Lovely Lavenders​

Most lavenders, such as this English lavender, flower for a few months starting in June.

All lavenders prefer full sun and well-draining soil.

'Anouk' is a common Spanish/French lavender is less hardy than the angustifolia species.

Bees love lavenders!

Butterflies also love lavender.

Lavenders' grey, green foliage are needle-like and fragrant.

'Anouk' Spanish Lavander shows off it's bunny ear flowers.

Cut back lavenders once they have finished flowering, but don't cut back too far.

Seedheads of the English lavender called 'Munstead'.

Common Name:  English Lavender
Botanical Name: Lavandula angustifolia
Family:                Lamiaceae      
Form:                  horizontal oval, spreading, fine texture
Genus:               Lavandula       
Species:             angustifolia  = "narrow leaf"
Plant Type:        sub-shrub evergreen        
Mature Size:       12-24" (30cm to 60cm) tall and wide
Origin:                 Europe, Western Mediterranean 
Hardiness Zone:  5 to 8
Foliage:              grey-green, evergreen, small needle-shaped, linear, fragrant
Flowers:             fragrant spikes 1–3" long on 4–12" stems, violet to blue                                       petals, Jun- Aug
Fruit:                   brown nut, Sep- Oct
Exposure:           sun
Soil:                    well-drained, arid, neutral to alkaline
Pruning:             cut back after flowering into soft growth 
Uses:                 to attract beneficial insects, pollinators, butterfly gardens,                                     containers, dried flowers, herb, fragrant gardens, massing,                                    borders, rockeries, ground cover, cut flower, hedge, small                                    gardens, xeriscaping
Cultivars:           'Hidcote', 'Munstead' are hardy and are superbly scented

​Comments: Contains essential oil and is used for potpourris, sachets, and soaps. It is also used as a culinary herb. The Munstead English lavender is the hardiest of all and still boasts a heady scent. Mudstead is nice and compact while Hidcote boasts the strongest scent. Spanish lavender (L. stoechas) bear large flower heads with odd petals (bracts) that stick out. It is not as hardy as English lavender, with a  hardiness zones of 8 to 9. 
 
Spanish/French Lavender, (L. stoechas): Native to the Mediterranean region, are not as hardy as the English lavender with a hardiness rating of Zone 8, but are more heat and drought tolerant than the angustifolia species. There flowers are also  shorter and are topped with petals that resemble bunny ears, but they are neither, they are actually bracts. Cultivars include flowers in blue, white, purple or pink. 

When cutting lavenders to dry, pick them in the morning when they are dry, just after the morning dew has evaporated.

Dry lavender flowers just as the individual flowers at the bottom of the blossom start to open.

Be aware that lavenders grown as small trees are less hardy than ones in the ground.