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The town of Blanco — Spanish for “white” — was named for its calciferous limestone hills and river banks. But another color has come to characterize the rural Central Texas town, lavender.
The pale purple buds of the lavender plant take over the town’s historic downtown square every spring, when Blanco’s lavender farms ignite into bloom and the Blanco Chamber of Commerce hosts the annual Blanco Lavender Festival.
This is the 15th year the Blanco Chamber of Commerce has hosted the Lavender Festival, but the history of the plant goes back a little further in the town. The first commercial lavender farm in the state, Hill Country Lavender, was started near Blanco in 1999 by husband and wife Robb Kendrick and Jeannie Ralston. Kendrick, a National Geographic photographer, shot a story for the publication in Provence, France, and noted that the rugged terrain and the arid hot summers there were similar to that found at his land near Blanco. Upon returning to Blanco, the couple planted 2,000 lavender plants and started giving seminars to others who wanted to grow the fragrant purple buds. And through that, Kendrick and Ralston helped pave the way for current lavender growers in the area and the Blanco Lavender Festival.
In 2005, the Blanco Chamber of Commerce hosted the First Annual Lavender Festival, and the event has been highly-attended ever since, with artisan markets of lavender products, tours of lavender farms, educational seminars for cooking, crafting and growing lavender and live entertainment.
According to Executive Director of the Blanco Chamber of Commerce Libbey Aly, the region has lost a lot of its lavender farms, going from 11 farms in recent years to having the one original commercial lavender farm of the state started by Kendrick and Ralston.
“We have one farm now, and it’s actually the original commercial lavender farm in the state and continues to be the one that has stuck it out for all these years and is still in operation,” Aly said. “We went from just a handful to the peak where there was around 11, and it started to drop off because of the many years of drought that we had a while back and then lavender is prone to a fungus. So a lot of farms that made it through the drought got hit with that fungus.”
The remaining farm, Hill Country Lavender, is now owned by Tasha Brieger, who has been involved with it since the first lavender sprig was planted. Brieger purchased the farm and relocated it just north of Blanco on Highway 281. She has also expanded the lavender product line, to include more than 75 products, offering a variety of soaps, lotions and sprays, as well as a full line of culinary items. Hill Country Lavender, located at 8241 Farm to Market 165, will be free and open for tours during the festival and will have products available at the Lavender Market on the grounds of the historic Blanco County Courthouse.
Having one remaining lavender farm hasn’t quashed the town of Blanco’s, or Central Texas’, enthusiasm for the lovely plant though. This year, the chamber has 115 artisan vendors signed up to take part in the The Lavender Market, with everything from sculptures, paintings and jewelry to gourmet lavender bath and food products — soaps, lotions, infused oils, jams, jellies, spices and marinades. There will also be a full lineup of live music and 11 food vendors with options ranging from vegan tamales to fried oreos around the Blanco County Courthouse square.
Attendees can head to the Big Tent for libations from Blanco’s own Real Ale Brewing Company and Rough Diamond Brewery, as well as sample some wines from regional wineries or have a Lavender Lizzie, the signature drink of the festival.
In the courthouse, speakers will present on a wide variety of topics including presentations about lavender’s culinary properties, using it in soaps, aromatherapy benefits, its suitability as a landscape plant and floral arrangements. A full schedule of speakers is available on the Lavender Festival’s website.
Parking for the festival is available in the Blanco High School parking lot, 1215 4th St., with a shuttle to the town square. It is a $5 round trip, per day for an air-conditioned ride.
The festival will run from noon to 6 p.m. today, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission to the event is free. For more information, go to the Blanco Lavender Festival's website.
