Cicely Mary Barker's Lavender Flower Fairy

"Lavender's blue, diddle diddle"-
So goes the song;
All round her bush, diddle diddle,
Butterflies throng;
(They love her well, diddle diddle,
So do the bees;)
While she herself, diddle diddle,
Sways in the breeze!

Lavender's blue, diddle diddle,
Lavender's green
She'll scent the clothes, diddle diddle,
Put away clean-
Clean from the wash, diddle diddle,
Hanky and sheet;
Lavender's spikes, diddle diddle,
Make them all sweet!

There are over 25 varieties of lavender.  Valued for their attractive lacy, fragrant and usually grayish foliage.  Small mauve-purple or bluish purple flowers emerge on small spikes held on stalks above the foliage.  The flowers mostly appear in Spring.  Lavender prefers full sun and will thrive in a wide variety of soils.  Hardiness varies with the species.  Propagate from seed or cuttings in summer.

Traditionally, lavender has been used to protect linens from moths and freshen sickrooms.  It has also been used to sooth troubled minds and as a medicine for hysteria, nervous palpitations, hoarseness, toothaches, sore joints, apoplexy and colic. Its uses today include repelling mosquitos.