Plant Profile: Lavender
A detailed look at the Uses, Care and Varieties of the Lavendula Spe
An in-depth profile of a favorite herb plant, Lavender. Learn why the lavender plant is prized in the garden and how to select and care for one in your own landscape.
For this month’s plant highlight I want to introduce you to one of my favorite herbs, Lavender. With a famous scent, and a delightful, cottage-garden look in the landscape, lavender plant will earn a place in anyone's heart.
Botanical Name: Lavender plant goes by the scientific name, Lavendula spp.
Hardiness Zone: 5-10 depending on variety
Bloom Time and Color: The lavender plant blooms in the summer with long-lasting, fragrant flowers. The purple flowers for which lavender gets its name grow on sturdy stalks up to 4' tall depending on the variety. Attractive to both bees and butterflies, lavender flower pollen is mildly allergic to some people. (rare)
Plant Category: Lavender is a perennial herb plant although some varieties are treated as annuals.
Folliage: The foliage of the lavender plant is semi-evergreen and finely-textured making it an excellent choice to blend with other plants in a mixed border. Lavender has silvery-green folliage that is also aromatic.
Growth Habit: Lavender has an upright, bushy growth habit and is usually as wide as it is tall.
Preferred Conditions: Lavender thrives in well-drained soil and full sun. It can handle periods of semi-drought once fully established, making it a nice herb choice for a "water-wise" garden or in arid areas. Lavender tolerates sandy soil conditions as long as the drainage is good.
Maintenance: Little pruning is needed to keep this woody stemmed plant looking good but any gentle shaping can be done in the spring. In my garden it was the neglected wild child and it flourished with this care. In fact, in the book Southern Herb Growing the authors make this comment regarding care of the variety Lavender angustifolia, "We recommend planting them in the driest area you have, in full sun, and neglecting them a lot."
Propagation Methods: Lavender can be started from seed indoors and brought outside when it has more than one true stem. It is also propagated through cuttings or layering.
Companion Plants: Choose companion plants whose shape and structure contrast nicely such as Allium or Butterfly Weed. Other popular plants to partner with lavenders are scented plants such as Roses, Rosemary or Daylillies.
Uses in the Garden: With outstanding fragrance, beautiful blooms and pleasant silhouette the lavender can be used as a specimen plant, in a large container, or in a variety of other garden situations. A favorite in herb gardens, kitchen, cottage, English heirlooms and cut flower gardens you can also use it anywhere you want to add some scent along a pathway or near an entrance way. Effective in mass plantings or as a low hedge also.
Other Uses: The blooms make great additions to cut flower bouquets where they add fragrance to a vase of flowers you bring in the house. Highly prized for its scent, the entire plant is also used commercially to make essential oils and potpourri. Many home growers choose to use them in their own potpourri blends or in home crafts. If you want to dry the flower stalks for everlasting bouquets, wreaths or other crafts you’ll want to cut the stalks when the flowers show their color, but before the buds are completely opened.
Also used in natural health care products, many homemade! Find a recipe here for a lavender and milk bath sachet.
The blossoms, while usually grown for their fragrance, are edible and make a unique garnish for salads. Often used in jellies, sauces and herb vinegars it is the "secret spice" that gives food in Provence its unusual flavor.
Lavendula angustifolia – Common or English Lavender
This is the most common variety of lavender and it grows 2-3’ tall and wide. It is the classic lavender colored blossoms and the easiest to grow for beginners. Hardy to zone 5 it doesn't always fair as well along the Gulf Coast where it must fight the muggy summers.
L. angustifolia 'Munstead' – Dwarf English Lavender
This variety has paler color blooms and only grows to 12-18" tall and wide. Great for a miniature garden or in a container. I used mine for edging a more narrow flower bed and had plenty of room to plant other perennials behind it.
L. angustifolia ‘Hidcote’ – Hidcote Lavender
The mid-sized lavender this variety has deep purple blooms and grows 18" tall and wide.
Lavendula dentata - French Lavender
Suitable for humid southern gardens this Lavender is not as cold hardy and would need to be lifted and brought indoors before a frost. Long-lasting flowers on a plant that seems to be constantly in bloom make this a favorite for warm-climate gardeners.
Whatever variety you choose to plant in your garden you are sure to be pleased with the care-free nature of this plant, and its generous fragrance.
