscent of days spent along Grand Traverse Bay), to our petite diffusers and roller balls that allow you to bring the relaxing scent of lavender along wherever you go.
What started as a truly wild idea for us has grown into so much more than we could ever have envisioned. We’ve witnessed our children grow and appreciate the land as much as we have, working and dreaming alongside us through it all. In the future, we hope to add a nursery and storefront with space to host workshops and U-picks, and we’re excited to begin replanting Christmas trees, too, just as my grandfather once did.
Sip it: The art of creative cocktails
by Megan Swoyer
She was working for Meijer in a corporate marketing job during the day, but side-hustling after hours as a scientist of sorts. Well, more of a mixologist. As evenings and weekends rolled around, Colette Doran, a Grand Valley State University graduate who now lives in Grand Rapids, would roll out her bar cart and stir up some fascinating concoctions. Passionate about her hobby, she sensed that it could lead somewhere. And before she knew it, the beverage specialist was pouring herself into crafting cocktails full time.
“I loved my job (women’s clothing and accessories buyer) but could see that mixing was becoming more than a hobby,” she says. In 2020, Doran started posting drink images and ingredients online for friends and family. The beverages — under the Colette’s Cocktails umbrella — made such a splash that she’s now a full-time online influencer/content creator/mixologist.
Photo by Laurie Tarasi Photography.
“I find it so much fun; it’s my obsession and job!” Doran exclaims. With about 138,000 followers on Instagram and a manager who works (on her behalf) with brands that want to partner with Colette’s Cocktails, Doran can focus on running her social media accounts. “I do all filming, recipe creation, editing, and posting on my own. My posts are very everyday life; you might even see my dog (Ember). Or I’ll try to match a cocktail to the color of my shirt,” says the stylish Lake Orion native, who adds that her online tasting reactions are real. “I don’t post any drink information unless I really like the drink.”
In November of 2025, Doran published her first recipe book, “Twist or Tonic: Elevated Craft Cocktails & Their Mocktail Twins.” It’s available in both hardcover and e-book format.
“The book was going to be a collection of my favorite drink recipes, but then I was thinking about Damp January (a spin-off of Dry January that involves reducing alcohol consumption in January rather than eliminating it entirely), and how I could create cocktails and mocktails for the whole month. That did so well on Instagram because it appealed to those who drink, who don’t drink, or who didn’t want to drink,” she shares. “So then I started a Twist or Tonic series, and then wrote the book.”
Doran says the mixing bug bit her a few years back, when she wanted to start making good drinks at home.
“I started with learning the classics, like old fashioneds, margaritas, daiquiris,” she says. When she does head out to a bar, it’s likely the Buffalo Traders Lounge, Drip Drop Cocktail Room, or the Nightwatch Lounge, all in Grand Rapids.
As different seasons arrive, Doran says she loves to match the time of year with her cocktails — whether it’s toasty toddies in the winter or fresh lavender-infused sippers in the summer.
“When using lavender for drinks, choose the culinary-grade English lavender as it offers a sweet, floral, and non-soapy flavor,” Doran says. “Always use food-safe, organic lavender to avoid pesticides, and avoid French lavender, which has a much stronger scent and is used mainly for soaps and perfumes.”
Follow Colette Doran on Instagram at @colettescocktails. Order her book by visiting colettescocktails.com.
Here, she shares her favorite lavender-infused drink recipes.
Lavender Pear Sangria
(Makes 8-10 cocktails)
Ingredients
- 1 bottle sauvignon blanc wine (I use White Haven)
- ½ cup pear brandy (can replace with pear juice if needed)
- ½ cup pisco (a grape brandy)
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/3 cup lavender simple syrup
- 1.5 cups club soda
- 2 frozen sliced pears
- Handful of lavender
- 1 sliced lemon
- Ice
Preparation
1. Add the sauvignon blanc, pear brandy, pisco, lemon juice, and lavender syrup in a pitcher. Stir.
2. Place in the fridge for at least one hour before serving. Once chilled, add the club soda, frozen pear slices, lavender, and sliced lemons.
3. Serve over ice. Garnish with a lemon slice and lavender.
Brazilian Lavender Limeade
(Makes 4-6 Mocktails)
Ingredients
- 2 limes, diced
- 2 cups lavender tea
- 1.5 cups sweetened condensed milk
- ¾ cup lavender simple syrup
- Lime slices
- Lavender sprigs
- Ice
Preparation
1. Wash and dice your limes. Place the diced limes (with the rind on) in a blender. Add the lavender tea. Blend well. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl.
