English lavender
Lavandula angustifolia
 
With its aromatic leaves and flowers, is often considered an herb, but it is actually an herbaceous perennial with a semi-woody growth habit.  A member of the mint family, its woody stems are often cut back to ground level each year.  It is often grown to produce leaves and flowers to dry for sachets and potpourris, but it is also a very attractive garden plant with vibrant purple flowers.
This plant is typically 0.5 to 1 metre tall, with narrow, gray-green 6cm leaves on square stems.  The bluish-purple flowers appear late spring to early summer.  In warmer climates, the leaves may be evergreen.  This plant provides good mid-summer color to the garden and is often used in perennial borders, rock gardens, as well as in herb gardens and scent gardens.  Its intermediate height makes it just about right for the middle row in a decorative border comprised of shorter annual flowers in the front and taller shrubs or trees in the back.  It also works well when massed, and is sometimes used as a low hedge.  This aromatic plant is very attractive to butterflies, and also has the advantage of repelling deer as well as cats.
 
Plant Type: Herbaceous flowering perennial
Mature Size:  0.5 to 1 metre tall, with a spread of 50 to 120cm
Sun Exposure: Full sun
Soil Type:  Prefers dry to medium, well-drained, slightly alkaline soil
Soil pH6.7 to 7.3
Bloom Time:  Mid-summer; blooms slightly earlier in warm climates
Flower Colour:  Blue to purple
Hardiness Zones:  5 to 8
Native Area:  Mediterranean regions
 
How to Grow English Lavender
English lavender must be planted in a relatively sandy, well-drained soil; damp soils frequently cause root rot.  Strive for a soil similar to its native Mediterranean region; adding organic material to the soil is not only unnecessary but may cause problems.  To combat humidity problems, it is best to mulch them with rock or gravel rather than organic mulch.  Space the plants 30 to 90cm apart.  If desired, prune the plants back to within 20cm of the ground in early spring to control the size of the plant and promote new growth.  At the northern edge of the hardiness range, these plants should be protected over winter with a thick layer of mulch until spring.
Light
Grow English lavender in full sun.  Shady locations usually cause the plant to get leggy, with lowered flower production.  In very hot climates, though, the plants respond well to some shade in the heat of the afternoon.
Soil
This plant likes sandy, somewhat dry soils with a slightly alkaline pH.
Water
Young plants should be watered well, but once established they are quite drought-tolerant and don't like too much water.
Temperature and Humidity
These plants grow best in conditions that are warm but not oppressively hot, and which are relatively dry.  They respond poorly to very humid weather conditions.
Fertilizer
Feeding is usually not necessary with English lavender.
 
20 Seeds per Pack
Each Pack comes with Full Growing Instructions.
All seeds are FREE POSTAGE Australia wide.