Growing Herbs

One of the most traditional herb garden plants is lavender, and the most widely planted and used species is English lavender (L. spica). The woody, upright stems grow 100-130cm high, and each plant spreads to about 100cm across. Leaves are gray and narrow, about 5cm long with smooth margins. Lavender colored flowers grow on 60cm long spikes at the ends of the stems in July and August. There are several dwarf varieties of L. spica. 'Compacta' is 20cm tall, 30-40cm wide, with deep purple flowers. 'Munstead' is a popular dwarf, 18 inches tall with deep lavender-blue flowers. 'Hidcote' grows slowly to about 1 foot and has purple flowers. 'Twickel Purple' 60-90cm, has fan-like clusters of purple flowers on extra long stalks.

French lavender (L. dentata) reaches about 90cm high and has bright green, 4cm leaves with square toothed edges. Lavender-purple flowers grow in short, blunt clusters, each topped with a tuft of petal-like bracts. In mild winter climates it blooms almost continually. There is also a gray-leafed variety: L. d. candicans.

Spanish lavender (L. stoechas) is a 45-90cm tall, stocky plant with short and narrow gray leaves. The flowers are dark purple and about 3mm long growing in dense, short flower spikes topped with a tuft of large purple petal-like bracts. They bloom in the early summer.
Spike lavender (L. latifolia) looks much like English lavender but has broader leaves and flower stalks that often are branched.

Lavender has always been highly prized for the fragrance of its blossoms. They have been used to perfume soaps, pillows, bath and toilet waters, and even the stuffings of chairs. Medicinally, lavender was used to revive a person from a faint or swoon.

All the lavenders need sun and loose, fast draining soil. Prune immediately after blooming to keep plants compact and neat. Grow from small plants bought at the nursery, seeds sown in flats, or from stem cuttings with a heel on the end.

Use the flowers for their fragrance in potpourris, sachets, perfumed baths, and flower arrangements. Harvest when they are in full bloom. The plants are often grown as an edging or hedge in the garden.

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