LAVANDULA. Lavender. Mediterranean region to India. Though they have been with us for many years, the lavenders continue to gain new fans. Their combination of compact habit and moderate size, grey foliage and contrasting flowers, and pleasant aroma are all endearing features. One can only hope that gardeners are not ignoring their limitations: Intolerance of poor soil drainage and winter wet plus, in some cases, tenderness to cold. These are useful shrubs for sunny borders and open banks, and widely used in a new gardening style I would describe as Mediterranean Menagerie. Sun, well drained soil, moderate to occasional watering. Hardiness is noted below.
angustifolia (spica, vera, officinalis). English lavender. Compact shrubs varying from under 1’ to 4’ in height. All have rather tightly packed, narrow grey leaves with a spicy perfume. The purple to white flower clusters are borne well above the foliage in summer. ‘Hidcote’ is a dwarf plant (usually around 1’) with bright grey leaves and deep purple flowers. ‘Jean Davis’ grows 1½-2’ and has light pink flowers. ‘Martha Roderick’ (selected by Mrs. Roderick) is a particularly dense plant of about 1½’ with greyish green, sweetly scented foliage and bright lavender flowers. Hardy to 0oF or less.
‘Goodwin Creek Grey’. Hybrid lavender. This recent hybrid captures some of the best qualities of French lavender, L. dentata, but apparently without some of its liabilities. It is bushy and nearly upright, growing 2-3’ tall. Both stems and leaves are densely hairy, creating a beautiful bright grey cast overall. The leaves are scalloped in the manner of L. dentata only along their outer half. Flowers are small but of deep lavender color, approaching violet. They are clustered on wandlike stems, well above the foliage. Hardy to 20oF or less.
x intermedia. This is something of a catch-all name for hybrids between L. angustifolia, above, and L. latifolia. Nursery and garden cultivars belonging to this group are generally characterized by the relatively short stems of L. angustifolia, considerably longer leaves and tall flower stems. ‘Fred Boutin’ is named for an outstanding horticulturist, formerly of Huntington Botanical Gardens, who made the selection and supplied material for propagation. It makes congested mounds, under 12" tall excluding the blooming stems, with nearly white leaves up to 3" long. The slender, branched flower stems rise about 2’, displaying small, typical lavender blossoms. A better-known selection, with greener (and in my mind, less interesting) leaves and taller stems, is ‘Provence’. The whole plant is richly aromatic and used in the commercial manufacture of perfumes. Still another, most valued for its hardiness but attractive, too, for its rather bright lavender blossoms, is ‘Grosso’. Finally, ‘Alba’ is novel for its white flowers, borne on 2-3’ stems; the leaves are lighter green than those of other selections. Probably 0oF.
lanata. Southern Spain. I received this plant several years ago from the late Marshall Olbrich. Now, after several false starts (it is one of the more difficult to propagate), it is finally ready to distribute. This is a chunky little shrub, the body of the plant only a little over 1’ high. The narrow 2" leaves and stems are completely clothed in white wool, and powerfully aromatic. In late summer, slender stalks rise 1-2’ above the foliage, carrying small clusters of lavender flowers. Of all the species I have grown, this one is the most demanding of good soil drainage, and one of the best for exposed banks. 15oF or less.
‘Lisa Marie’. Most hybrid lavenders have been chance volunteers in mixed plantings or selections from seedling crops in commercial nurseries. This one resulted recently from deliberate crosses and seedling trials by Ken Montgomery, using L. lanata, just described, and L. angustifolia ‘Martha Roderick’ as parents. It is a bushy plant, growing about 18" high, with striking grey leaves. Bright purple flowers with white centers complete a fine display. Interestingly, it has shown none of the susceptibility suffered by L. lanata to botrytis and other wet-weather diseases. 15oF or less.
pinnata. Madeira and the Canary Islands. This is one of the tender species mentioned above, though less so than others I have grown. It grows about 3’ tall, with many stems from the base. The leaves are up to 3" long, divided feather-like into several grey green leaflets with lighter undersurface. 2-3’ clusters of bright lavender flowers are carried well above the foliage from late spring to fall. It is one of the least disease prone of the lavenders. Around 20oF.
stoechas. Spanish lavender. An erect, dense shrub of about 3’, with narrow blue-grey leaves. It is liberally dotted in summer by short clusters of lavender flowers, each cluster topped by a crown of showy purple bracts. Our own representation is ‘Wings of Night’, selected by Ted Kipping. It is distinguished by exceptionally bushy growth, heavy flowering and large, dark floral bracts. Better known is ‘Otto Quast’, equally compact but slightly more upright, with smaller but similarly dark bracts. An unnamed white-flowered form (or hybrid) with unusually large leaves was recently received. Probably 10oF. or less.