Lavender is a fragrant, easy-care plant that thrives in sunny locations, making it an ideal choice for borders, perennial gardens, and even as an informal hedge. With its silvery-green foliage, upright flower spikes, and compact shrub-like form, lavender adds stunning sweeps of color from early summer into fall.
Beyond its visual appeal, you can harvest lavender for fragrant floral arrangements, sachets, and potpourri or use it for culinary purposes. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about growing lavender, from common types and planting tips to landscape design ideas and culinary uses.
COMMON TYPES OF LAVENDER
While all lavender (Lavandula) originates from the Mediterranean region, there are many varieties offering a vast selection of bloom times, colors, flower forms, and sizes. Understanding the different lavender types is crucial for choosing the right one for your climate and gardening needs.
ENGLISH LAVENDER
Botanical name: L. angustifolia
Zones: 5-8
Bloom time: June to August
Height: 2 to 3 feet
Flower colors: Lavender, deep blue-purple, light pink, white
English lavender, despite its name, is native to the Mediterranean but earned its moniker because it grows well in England’s cooler climate and has long been a staple in English herb gardens.
With its gray-green foliage and whorls of tiny flowers, English lavender is one of the most attractive varieties in the garden. It’s also one of the most cold-hardy and best for culinary use due to its low camphor content.
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FRENCH LAVENDER
Botanical name: L. dentata
Zones: 8-11
Bloom time: Early summer to fall
Height: 36 inches and larger
Flower colors: Light purple
Also known as fringed lavender, French lavender is a showy variety distinguished by narrow, finely-toothed leaves and compact flower heads topped by purple bracts. While the flowers have less aroma than English lavender, the fleshy leaves are more fragrant, with an intoxicating rosemary-like scent.
SPANISH LAVENDER
Botanical name: L. stoechas
Zones: 8-11
Bloom time: Mid to late summer
Height: 18 to 24 inches
Flower colors: Deep purple
Spanish lavender is prized for its unusual pineapple-shaped blooms with colorful bracts, or “bunny ears,” that emerge from each flower spike. Although the flowers are not especially fragrant, the light-green leaves are very aromatic.
LAVANDIN
Botanical name: L. ×intermedia
Zones: 5-11
Bloom time: Mid to late summer
Height: 24 to 30 inches
Flower colors: Dark violet, white
Lavandin is a popular hybrid that combines the cold hardiness of English lavender with the heat tolerance of Portuguese lavender (L. latifolia). It typically starts blooming a few weeks later than most English lavenders and features long spikes of highly fragrant flowers. Although not considered edible due to its high camphor content, the flowers and foliage are often added to sachets and potpourris.
GROWING LAVENDER
Growing lavender is easy and rewarding, making it a fantastic choice for gardeners of all skill levels. Lavender can be grown in garden beds or pots, but it requires well-drained soil and full sun to thrive. In arid climates, lavender grows well as a perennial, but in humid regions, it is often grown as an annual. Following are some essential tips for growing lavender successfully:
- Purchase healthy lavender plants for your garden
- Bring them home and water them if you can’t plant them immediately
- Select a location that receives full sun
- Set the potted plants in different spots to decide where they look best
- Unpot, plant, and water your lavender
- Provide consistent watering until the lavender becomes established
- Prune back your lavender each spring
PLANTING & WATERING TIPS
Planting and soil: All lavender varieties require well-drained soil, especially during the winter months. To ensure good drainage, mix sand or gravel into the soil before planting lavender or grow the plants in mounds, raised beds, or on slopes. Instead of moisture-holding organic mulches, consider using rock or stone, especially in humid climates.
It’s also essential to check your soil’s pH, as lavender prefers slightly alkaline conditions. If your soil is too acidic, you can amend it with lime to accommodate your lavender plants better.
Watering: Overwatering is one of the most common mistakes when growing lavender. As a general rule, give your lavender a long soak to promote root growth, but avoid short and frequent watering cycles, which can lead to root rot. For example, large-scale growers like Cowlitz Falls Lavender Company in Randle, Washington, typically irrigate their lavender plants only twice a year.
