Last month I wrote on ‘In Praise of Rosemary' and continuing that theme, this month I will sing the praises of Lavandula! To repeat from my last blog, out in the up-country areas of Solano County, water is expensive, deer are plentiful, and the sun is hot, burning down all day with little shade for relief. What does a gardener do combat these elements? My answer is to plant Lavandula…many kinds, many uses!

Lavender is very drought tolerant…the deer won't touch it…it grows well in scorching all-day summer sun…it attracts pollinators like honeybees and hummingbirds…the aroma is awesome…you can use dried spikes of flowers to make fragrant wreaths, water, soap…and some types have culinary uses. I'm singing dear reader, I'm singing!

According to Wikipedia, “Lavandula (common name lavender) is a genus of 47 known species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae.” One of the most common is L. angustiflolia (L. officionalis, L. vera) or English Lavender. This is one of the two (L. x intermedia is the other) that can be used in food, to flavor water, pastries, or salad. According to the Sunset Western Garden Book, you should not use other types of lavender for consumption due to “harmful chemicals that should not be ingested.” Most of the cultivars of this type grow to 1 ½ to 2 feet high and wide, but one, ‘Thumbelina Leigh' is but 6” high and 12” wide!

So many to choose from, there is L. stoechas, Spanish Lavender, which has a completely different type of flower spike and comes in colors of white, pink and purple. Or L. dentata, French Lavender, or L. x intermedia, Hedge Lavender, that can grow to 3 to 4 feet high and wide. The possibilities are endless.

To grow lavender well, the plants need lots of sunlight, well-drained soil, (but I've found they will tolerate poor soil), little or no fertilizer, and low water. Too much water can rot the plant or reduce flower production, although the plant needs water to establish in its first year of growing. In most of California, lavender is a short-lived herbaceous perennial (most start to decline after 10 years), and the key to keeping your plant looking neat and around for a while is to prune for shape and shear back every year by 1/3 to 1/2 after blooming. Always shear a bit into the leaves, not just the flower spikes. To get you started, here are a few UC links, or go to the https://ucanr.edu/ website and search for Lavender, there are many articles to help you decide where to start. http://sonomamg.ucanr.edu/Plant_of_the_Month/Lavender/ https://ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=17376

I love to walk out in the morning and brush against the aromatic foliage or touch the flowers and inhale their calming fragrance. I will leave you with two photos of lavender from my garden.