Home News Local News Photos: Lavender fields in East Marion; next bloom coming in September

Photos: Lavender fields in East Marion; next bloom coming in September

Scores came to enjoy the fragrant fields of blooming lavender at Lavender by the Bay in East Marion over the past month — and owner Serge Rozenbaum said the season was a “blessing”.

Although the most recent crop of lavender has been cut, with the season ending around July 20, Rozenbaum said visitors can still visit the gift shop to purchase plants, lotions, sachets and other dried lavender products — and also, take a walk around the field and visit the pavilion.

A second bloom of English lavender is expected in September and October.

For those who brought home lavender this season, Rozenbaum said one way to keep the scent vibrant for years is to gently squeeze the flowers, “to release the oil,” he said.

When Rozenbaum and his wife Susan purchased the farm in 2002, they brought French and English lavender to the North Fork, where the cold wintes and hot summers are conducive to growing the fragrant cros. Rozenbaum said the soil, which was sandy, but had a layer of clay six feet below surface, had to be broken up and prepared to ensure good drainage.

Susan Rozenbaum said the family-run operation has been in business for almost 10 years, growing French lavender, and this is the first year business “just exploded”. She added that they have purposely kept their advertising in only local publications.

A recent burst of Asian visitors was inspired, Rozenbaum said, by the 2000 film “Lavender”, a Hong Kong romantic movie about an aromatherapist written and directed by Riley Yip Kam-Hung.

Also, he said, the lavender farm is the only one of its kind for hundreds of miles.

Lavender by the Bay is located at 7540 New York State Route 25, in East Marion. For additional information, call 631-477-1019.

 

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