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Lavenders blossom in a range of hues—everything from blue-violet to mauve to white
Photo by Quincy Benton
Of all the plants in my garden, lavender ranks among my favorites. I’ve grown Spanish lavender and French lavender, but I prefer English lavender. These evergreen shrubs grow vigorously throughout my gardens.
If you’re on a budget, consider buying small plants, keeping them in containers through the summer, then adding them to your landscape in fall. I’ve read that lavenders will grow in pots in a sunny window over winter, but I’ve never tried that. Maybe this year I will, because I really, really, really dig these plants. So do bees and butterflies.
In Denver, lavender is easy to grow. All you need is sun and some well drained soil. Though they flower and flower, they need no fertilizer. They prefer good circulation. To keep them from getting ratty and woody, trim them back after blooming.
The fragrance from this hardy perennial always soothes me and excites me—and in aromatherapy, lavender is one of the only essential oils with both properties. Regardless of the season, I like to keep some lavender on my writing desk. Named from the Latin word “lavendare” meaning “to cleanse,” the herb’s scent seems perfect to clear my head.
When lavender flowers, I harvest lots. If you harvest before the flowers open all the way, you’ll capture the fragrance at its peak. The wands of purple flowers make pretty dried bouquets, though they are fragile and will make a mess if you rough them up. I used to tuck the flowers in with my linens, but when the buds crumble, the little individual, oblong buds look way too much like mouse droppings, which used to freak me out when I’d open the linen drawer.
Now, instead, I fill little muslin bags—available at cooking stores—with lavender buds and then tuck the sachets into drawers and linens and also my luggage to keep it fresh. All you need to do to reactivate the scent is to squeeze the sachet, releasing the intoxicatingly lovely perfume.
If you’re hosting a formal dinner party, float some lavender in finger bowls. But if you plan to use the flowers to flavor ice cream or wine or anything else, stick with lavendula augustifolia because many of the other varieties contain chemicals that can prove toxic.
You can easily make lavender vinegar by steeping the flowers in white vinegar. Add the vinegar to your bath for a refreshing, astringent effect—the perfect antidote after a long, hot, hard day’s work in the garden.
Lavender, of course, is a color, too, but lavenders blossom in a range of hues—everything from blue-violet to mauve to white. I’m still in my white period, obsessing over all white blossoms, so I might seek out ‘Alba’ or ‘Nana Alba’ for my collection.
For more info: If you can’t grow lavender, here’s the next best thing: Lavender essential oil. I’ve tried many, but this one is, in my opinion, by far the best. I visited this organic lavender farm in the Santa Inez Valley near Los Olivos, California, about five years ago; and I’ve ordered all my lavender oil from them ever since. Visit Clairmont Farms on line to see fields of lavender and learn about the many uses of lavender.
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