LAVENDERS!

    Grow in full sun or part shade. Plants on a slight mound or slope. Water deeply and infrequently; never more than once a week. Prune just after they bloom to keep them compact.

    Lavenders are grown from cuttings and from seed. Some named varieties are actually seed 'strains', so they vary. Others are cutting-grown clones.

    Lavandula angustifolia -- ENGLISH LAVENDER–Bloom earlier than Lavandins; shorter spikes, darker flowers.

    These have the strongest sweet lavender fragrance, although the L. x intermedia types produce greater quantities of oil. Very seasonal bloom (May - June here), and they often don't flower heavily until established.

    • ‘Hidcote’–compact, very tight growth to 1-2’ tall and wide, with darkest purple blue buds and flowers of any L.angustifolia variety. Foliage varies from green to very gray.
    • ‘Irene Doyle’–blooms in September. Described as having "dark aster violet" flowers.
    • ‘Lavender Lady’–similar to Munstead, but blooms the first year. The only lavender available in six-packs.
    • ‘Munstead’–to 1’, spreading, with light purple flowers. Foliage usually green, but may be gray-green.

    Lavandula dentata -- FRENCH LAVENDER -- 4’ x 6’ shrub with green, toothed leaves. Showy purple flowers spring through fall. Foliage is fragrant but flowers aren’t. Not common in the trade.

    • L. dentata candicans–Gray French lavender–evergreen shrub to 30" tall, 6’ wide, erect but eventually sprawling. Gray to gray-green leaves. Spikes of tiny purple flowers with showy, terminal purple bracts.

     

    L. x ‘Goodwin Creek’ -- 3’ x 4’ shrub has soft, densely woolly gray green leaves with coarsely serrate margins. Grown for great, gray leaves and attractive habit, but also ‘…produces an unending display of small very dark purple flowers…" in spring, summer, and fall. Reported hybrid of L. dentata and L. lanata. Medicinal scent.

     

    L. x intermedia -- LAVANDIN– Bloom later than English lavenders; longer flower spikes, fatter flowers.

    Hybrids of L. angustifolia and L. latifolia. Originally grown for lavender oil. Later cultivars were selected for showiness. Bloom June to July here.

    Forms of Lavandin include:

    • ‘du Provence’–To 3’ tall, spreading wider, with lots of flowers over a long season. Very fragrant.
    • ‘Dutch Mill’–to 2’ tall, 3’ wide, with flower stalks to 18-24" long. Rich deep purple flowers are extremely fragrant.
    • ‘Fred Boutin’ --. Fragrant violet flowers in late summer.
    • ‘Grosso’–compact growth with thick spikes of dark purple buds and purple flowers. Commercially grown for oil. Very fragrant.
    • ‘Twickel Purple’–A little redder than ‘Grosso’; more violet purple. Very fragrant. Sometimes listed as a form of English lavender.

    L. multifida -- FERNLEAF LAVENDER 2’ x 3’ shrub with soft, ferny, green foliage. Blue-violet flowers. Always in bloom. Tender; grown as annual here.

    L. pinnata buchii–3-4’ tall and wide with feathery gray-green leaves and stalks of dark purple flowers which open spirally along the cluster. Tops are frozen back at 25; usually grown as annual here.

    L. stoechas SPANISH LAVENDER Showy flowers from March well into summer, but not fragrant.

    • L. stoechas ‘Otto Quast’ -- a selection with especially large, showy light purple bracts.2 - 3’ tall, 3 - 4’ across. Prolific bloom over a long period.
    • L. stoechas pedunculata hybrids–New! Mostly very compact plants with showy flowers in shades of purple, pink, and white. Profuse bloomers, attract butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees. Grown for flowers, not fragrance. 'Barcelona', 'Chica', 'Coco', 'Madrid' are some new strains, all in a range of colors.


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    © 2004 Don Shor, Redwood Barn Nursery, Inc., 1607 Fifth Street, Davis, Ca 95616
    www.redwoodbarn.com
    Feel free to copy and distribute this article with attribution to this author.
    Click here for Don's other Davis Enterprise articles


     

    Revised 02/06