The Timeless Beauty of Lavender
As long as I can remember I have always loved lavender. I love the dainty flowers and beautiful silvery texture. Some of my favorite memories of lavender are my long roads trip to mexico as a child. Every year around June, the same time lavender is in full bloom, we would drive past fields and fields of this timeless beauty and the hues of vibrant purple were eye catching. It brought me so much joy. It’s one of my most vivid memories from childhood. I’m pretty sure no one else in the car, besides maybe my mom, seemed to notice.
The only thing missing in that car ride was the ability to smell the lavender. Lavendar has the aroma of heaven. It is highly floral and also sweet. This is one of the reasons I love incorporating it in my flower bed garden design.
A few years ago I planted lavender near my river in soil with not much nutrients. Which is actually great for lavender. It does well in poor soil and doesn’t need a lot of moisture….it actually prefers it. Anyway, I bought around 17 plants and created a beautiful hedge for a little bit of structure. I wanted to create something that was calming. I didn’t realize that you have to prune it every spring or early fall or it will go woody, which becomes unsightly with fewer blooms. Sure enough, I didn’t prune it down. Oops. I hurried and ran to the nursery, and bought 17 more. I hid all this from my husband. Consider this my confession.
Key tips for growing Beautiful Lavender
Lavender loves the sun and heat. Make sure you give it at least 6-8 hours of daily sun. If you don’t it will be on the leggy side. Unfortunately, some of mine are a little more leggy along my hedge because of a big trees that shades one side. I don’t care that much because not everything has to be perfect, right? At least I have the beautiful hedge to look at outside my bedroom window.
As I mentioned earlier, make sure to prune late spring or early fall. Cutting them down in late fall raises the risk of winter damage. Prune above the stems 2 to 3 inches above the woody stem. If you prune into the woody part it wont grow back. I use an electric hedger since I have so many. It makes it so much easier. I can’t imagine pruning each one by hand.
Don’t overwater! We had an extreme heat wave this year. We received almost no rainfall, survived an extreme drought, and the lavender required very little water. They are younger plants too. Older plants can go with even a little less because the roots are deeper and more established. Watering about once a week for established plants is a good rule of thumb.
Trim off the first wave of flowers, once they are done blooming, for a second wave of blossoms for fall. You can bring in those trimmings, hang them upside down and let them dry. They are great for vases.
I hope I have inspired you in some way, to plant this timeless beauty. This bee loving, drought tolerant, and easy to grow perennial will bring you years of joy. There are a million varieties out there. Some of my favorite are hidcote, phenomenal, and sweet romance. It pairs beautifully with roses (the classic cottage design) as well as coreopsis, phlox, daisies, foxglove, and the list goes on. Let your imagination and creativity go wild!