2. Press down with a rubber spatula to get all the juice out. Pour the juice back into the blender. Add the sweetened condensed milk and lavender simple syrup. Blend well. Serve chilled over ice. Garnish with a lime slice and lavender sprig.
Lavender Simple Syrup
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- About 10-12 lavender
sprigs
Preparation
1. Add all ingredients to a small pot. Place over low heat and stir occasionally as the mixture heats up. Continue to stir occasionally until the sugar dissolves. Let the simple syrup simmer lightly for another 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and let fully cool. Once cooled, strain out the lavender. Store in a sealed bottle
2. (Optional: add a few lavender sprigs to the bottle for extra flavor.)The simple syrup will last in the fridge for up to four weeks.
Lavender Coconut Sour
(Makes 1 cocktail)
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz. Empress Gin
- ½ oz. cream of coconut
- 1 oz. lavender tea (purchase at a grocery store in the hot tea section)
- ¾ oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 egg white (or 1 oz.
low-sodium
aquafaba
for a vegan egg-
substitute option) - 1 lavender sprig
- Ice
Preparation
1. Add all ingredients except the lavender sprig in a cocktail shaker. Dry shake (shake without ice).
2. Add a good amount of ice to the cocktail shaker. Shake very well. Strain into a chilled Nick & Nora glass (small, stemmed). Garnish with the lavender sprig.
Explore it: Bask in soul-feeding experiences
by Bill Semion
Entrepreneurs Christian and Michelle Anschuetz are self-described failures at retirement.As Christian tells it, Michelle’s hobby has been literally growing into something unique in the region — and perhaps the state — in a jack pine forest outside tiny Roscommon (east of Grayling) in northern lower Michigan.
It’s so under the radar, in fact, that you could drive right by the branded sign on Chase Bridge Road announcing the homestead that the couple has named Uncommon Ranch. Like a lot of things around the city that have opened recently, it’s aptly named.
Here’s part of what you’ll see when you explore its more than 200 acres of planned quiet and solitude: 10,000 lavender plants thriving in the sandy soil, sustainably and organically grown, all used on the premises in everything from the food featured in the ranch’s Blue Zone-themed dinners to natural insect repellent. Here’s what you can experience: Access to cooking and yoga classes, five rental properties (one’s called Lavender Loft) scattered around the property, hiking trails, and more. All of it is anchored by fields of purple, white, pink, and blue — there are 16 varieties of lavender that you probably didn’t know existed outside of the traditional purple.
Just 3.5 miles from the South Branch of the legendary Au Sable River, much of the area consists of state or federal lands. From the Uncommon Ranch, you can literally head east to Lake Huron, west to Lake Michigan, or point north to Cheboygan or Petoskey and never touch private property.
The former Marine explains that when he and his wife left Chicago’s high-rises, they wanted to settle someplace in the middle of nowhere. They’ve been building on that dream since buying the first parcel of their personal paradise in 2002.
“It’s incredibly remote, beautiful, and surrounded on all sides by national forest,” he says, “and Michelle has fed the fire.
“She asked, What can we grow here? All that can grow is jack pine, blueberries, and ferns,” Anschuetz recalls. But, he says, they soon discovered that lavender, which loves the sandy soil around the Roscommon area, also thrives on their property.
“It’s one of the best crops and there’s tremendous demand for it. Our overall vision is more than just being agritourism. We have an 8,000-square-foot building called The Retreat. It’s an art studio, yoga room, commercial-grade gourmet kitchen, and a small retail store. That’s where our Long Table is,” he continues.
The Long Table is one of Uncommon Ranch’s underpinnings. Themed dinners that can accommodate up to 64 people in the fall and winter can be expanded in warm weather thanks to an outdoor area that seats 32 more. All of the meals are prepared by Executive Chef/Culinary Director Kaytie Bowman — and, of course, lavender is frequently used in the courses.
Bowman’s menus are currently themed around Blue Zones — regions where food tends to promote long, healthy lives and an attitude that says slow down, take a moment, exhale, and connect with others in a calming environment. One time she’s serving an authentic Greek meal; the next it’s California-style, or Japanese or South American fare. Some meals even combine food with art. Bowman also leads cooking classes, and enjoys partnering with local businesses.
“We live in a food desert. There’s not a lot of good dining experiences, (where) you could come from downtown Chicago and say, ‘This is nice.’ But there’s a very high level of attention (to detail) here at Uncommon Ranch,” Anschuetz says. Lavender is added to sugars and lemonades, and is distilled for its essential oils, soaps, and other products that are for sale at the ranch. “We don’t sell any of our products wholesale,” Anschuetz notes.
“Most lavender and essential oils found elsewhere are either ‘cut’ or contaminated. We’re very stringent, so there are no chemicals used — only water — and everything here is powered by renewable energy.”
