Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Posts Tagged "lavender plants"

  • Home
  • Posts Tagged "lavender plants"

5 Types of Lavender that Smell Heavenly

Have you been mesmerized by a field of lavender? It’s one of the most relaxing and sensory experiences.  The colours, the aromas and the sounds of softly buzzing bees enhances the whole experience.

Lavender makes a wonderful addition to your home garden for that reason- the heavenly scent.  It is a relatively easy plant to grow in Zone 6 and is known for its longevity and hardiness.

With their vivid color, cut lavender flowers make a nice addition to a home’s interior. A gift of lavender flowers symbolizes purity, devotion, serenity, hence our name.  And in some schools of thought,  it represents love.  Not only does the flower have significance, the purple colour is also symbolic.  Purple is the color of royalty and speaks of elegance, refinement and luxury.

It is certainly a flower you can grow to appreciate. If you love lavender, there are many varietals to choose from, making it easy to become a collector! Just like us at Serenity Lavender.  We have over 40 varieties of lavender on display on site in our gardens and in our field.

In this post we will be focusing on 5 different varietals of Lavendula Angustifolia or English lavender.  Read more to learn which lavender is best for your home and garden. For more information about plant care see our Gardener’s Guide to Growing Lavender.

Folgate Lavender

One of the first to to bloom, a coveted favourite.  The plant grows 20-24″  and is a compact tidy bush with vivid, bright violet flowers.  Soft, sweetly aromatic blooms abound on this dense mid green evergreen with narrow foliage and small neat looking upright spikes. Beautiful as an informal hedge, in rock gardens, and in mass plantings along sunny borders. Folgate is an excellent source of lavender oil and is terrific for culinary use. It is one of the varietals that we use in our culinary lavender.

  • Sun:  full
  • Water:  low once established
  • Soil:  Sandy
  • Hardiness zones: 5-9
  • Bee Friendly
  • Attracts Butterflies
  • Deer and Rabbit Resistant
  • Good for culinary use and hedges
Lavandula Angustifolia - Folgate a bright lavender flower

Folgate Lavender

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Royal Velvet Lavender

Royal Velvet is rich in fragrance and showy in bloom. It is covered with long stemmed, 3-4 inch long, velvety, dark purple-blue flower spikes which are much longer than Hidcote and the hallmark of ‘Royal Velvet’.   Tall, waving flower spikes last and last, and will bloom a second time after a mid-season harvest in the right conditions.  The flowers hold their dark colour extremely well when dried and makes excellent fresh cut bouquets and perfect for dried wreaths.

Long lasting blooms of Royal Velvet lavender

Royal velvet lavender

 

  • Sun:  Full
  • Water: low once established
  • Soil: sandy
  • Hardiness zones: 5-9
  • Bee Friendly
  • Attracts Butterflies
  • Deer and Rabbit Resistant
  • Good for cut bouquets

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Super Blue Lavender

A new addition to our collection,  the fragrant wands of rich lavender-blue flowers deliver a soothing scent in early summer.  ‘Super Blue’ produces blooms that are tighter together, delivering more color and fewer airy gaps. A compact and fragrant Lavender plant with short spikes that tops out at 12″, making it a perfect choice for edging walkways and setting into patio containers.  The large, full blooms lend themselves to cutting and drying.

  • Sun: full
  • Water: low once established
  • Soil: sandy well draining soil
  • Hardiness zones: 5-9
  • Bee Friendly
  • Attracts Butterflies
  • Deer and Rabbit Resistant
  • Good in containers, edging pathways and dried buds
Lavandula angustifolia 'super blue' a pretty lavavender

Super Blue lavender a new varietal at Serenity Lavender

Melissa Lavender

Lavandula ‘Melissa’ is a lovely lavender that was named by Oregon grower Andy van Hevelingen for his wife Melissa. A prolific bloomer with aromatic foliage that perfumes the garden when brushed against. Soft romantic pale lilac blooms offset the fine silvery green foliage.  On mass the flowers appear white from a distance. Very prolific it has a nice upright and compact habit.  The flowers are very sweetly fragrant and persist for a long time.

  • LavenderMelissa

    Lavandula Melissa

    Sun: full

  • Water: low once established
  • Soil: sandy well draining soil
  • Hardiness zones: 5-9
  • Bee Friendly
  • Attracts Butterflies
  • Deer and Rabbit Resistant
  • Good for culinary and fresh bouquets

 

 

Hidcote Lavender

An old favourite, the flowers on this plant are the darkest purple of all lavenders. This erect  greyish green bush with a splayed or floppy habit grows up to 12- 20 inches tall and approximately 24-30 inches wide depending on soil conditions.  The flower stems are short but very aromatic.  It is an excellent choice for edging and borders.  In the right conditions this plant will bloom continually until the first frost, albeit with a smaller flush of flowers. To enhance blooming, cutting back the stems of faded flowers will enhance a second and third bloom.  Hidcote retains it’s colour and is excellent dried  and culinary use

  • Sun: full
  • Water: low once established
  • Soil: sandy well draining soil
  • Climate: hot summers and warm winters
  • Hardiness zones: 5-9
  • Bee Friendly
  • Attracts Butterflies
  • Deer and Rabbit Resistant
  • Good as dried buds and culinary with a citrusy note to its flavour
    Purple elegance - Hidcote Lavender

    The darkest of lavenders

 

If you are interested in purchasing lavender plants, our plant Sale begins May 1st, 2021.  All varietals are currently available except Hidcote.  Call 519 738-6111 to reserve your plants for curbside pickup.

 

 

2

Twilight Lavender Tour

Serenity Lavender Farm is pleased to host a twilight lavender tour.

 Dr. Sean Westerveld of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Simcoe Research Station will be on hand to speak about the ongoing lavender research at our farm and across the province being conducted jointly by OMAFRA and the University of Guelph into establishing best management practices to develop high quality lavender products and a successful lavender agri-tourism industry in Ontario.

 The event is Thursday June 21st from 7-9 pm at 130 County Road 50 East Colchester, Ontario.

 Refreshments and desserts will be served.

  All are welcome.  Admission is free to members of the Ontario Lavender Association and $10.00 for non members.

  RVSP at suzanne@serenitylavender.com or call 519 980-4504 by June 19th

0

Pruning Lavender

Keeping lavender plants in shape is one of the best ways of maintaining a healthy and vigorous bush.  Pruning at Serenity Lavender begins when the plant is still in the greenhouse and continues once or twice a year for the whole life of the plant.  The best time to prune is in the fall after bloom.  Both the top and sides of the plant need to be pruned to generate new growth and prevent legginess or splitting of the branches.  Some varieties have a sprawling habitat and a nice thick bush for a lavender plant is the optimal goal.  As a general rule, the lavender plant may be pruned back by one third.  Be sure to trim only the soft green branches and not get into the wood of the plant.

In the springtime pruning may be required to regenerate growth after a harsh winter.  Cut back any dead wood until you see green in the stems.  If there has been a lot of winter damage it may be wise to prune in stages over a number of years to slowly bring the plant back to its vibrant self.  Although the plants sold at Serenity Lavender are suitable Zones 4-5  (we are zone 6a), winter survival is influenced by location, plant size, mulch type, plant cover and of course temperature.

Otherwise, pruning your Serenity Lavender plant in the spring should be minimal (only on the sides), if any at all, to allow for a full flowering show in July.

0