Welcome to the weekly Perfume Chat Room, perfumistas! I envision this chat room as a weekly drop-in spot online, where readers may ask questions, suggest fragrances, tell others their SOTD, comment on new releases or old favorites, and respond to each other. The perennial theme is fragrance, but we can interpret that broadly. This is meant to be a kind space, so please try not to give or take offense, and let’s all agree to disagree when opinions differ. In fragrance as in life, your mileage may vary! YMMV.

Today is Friday, September 16, and the weather has finally broken in my part of the world, meaning that we are finally getting cooler nights and less humid days. So I’ve been spending a lot of time in my garden, cleaning up the weedy mess it had become during July and August, when it really was too unpleasant to spend much time outside. We had so much rain this summer that the mosquitoes were just unbearable, no matter what I used for protection (including a fabulous coverup of hooded jacket and drawstring pants made entirely of mosquito netting!).

The rain also turbo-charged the weeds, which became jungle-like, and when it wasn’t raining, the humidity was almost intolerable, resulting in my being drenched in sweat after only minutes outside. Ugh!

The good part of all the rain was that the lavender and creeping rosemary I planted all along a new berm, that was created as part of a “dry creek” drainage system along the back of our house, have also flourished, and they smell wonderful! They also make the local pollinators very happy. I haven’t had much luck with lavender before, but this elevated berm in full sun is exactly what it likes and mimics the technique used in cultivated fields of lavender.

I used to think I didn’t care for lavender in fragrances, but my Jicky eau de toilette has converted me. I just love it (the EDT more than the eau de parfum, though both are beautiful). Do you have a favorite fragrance that features lavender?