Often associated with the famous purple fields of Provence, Lavandula angustifolia, also called English Lavender, is not native to England but to the Mediterranean. Ideal for garden borders, cooking and potpourri, this lavender also produces the best oils.
- Delightfully fragrant when brushed against or crushed, English Lavender is celebrated for the wispy inflorescences that adorn the tip of each upright stem creating lovely drifts of cool colors that sway in the summer breeze.
- Flowering typically occurs in early to mid-summer and tends to last 3-4 weeks. These Lavenders usually bloom once, but may enjoy a weak second flush after pruning.
- Blue-purple, lavender, violet-blue, or white-pink, are now available depending upon cultivar.
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- Equally attractive is the summer foliage of gray-green to green-purple, narrow leaves, which turns to gray-bronzed in the winter. It is aromatic when brushed against or crushed.
- English Lavender is hardy to zones 5-9. Not sure about your growing zone? Check here
- This semi-evergreen perennial typically grows in 2-3 ft (60-90 cm) upright clumps. The leaves are evergreen in warm winter climates.
- English Lavender is terrific for formal or informal edging along walkways, raised walls, and borders. Fabulous in beds, rock gardens, and in mass plantings. This is also the "queen of herbs" for herb gardens.
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- English Lavender performs best in full sun, in poor, alkaline, sandy soil with good drainage.
- Drought tolerant, deer and rabbit resistant, English Lavender is also a magnet for bees and butterflies!
- Can be propagated by stem cuttings taken in summer, clump division, or seeds.
- Best if sheared back about one-third after bloom period, with annual thinning of the number of stems on mature, woody plants.
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