HOW TO PRUNE LAVENDER
Once established, lavender is very low-maintenance, but should be pruned annually to prevent it from becoming woody and sprawling, leaving a hole in the middle. Here are some tips for pruning lavender:
- In Zone 7 and colder regions, prune after flowering in the spring.
- In Zones 8 and above, prune back after summer flowering.
- Prune lavender back by 1/3 to 1/2 its height to stimulate new growth.
- As plants mature, the lower stems become woody. Find the woody part of the stem and cut about 2 inches above it, being careful not to cut into the woody base.
- Throughout the blooming season, clip faded bloom stalks back to encourage repeat blooming.
CLIMATE CONSIDERATIONS
Lavender is a perennial that can last for several years under the right conditions. Because of its Mediterranean origin, lavender loves blazing hot sun and dry soil. If your lavender doesn’t thrive, it’s most likely due to overwatering, too much shade, and high humidity levels.
English lavenders and their hybrids are the best varieties for cooler climates since they are cold hardy north to Zone 5. However, they will grow best in a sheltered location with winter protection. For southern gardens in extremely hot, humid climates, Spanish and French lavenders are more tolerant of the moist conditions, but they should be spaced apart to allow good air circulation.
If your winters are too harsh or your soil is heavy and dense, consider growing lavender in containers. They will flourish as long as they receive at least 8 hours of direct sunlight a day and are planted in a high-quality potting mix with good drainage. In winter, bring your container plants indoors and place them in a sunny window.
POPULAR LAVENDER VARIETIES
With so many lavender varieties available, it can be challenging to choose the right one for your garden. Here are some popular options to consider:
‘Royal Velvet’ (L. angustifolia)
A showstopper English lavender producing velvety, richly colored navy and purple flower spikes on tall 2 to 2.5-foot stems. It blooms from late spring to early summer and is excellent for dried arrangements.
Sweet Romance® (L. angustifolia)
This variety grows 12 to 18 inches tall and blooms from early summer into fall. Its gray-green foliage is topped with rich purple flowers, perfect for fresh or dried bouquets.
Phenomenal (Lavandula x intermedia)
A fragrant mid- to late-summer bloomer that grows 24 to 30 inches tall and 48 to 54 inches wide. Good drainage is critical for this variety, making it ideal for containers or garden beds and borders.
‘Hidcote’ (L. angustifolia)
A compact cultivar growing 12 to 18 inches tall with slender flower spikes of tightly bunched dark purple-blue flowers and aromatic silvery foliage. Its low profile makes it a tidy hedge plant for herb or perennial gardens or alongside walkways.
‘Grosso’ (Lavandula ‘Grosso’)
This popular lavandin hybrid is the most fragrant of all lavenders and often used for scenting perfumes and sachets. It produces an abundance of large deep-violet flower spikes and grows to 3 feet tall and wide.
‘Munstead’ (L. angustifolia)
An early-flowering English lavender tolerant of tough conditions like heat, humidity, and drought. It grows to a compact height.
‘Munstead’ (L. angustifolia)
An early-flowering English lavender tolerant of tough conditions like heat, humidity, and drought. It grows to a compact height of 12 to 18 inches and produces masses of lavender blue flowers from late spring well into summer. Use as a border accent, in mass plantings, and in containers.
‘Provence’ (Lavandula x intermedia)
One of the tallest lavandin cultivars, growing to 3 feet with heavily scented flowers and foliage. It gets its name from the area in southeastern France where it is commercially grown for the perfume industry. Pale purple blooms on upright stems appear from June through August.
‘Thumbelina Leigh’ (L. angustifolia)
True to its name, this is a dwarf English lavender ideal for containers, low borders, and rock gardens. It produces a profusion of strongly fragrant, violet-blue flower spikes that bloom continuously from early to mid-summer.
‘Ellagance Ice’ (L. angustifolia)
This attractive English lavender cultivar features silvery white blooms with a light-blue blush. The large aromatic flower spikes bloom all summer and attract butterflies. Its compact bushy form makes it an excellent choice for containers.
