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| There are over 200 varieties
of lavender in the world. The colors vary from white to pale pink and blue
to dark purple. Flowers can appear leafy or spiky, and stem length and
bush size can vary between varieties. We began our first planting with a lavandin named Grosso
for its long stems, high oil content, and hardiness in our growing zone. In Year Two, we added Rosea and Munstead for an introduction of culinary lavender to our field. Year Three we added a u-pick area containing 14 varieties of lavender in a range of colors!
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LAVANDINS Lavandins are a cross between L. angustifolia and L. latifolia and were developed in the late 1920's. The hybrids naturally occurred and the seeds are generally sterile. The propagation method of taking cuttings can be used to produce thousands of plants just like the parent plant. The hybrid lavandin offers many advantages: a robust plant, adapting readily to difficult climatic conditions and poor soil; it grows very well. The leaves are usually longer and broader in nature than L. augustifolia. The shrubs grow to 3ft. X 3ft. when full grown without flowers. The stems are long and sometimes branch with three flowers that are blue-gray and spiked. This species of lavender is high in oil content and usually has a yield of essential oil that can be ten times that of the angustifolias. The oil is used in soaps, crafts, and cleaning products. Some of the more common lavandins are listed below: |
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| Abrialii Cathy Blanc Dilly Dilly Fred Boutin Grappenhall Gros Bleu Grosso |
Hidcote Giant Lullingstone Castle Provence Silver Edge Super White Spike |
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GROSSO Grosso is probably the most popular! It takes 3-4 years to mature and can last 15-20 years with proper care, producing 500-600 stems a year, Grosso is a very dense, spherical plant with mid green foliage that grays toward the end of the season. Corollas of blue-violet are borne on calyces of a darker violet on beautiful 18-22" long stems. This lavender is one of the most popular oil producing plants due to its high yielding spikes and releases an abundant long-lasting fragrance with just a gentle touch or disturbance. It is considered one of the most fragrant of all lavenders. Best Uses: Grosso lavender is best displayed in an area where steam acts as a natural disturbance to release the soothing fragrance. A bathroom is ideal! Dried bundles and buds are best made from Grosso because of the fragrance they retain for years. The buds can be made into several lavender-filled products such as sachets to enjoy the beneficial aroma. With its long stems, Grosso is also one of the best lavenders to use for making lavender wands.
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ANGUSTIFOLIAS Lavandula angustifolias have a
sweeter scented flower than the lavandins. They contain less camphor,
bloom earlier, are smaller plants and more compact. These are varieties
that are traditionally used for culinary purposes and many aromatherapy
applications. The flowers range in color
from blue, purple, pink, and white. They are arranged on the stem in
whorls, with the top of the flower spike being flat. The name
angustifolia means narrow leaved. Some of the more common
angustifolias are listed below: |
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| Alba Nana Ashdown Forest Baby Blue Beccles Betty’s Blue Blue Cushion Blue River Bowles Buena Vista Cedar Blue Croxton’s Wild Dwarf Blue Folgate Graves Hidcote Hidcote Pink Jean Davis |
Lodden Blue Maillette Martha Roderick Melissa Munstead Norfold J-2 Premier Royal Purple Royal Velvet Sachet Sarah Sharon Roberts Skylark Tucker’s Early Twickle Purple Victorian Amethyst |
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| Munstead Munstead is a great lavender variety to attract butterflies, be used as a dried flower, or best used for culinary purposes. Lavender flowers are full of rich sweet flavor and are especially nice when used with sweets. One of the most popular lavenders available, this variety has medium purple flower spikes on and 18-24 inch mounded plant. Two-inch long narrow leaves have a pleasing gray-green color. Munstead lavender is compact and early flowering. |
http://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/lavxintermediagrosso.htm |
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| Rosea Also known under the names of Jean Davis and Hidcote Pink, this lavender has a beautiful blush pink bloom and is favored for culinary lavender because of its milder flavor. This plant has a gray-green foliage that grows in a 2-2 1/2 foot mound, and is beautiful as a fresh bouquet. |
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