Plant of the Month - Lavender

Lavender

Classic, elegant, & fragrant

Plant: English Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) / Italian Lavender (Lavandula stoechas)

 One of the classic English countryside flowers is the humble lavender. An easy-to-grow flower that conveys elegance & that incredible serene scent. Whilst there are four main groups of lavender, we only grow two types in the Entally gardens – English Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) and Italian Lavender (Lavandula stoechas).

English Lavender is considered to be the “true lavender”, with tall slender stems of brilliantly purple flowers, used in potpourri & oils. Italian Lavender however have two pale purple “wings” adorning the top of the flower, which are normally squatter than the English variety.

Being a Mediterranean plant, lavender shrubs appreciate full sun and grow towards the light. Our English Lavender are planted in our North Lawn garden beds and in the centre of our Walled Garden, where the sun has easy access to the bushes, with little shade. The Italian Lavender can be found on a little jaunt down past the Conservatory, in the Vegetable Garden maintained by TasTafe Horticulture students. Here it grows in neat rows against the fence, protected by the large fruit trees. The local bee population loves the flowers!

Needing well-draining soil to produce a good root system, these plants can grow quickly in the right conditions. We prune the bushes back by a third after their flowering, to encourage a bushy shape, and more flowers. As they age, they can become woody and leggy.

After January when the flowers are at their peak, long stems can be cut off with a sharp pair of secateurs, bundled together carefully, and dried. We hang the bundles on beams in the Maker’s Cottage and allow them to air dry for three weeks until completely dry – this method is the gentlest on the flower and allows it to maintain some of the stunning purple colouring. After it is dried, we spray it with unscented hairspray for protection (and to minimise bits failing off!) and use it in our House flower displays.