Best Lavenders for Pots and Containers

What could be more delightful than a big pot of lavender in full bloom, set next to a doorway, greeting all passersby with its heavenly fragrance and colorful blossoms? Lavender (Lavandula) is a very attractive perennial that enjoys a long flowering season and is fairly easy to grow. Since not all lavenders are hardy, containers provide the opportunity to grow Lavender that would otherwise not be suited to your garden. Place them in a sunny spot (at least 6 hours of sunshine per day), provide the right soil and plenty of drainage, and your Lavender will happily blossom and grow!

Dozens of Lavender varieties are available and finding the right Lavender plant for your favorite containers is not always an easy task. To assist you in selecting the right plant, we have prepared this guide, which we hope will be helpful to you.

Main Lavender Types for Pots & Containers

• Lavandula angustifolia, also called True Lavender or Common Lavender has long been cultivated for its high-quality lavender oil. Cultivars of this species tend to be compact in habit and have grayish-green narrow leaves and relatively short compact flower spikes. Flowering typically occurs from late spring to midsummer. Small-growing Lavender cultivars are ideally suited for containers as they keep a reasonably compact and small form naturally. Larger Lavender varieties can also be grown in containers, but they will need to be either transplanted to the garden after a couple of years or planted in a larger container.
• Lavandula stoechas, also called French Lavender, Spanish Lavender, or Butterfly Lavender, is recognizable by the conspicuous sterile bracts resembling extravagant ears, on top of the short dense inflorescence. Grown for their silvery aromatic leaves, the very distinctive flowers, however, steal the show with their pronounced “ears” sprouting from each flower head. This Lavender loves hot weather but is more tender (Hardiness 8-9) than other Lavenders. Flowering typically occurs from mid-spring to late summer.

Suggested Lavender Varieties

There are many varieties of Lavender, including dwarf cultivars which are ideal for container growing and can be clipped into decorative balls and cones. Obviously, compact varieties make the best choices.