Loads of lavender gives
Growing lavender is a snip, but which varieties should you grow? Lavender is eternal. It makes us think of sewing lavender sachets for Christmas presents and century-old cottages with lavender-filled gardens.
This Mediterranean member of the mint family is still one of our most popular and versatile garden plants.
It can be grown in pots, as a ground cover or border or a hedge. It’s also a favourite with bees, so growing it is a virtue.
Growing instructions
Lavender is happiest in sandy, stony soils – wet, clay soils are its nemesis (particularly for the variety angustifolia), so if this is your situation, work sand and grit into the soil to avoid root rot and fungal infections.
If you experience particularly humid summers and lavender has failed previously, grow it in a pot. Deadhead during the growing season and give them a hard prune (by one-third) once a year to stop them from getting woody.
Varieties
There are 47 known species and more than 450 varieties.
The common names English lavender and French lavender for certain species are rather misleading as English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia ) is actually from Catalonia and the Pyrenees, while French lavenders (applied to dentata and stoechas species) hail from Mediterranean countries.
Angustifolia is said to have the best fragrance and is best for cooking.
Plants have greyish-green narrow leaves and are relatively