LAVENDER - COMMON ENGLISH

Organic Lavender Common English

        100 Seeds Pack    

It is widely believed that lavender first originated from the Mediterranean, the Middle East and India, around 2500 years ago.  It’s known that the Egyptians made perfumes with lavender and when Tutankhamun’s tomb was opened, traces of lavender were found and its scent could still be detected. Lavender is thought to have been originally introduced to the UK several thousand years ago by the Romans. Being a natural antiseptic, it was used amongst other things to dress battle wounds. In fact, the Romans had many uses for the plant and they employed it to help repel insects, to cook and to wash with. Lavender is one of the oldest perfumes used in England and in the 1500’s, Queen Elizabeth I used it both as a perfume and in her tea to treat migraines.  

Lavandula (common name lavender) is a genus of 47 known species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), with its aromatic leaves and sweetly fragrant flower spikes, is often considered an herb. But it is actually an herbaceous perennial with a semi-woody growth habit. 

A dwarf shrub that is broadly mounded, English lavender grows up to 2 feet tall and 3 feet wide. Dense spikes of fragrant, pale to deep purple, summer flowers and steely, grey-green foliage. This compact English lavender makes a fabulous, flowering informal hedge. Perfect for a sunny, well-drained site the fragrant flower-spikes are highly attractive to bees and other beneficial insects. 

    PLANTING & GROWING

Soaking needs to be done at least a few hours before planting, and preferably overnight. To prevent damping off when starting seeds indoors, it’s essential that you disinfect all of your pots, plastic grow trays, seed cells, and seedling tray covers before you reuse them. 

Can grow in plant containers in your balcony garden or inside near a sunny window. If you don’t have a suitable garden spot, try a container instead.  A pot that’s at least 8 inches wide and it has drainage holes. Due to sensitive roots, repotting is best avoided. Instead, make sure you choose a suitable growing container for your seeds right from the start.

Lavender hates heavy wet soils particularly in winter and it also dislikes shade. Even though English lavender is generally hardy throughout the UK, avoid planting in cold spots. Don’t prune it hard into old, bare wood as it will not regenerate well.   

Lavender can be sown at anytime of year but prefers the ground temperature to be around 13 to 18°C (55 to 65°F).  When large enough to handle, transplant seedlings into 7.5cm (3in) pots. Acclimatise to outdoor conditions for 10 to 15 days before planting out after all risk of frost, 45cm (18in) apart.  

Grow English lavender in full sun. Shady locations usually cause the plant to become leggy produce fewer blooms. In very hot climates, though, the plants respond well to some shade in the heat of the afternoon.  Lavenders do best in moderately fertile, well-drained, alkaline soils.

Lavenders should be pruned every year to keep them in a tidy shrub form. Pruning or trimming should be done each year in late summer, as soon as the blooms have faded, so that the bushes have time to make a little new growth before winter. On established plants use secateurs to remove flower stalks and about 2.5cm (1in) of the current year’s growth, making sure that some green growth remains. Hard pruning is sometimes done in April, but this means the loss of a season’s flowers.

Good Companion plants that help lavender grow: basil, mint, rosemary and thyme. Lavender is very particular in its growing requirements. It needs full sun, little water, and little to no fertilizer. It’s usually happiest if left alone. This means that if you place it next to a plant that prefers more attention, one of them is going to suffer. Some brassicas that may benefit as lavender companions.