Our Story
Our Story
Rooted in the land. Grown with intention. Crafted for you.
In the summer of 2024, Jim and Abby Cowan stood at the edge of a lavender field in Provence, France — rows of violet blooms stretching to the horizon, the air heavy with a fragrance they had always loved. They had come as travelers. They left with a dream.
Retired and ready for a new chapter, Jim and Abby had been looking for something they could build together — something rooted, purposeful, and beautiful. Lavender, a scent they had adored their whole lives, felt like the answer. The question was whether they could grow it in Middle Tennessee.
The answer, it turns out, was yes. Lebanon Lavender was born from that Provençal afternoon — a family farm built by two people who fell in love with a plant and decided to bring it home. Today, our fields in Lebanon are home to six carefully chosen cultivars, each selected for what it does best: its fragrance, its resilience, its culinary character, or its beauty in a dried arrangement.
We are growers first. Every product we make starts in our fields — cut at peak bloom, processed with care, and crafted into something we're proud to put our name on. When you bring a Lebanon Lavender product into your home, you're holding a little piece of that Provençal dream, grown right here in Tennessee.
Meet Our Cultivars
Not all lavender is the same. Jim and Abby spent months researching which varieties would thrive in Middle Tennessee's climate and best serve the products they envisioned. Here are the six cultivars growing in our fields today — and the role each one plays.
Phenomenal
Developed in the United States and introduced in the early 2010s, Phenomenal is one of the most resilient lavender cultivars ever bred. Its name says it all — it thrives in heat, humidity, and cold, making it exceptionally well-suited to Tennessee's varied seasons. With long, sturdy stems and richly fragrant silver-green foliage, Phenomenal is our workhorse cultivar, ideal for dried bundles, sachets, and hydrosol production. Its blooms are a soft violet-blue and appear reliably season after season.
Grosso
A classic French hybrid (Lavandula x intermedia), Grosso has been a staple of Provence's lavender fields since the 1970s — the same variety that first captured Jim and Abby's imagination on that trip to France. Prized by perfumers and artisans alike, it produces an exceptionally high yield of fragrant oil with a bold, camphoraceous scent profile. At Lebanon Lavender, we use Grosso for our most aromatic products — from bath salts to sachets — where that deep, unmistakable lavender fragrance is front and center.
Hidcote
Named after the famous Hidcote Manor Garden in the Cotswolds, England, Hidcote is one of the most beloved English lavender varieties (Lavandula angustifolia) in the world. Compact and tidy, it produces deep violet blooms with a sweet, refined fragrance. Prized for its culinary versatility — its low camphor content makes it ideal for cooking, baking, and infusions — Hidcote is the variety behind our culinary lavender products and decorative arrangements.
Royal Velvet
Royal Velvet is an American-bred English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) celebrated for its exceptionally rich, velvety purple blooms and sweet fragrance. Developed in the Pacific Northwest, it has become a favorite among lavender enthusiasts for its striking color and culinary quality. At Lebanon Lavender, Royal Velvet lends its beautiful blooms to our decorative products and its gentle flavor to our culinary blends — a true dual-purpose gem.
Big Time Blue
True to its name, Big Time Blue is known for its large, intensely blue-violet flower spikes and vigorous growth habit. This English lavender cultivar has quickly gained popularity for its bold visual impact and sweet scent. We grow Big Time Blue for its ornamental beauty and its contribution to our decorative lavender offerings — its striking color makes it a standout in arrangements and dried bouquets.
Fulgate
Fulgate is a classic English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) with a long history in British gardens. Known for its early bloom time and delicate, pale violet-blue flowers, Fulgate brings an elegant, understated beauty to our fields. Its sweet, gentle fragrance and culinary-grade quality make it a wonderful complement to our other angustifolia varieties, playing a supporting role in our culinary and decorative product lines.
From Field to Finished Product
Harvest at Lebanon Lavender is a precise affair. Each cultivar is cut at peak bloom — the moment when fragrance compounds are at their highest concentration — then dried, processed, or distilled according to its purpose. Grosso heads to the still for our bath and body line. Hidcote and Royal Velvet go to the kitchen for our culinary blends. Phenomenal bundles dry in the barn before becoming sachets and home fragrance. Big Time Blue and Fulgate lend their color and form to our decorative arrangements.
Nothing is wasted. Every part of every plant finds its place in a product — which means every product you buy carries the full character of the variety it came from.
Jim and Abby tend every row themselves, the same way they've approached everything in this chapter of their lives: with patience, curiosity, and a deep appreciation for doing things right. We're grateful you found us — and we hope our lavender brings a little of that Provençal calm into your everyday.