‘Melissa’ (L. angustifolia)
An unusual pink-flowering English lavender that harmonizes beautifully with purple-flowering varieties. It has silvery foliage like other English lavenders but produces delicately scented light-pink flowers that gradually fade to white. It can grow to a height of 27 inches and blooms from late spring to early summer.
‘Buena Vista’ (L. angustifolia)
A rare twice-blooming English lavender cultivar that flowers in late spring and again in September, with a few flower spikes appearing in mid-summer. It produces bi-colored purple and deep blue flowers on stems that fan out around the plant, so the form is not as tidy as some other cultivars. Grows to a height of 18 to 24 inches with a similar spread.
DESIGN IDEAS FOR LAVENDER
Lavender’s versatility makes it a valuable addition to any garden or landscape design. Here are some creative ways to incorporate lavender into your outdoor spaces:
- Use lavender along walkways and garden paths where you can enjoy their scent and benefit from the heat reflected off the pavement.
- Plant in formal or informal herb gardens, where the cool, gray-green foliage sets off other green herbs and plants.
- Create aromatic hedges or borders along fences and garden walls.
- Use lavender as a natural pest repellent near patios and porches. The scent deters mosquitoes, flies, fleas, and other problem insects while attracting butterflies and bees.
- Plant with drought-tolerant companions such as coneflower, sedum, black-eyed Susan, roses, and shasta daisies.
IDEAS FOR USING LAVENDER IN THE KITCHEN
A member of the mint family, lavender has been used for centuries as a versatile, unexpected flavoring in both sweet and savory foods. English lavenders are the best varieties for culinary purposes, and both the buds and leaves can be used fresh or dried. Because the flavor of lavender is strong, use it sparingly so it won’t overpower your dishes. The buds are best harvested right before they fully open, when the essential oils are most potent. Here are some ideas for using lavender in the kitchen:
- Immerse a few dried lavender buds in a jar of sugar to give it a sweet aroma. Use the sugar for baking and in desserts.
- Chop the fresh buds and add to a cake batter or sweet pastry dough before baking.
- Add flower buds to preserves or fruit compotes to give them subtle spicy notes.
- Sprinkle fresh lavender on a salad as a garnish.
- Use fresh lavender to infuse teas, cocktails, and other beverages.
- Use chopped buds and leaves to flavor roast lamb, chicken, or rabbit.
- Make Herbes de Provence by blending dried lavender with thyme, savory, and rosemary.
With its stunning visual appeal, calming fragrance, and versatility in landscaping and culinary applications, lavender is a must-have plant for any garden. By understanding the different varieties, growing requirements, and design possibilities, you can create a gorgeous and functional lavender garden that will be the envy of your neighborhood.
FAQ’s
What is the growth process of lavender?
Lavender is an easy-care plant that grows best when planted in full sun and well-drained soil. With proper pruning each spring, lavender plants will produce fragrant flowers and remain compact and tidy.
What is the best month to plant lavender?
The best time to plant lavender is in the spring after the last frost has passed, allowing the plant to establish itself before hot summer temperatures arrive. For many regions, April or May is ideal for planting lavender.
How do I make my lavender plant smell stronger?
To make your lavender plant’s aroma more intense, prune it annually to encourage new growth which has the strongest fragrance. You can also gently rub the leaves to release their oils and scent.
What is the philosophy of lavender flower?
The lavender flower is associated with purity, calmness, and grace due to its soothing fragrance and elegant appearance. Its color represents spirituality, making it a symbol of serenity.
My ‘Provençal’ lavender plants are a few years old and very leggy, which is not so good since they line a walkway. How can I get them back into shape?
To rejuvenate your ‘Provençal’ lavender lining the walkway, begin by pruning them back in early spring, removing about one-third of the overall growth. Trim the leggy stems just above a set of healthy leaves or buds. Ensure you use sharp pruning shears to make clean cuts.
After pruning, provide them with well-draining soil and ample sunlight to encourage new growth. Regularly deadhead spent flowers to promote continuous blooming and maintain their compact shape.