Uncommon Ranch is adding another dimension to the experiences it offers: an outdoor stage for musical performances will soon be located in the flowering fields.
“We feel extraordinarily fortunate. We’re expecting this season to be off the charts,” Anschuetz says. “This area also is an activity desert. If you’re not in the woods or on the lake, what do you do? This is a radically different offering that already attracts a lot of people. We’re working to give everyone 10 different reasons to come out here every week.”
MORE INFORMATION:
uncommonranch.com
Taste it: Uncommon Ranch’s Executive Chef/Culinary Director Kaytie Bowman on Lavender and more
by Bill Semion
Chef Kaytie Bowman, of Uncommon Ranch, describes herself as a “lifer” in the kitchen. She says that’s the term chefs use when they’ve settled on a love of cooking and serving guests, and since she’s been working in the kitchen since she was about 15, it’s an apt description.
“My first official job was running a Mennonite camp kitchen. We would feed 300 at a time, a big buffet,” she recalls. Later she added to her skills at Traverse City’s Great Lakes Culinary Institute, and with a stint at the Paul Bocuse Institute in Ecully, France, before taking on Uncommon Ranch’s cooking classes and Long Table dinners.
“(The Uncommon Ranch owners and I had) been professional friends for a while because I would buy their herbs and lavender and do catered events. When my restaurant in Grayling closed, it became obvious that we needed to bring the food out there. We’ve been doing dinners for over a year now,” she says.
Here, she shares three recipes using lavender. “There are things lavender doesn’t go with, but a lot that it does. Lavender and ginger are a classic combo. Lavender and lemon, lavender and honey, coffee and lavender. It can be used for savory and sweet. I like it in both.”
Lavender Almond Poppy Seed Muffins
(Makes 18 muffins)
Tips for Success
Do not overmix when folding the wet ingredients into the dry. Be sure the muffins are cool before glazing.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon finely crushed culinary lavender
- ½ teaspoon finely crushed culinary lavender
- 2 eggs
- ¾ cup milk
- ½ cup melted butter
- ¼ cup sour cream or creme fraiche
- ½ cup sliced almonds
Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350 and line a muffin tin with paper liners. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and crushed lavender.
In another bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, melted butter, sour cream (or creme fraiche), and almond extract. Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined. Divide the batter evenly into paper-lined muffin cups and sprinkle with sliced almonds.
2. Bake for 18-22 minutes, until the tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the muffins to cool slightly before glazing and serving.
Honey Butter Glaze
Warm ½ cup lavender honey with ½ cup salted butter.
Add a small drop of almond extract. Whisk until fully emulsified.
Brush over the slightly warm muffins.
Lavender Almond Poppy Seed Muffins
(Serves six to eight)
Tips for Success
Serve as an accompaniment to a charcuterie or cheese board. This pairs wonderfully with warm crostini, grilled bread, crackers, nuts, seasonal fruits, cured meats, or roasted grapes. The lavender should remain subtle, providing a gentle floral complexity that enhances the flavors of the honey and goat cheese.
Ingredients
- 10 oz. softened goat cheese
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream or olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lavender honey (or honey)
- ½ teaspoon finely crushed culinary lavender buds/li>
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh chives
- Pinch sea salt and fresh ground pepper
Preparation
1. In a bowl or food processor, whip the goat cheesewith the heavy cream or oil until smooth and fluffy. Fold in the lavender, honey, spices, herbs, salt, and pepper. Adjust the seasonings to taste.
2. Spread onto a shallow serving dish and drizzle with additional honey or olive oil. Finish with fresh thyme leaves and a few lavender buds for garnish.
Chicken Provencal with Lemon and Lavender
(Serves two to four)
Tips for Success
You can buy Herbs de Provence or make your own by mixing thyme, rosemary, oregano, savory, marjoram, and basil. To get the most juice out of your lemon, roll it firmly on the counter before slicing, to break cell membranes.
Ingredients
- 4 bone-in chicken thighs or 1 whole chicken
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Juice and zest of 1 lemon
- Salt and pepper
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 teaspoons Herbs de Provence
- ½ teaspoon culinary lavender buds, lightly crushed
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
Preparation
1. In a bowl, whisk together the olive oil, garlic, lemon zest,lemon juice, honey, Herbs de Provence, lavender, thyme, and rosemary. Season the chicken generously with salt and black pepper. Place the chicken in the marinade and coat well. Marinate overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 400. Arrange the chicken in a roasting pan. Roast for 30-35 minutes, until the skin is golden and the chicken is cooked through. Spoon pan juices over the chicken before serving, and finish with fresh lemon if desired.
