So many reasons to love different types of lavender!
Lavender is such an awing flora . It blooms for weeks in summertime , does n’t need a lot of maintenance , take in bee and butterflies but dissuade deer , make a great gain to recipes and , of form , smell fantastic ! The flowers , stems and foliation are load with oil that may occasionally waft through the garden on a tender breeze . But you ’ll get the most intense experience by running your hands through the bow to eject the aromatic oils . you may even use it to for this well-fixed - to - makesugar scrub .
Growing lavender
There are about 30 species of lavender and one C of cultivars . While you might think of it as a perennial , lavender is actually a suffrutex , which means it develops a woody Qaeda as it age , but its long foliage - covered stems die back in cold winters .
Keep lavender healthy
Add fragrance to your garden with lavender
All lavender are fragrant , but some cultivars have a higher density of oils in the leaf , which makes the aroma more pronounced . Soil and atmospheric condition can affect oil color product , too . Most flowers are sunglasses of purple , but there are also pink or ashen prime . lease ’s meet a few metal money and their cultivar .
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Which type of lavender will you grow?
English lavenderLavandula angustifolia
This is the classical lavender . It has a strong , sweet-smelling scent and long halt that are topped by lavender to cryptic purple flowers . Deadheading encourage many cultivars to have a light rebloom . English lavenderis used in cooking , craft and dry out arrangements . Stick with varieties that have deep purplish bloom of youth for drying — they hold their semblance longer and look better than the pink- or white - bloom varieties .
English lavender is one of the cold - hardy and easiest to find in garden centers . ‘Hidcote’in the picture above has been around a tenacious time — those deep imperial blooms show you why . It produce 2 to 3 feet tall and wide . Petite Sweet Romance ® grows just 12 to 18 inches tall and wide and also has over-embellished blooms . get it in a container on the step to revel as you walk by . If you want to mix thing up a flake , mature ‘ Miss Katherine ’ English lavender which has pale pink salad days and maturate 15 to 18 inch improbable .
BloomsPurple , blue , pink or white in late spring to early summerSize1 to 4 ft . tall , 1 to 5 ft . wideHardinessCold hardy in USDA zones 5 to 9
LavandinLavandulaxintermedia
Lavandin is a cross between the two speciesL. angustifoliaandL. latifoliawith a more camphorlike scent than English lavender . It ’s known for its long , solid stem ( some can get up to 2 feet longsighted ) and gamey crude content . That gives it lots of fragrance — perfect for lilac wand , dry out arrangements or projects , such as soap .
Those long , slender stems give lavandin a grasslike coming into court that ’s easy to work into any perennial moulding . Compact ‘ Gros Bleu ’ is a tried - and - lawful multifariousness that grows 24 to 30 inches tall and panoptic . For a taller plant with a solid fragrance , sample ‘ Provence ’ that grows 2 to 3 feet tall and wide . Phenomenal ® is getting ravereviews for cold - hardiness , returning reliably in USDA zona 5.It also has good impedance to fungal disease , which can have problem for many types of lavender in humid climate .
BloomsShades of purple or blank in midsummerSize2 to 5 ft . tall , 2 to 6 foot . wideHardinessCold brave USDA zones 5 to 8
French lavenderLavandula dentata
The silver - gray , toothed leafage of French lavender looks like it ’s been trimmed with pinking shears . It has a sweet scent good for function in sachet , miscellany and other trade . It ’s not ordinarily used in cookery . The big lavender blooms originate in previous outflow and keep on snuff it until fall .
This metal money is more tolerant of humidity than English lavenderbut it is n’t very cold - hardy . Where it ’s not hardy , grow petite varieties , such as 12- to 14 - column inch - tall - and - wide Evermore Blue , in a container on the patio where you’re able to enjoy those pretty leaves and its endearing fragrance . Most French lavenders have fleeceable foliage , but ‘ Linda Ligon ’ has maverick cream variegation .
BloomsPurple in late spring to summerSize2 to 4 ft . improbable , 2 to 3 ft . wideCold hardinessCold hardy in USDA zone 9 to 10
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Spanish lavenderLavandula stoechas
You ca n’t miss the distinctive bloom ofSpanish lavender — they look like they could fly right off the stem . The little “ flag ” on top is a bract , a small leaf-like social organisation , that vary in length , depending on the cultivar . The metal money , above left , flowers purple . Cultivar Bandera Pink ( above , right ) grows just 7 to 9 in marvelous and 10 to 12 inches wide . It ’s a good prospect for any spot where you need a drouth tolerant front of - the - border industrial plant . you’re able to also find white - blossom Lavela Compact White which grows 13 to 15 inches grandiloquent and 10 to 12 inch wide . Once that first flush of blooms is done , remove the spent bloom for a 2nd showing . For a jazzy blossom grow ‘ Anouk ’ that has cryptic purple salad days and a mauve signal flag . It raise 24 to 30 inch improbable and wide-eyed .
Where summer are humid , Spanish lavender is the unspoiled choice . It tolerates muggy conditions without fungous disease ruining its thoroughly - looking smooth-spoken - gray foliage .
BloomsPurple , pinkish or snowy in spring to summerSize1 to 4 ft . grandiloquent , 1 to 5 ft . wideHardinessCold hardy in USDA zones 8 to 11
