(tips on growing lavender in your garden)
If the only benefit of growing lavender was the lovely aromatic flowers it produces, for most gardeners that would be more than enough reason to add it to their gardening plans. The good news is that lavender makes a great companion plant and attracts beneficial insects.
Lavender Companion Planting
Lavender companion planting is helpful for cabbage, cauliflower and rue. It is also useful in deterring codling moths from around fruit trees.
Lavender & Insects.
We humans aren’t the only ones attracted to lavender’s pretty, aromatic flowers. Lavender is known to attract butterflies and other nectar feeding beneficial insects to your garden. On the other hand, lavender will help repel fleas, ticks, moths and even mice.
Additional Lavender Information
(Lavendula vera, D. C.; L. Angustifolia, Moench.; L. spica, Linn.)
To learn more about growing lavender be sure to check out our lavender fact sheet.
Lavender has a long and interesting history which can be read on our history of lavender and our article on lavender folklore and medicinal uses. Did you know that it was once believed that lavender was once used by the Tuscans to counteract witches’ spells?
While I do try to provide a wealth of information on growing herbs on Our Herb Garden, there are folks who virtually dedicate their lives to studying horticulture.
Some even focus on just one plant. That is the case with Sarah Bader. Her book, The Lavender Lover’s Handbook: The 100 Most Beautiful and Fragrant Varieties for Growing, Crafting, and Cooking, is among the best sellers on Amazon on the subject of herb gardening. It is almost an encyclopedia on lavender, including extensive information on the different varieties. In 2006, she was growing over 5,000 lavender plants with 80 different cultivars. Her book explains which lavender grows best where, the different bloom colors and how to best care for the plants. If you love lavender and want it to thrive in your garden, you should check out her book.
The reviews have been great for these Munstead Lavender plants. Munstead is an early blooming variety that grow up to 10 inches tall with flower spikes that can reach 6 inches taller. These come in quart-sized pots and a number of folks have given 5 stars for both the plants, the packaging and the shipping.
Amazon has a number of vendors offering live lavender plants, lavender seeds and dried flower buds.