Lavender: A Royally Fragrant Herb

Lavender has always been an intriguing and interesting herb plant for us to grow and offer to sale.  It seems that its fragrance evokes a love it or hate it reaction.  Fortunately, a great number of gardeners do really love it. Unfortunately many in our family aren't particularly fond of it.  It is however, one of our more popular herbs.   In addition to its intoxicating and relaxing fragrance, it also is a very good plant to use as an ornamental and with the proper selection, placement and the right weather conditions can be a quite long lived addition.  

Folklore

Lavender has quite and interesting history and there are a great number of historical bits surrounding its use.  Lavender was probably first domesticated by the Arabians.  It made its way from Greece into France and the rest of Europe about 600BC. Queen Elizabeth I of England valued lavender as a conserve and a perfume.  She drank a great deal of lavender tea to ease migraines and used it as a body perfume.  Queen Victoria of England is most notable for making Lavender popular across England and it could be found, in one form or another, in every one of her rooms, as she used it to wash floors furniture and had it strewn among the linens.  

Lavender is supposed to have many qualities including antiseptic, aromatic, calming and insect repellents.  According to folklore, spouses who place lavender flowers between their bed sheets will never quarrel.  

During the First World War, nurses bathed soldiers' wounds with lavender washes. Before World War II, Lavender was used as an antiseptic dressing for wounds and as a method to get rid of parasites.  In the days when corsets were the fashion, ladies would tuck some Lavender oil in a bottle around their necks to revive them when they were feeling faint.  Lavender was a popular strewing herb in the Middle Ages and used as an ingredient in sachets to repel moths and other bugs from stored clothing.  It was burned in sick rooms during the Bubonic Plague so as to prevent the spread of the disease. 

To this day, the French continue to send baby lambs to graze in fields of lavender, so their meat
will be tender and fragrant.

Cultivation

Unlike most herbs that we offer which are extremely easy to grow, lavender offers many challenges in cultivation.  Lavender is without a doubt one of the most temperamental herbs for us to grow in our area.  The winters may get too cold at times and the summers almost always get more hot and humid than these plants like.  

Lavender should be planted in a sunny well drained location.  It also does best if it is placed in an area where there is plenty of air movement around it. Leaving adequate spacing between plants will also help air circulation. This tends to minimize some of the leaf fungal diseases which attack it.  We have also found that it is necessary to amend the heavy clay soils of our area to make them drain better.  Lavender will not tolerate its roots standing in water for any period of time.  We amend the soil with composted pine bark, peat and other compost to make it a looser lighter soil.  We also plant lavender on raised beds to help improve drainage even further.   Mulch lavenders with a 2" layer of sand or white pebbles, which will reflect the sunlight back into the plant and help prevent fungus diseases. 

Harvest flowers as you would fruit, selecting those that look most perfectly ready, with the fullest color, and passing over any that seem wilted or less ripe.  Remember that lavenders from seed will not bloom the first year.  

Uses

Lavenders are primarily used as a medicinal and decorative herb.  There are those that use it in culinary dishes as well, however it is recommended that you work very slowly with using it in cooking as its flavor can be overwhelming if too much is used.  People like to smell perfume but do not like to eat it.  

Culinary 

The key word in using lavender for cooking is cautious.  Its flavor can be overwhelming.  Use small amounts until you are sure how much you like.  Use to flavor jams and to make lavender vinegars.  Mix small amounts with savory herbs to make fragrant stews.  Crystallize flowers in sugar to use later in desert dishes and creams.  Leaf is bitter used in southern European cooking.  

Cooking with the flowers can add a very interesting and complex flavor to foods. Although fresh and dried lavender can be used in place of one another in most recipes, the sweet, perfumed nature of fresh lavender flowers seems particularly appropriate in desserts. While also good in sweets, dried lavender flowers tend to have a somewhat more herbal taste—somewhat like thyme or marjoram—and can be combined with other herbs and spices for more savory uses, such as marinating meats, chicken, and fish.

Landscaping

Lavenders can lend a great deal to the landscape plantings if used correctly.  You should do some experimenting or talk with reputable gardeners in the area to find which lavenders work best in your area.  As discussed earlier, lavenders present some challenges in growing.  Some varieties are solid perennials in our area while others are best treated as an annual and enjoyed for the season.  Lavenders offer a unique color and texture for the garden that is not available from any other plant.  Add to this the gentle movement of the flower stalks above the leaves and and its irresistible fragrance ( to many of us) and it is no wonder gardeners want to include it in the landscape plantings.  In our opinion, if you are wanting a lavender for the appearance and the flowers in a perennial plant then Spanish lavender is the best for our area.  If you want a perennial, with a nice fragrance, the Provence Lavenders are the best choice.  Fernleaf lavender provides a unique color, texture and a showy display of bright blue blossom, but lacks the fragrance and should be treated as an annual in most areas.  

Household 

Put dried flowers in a sachets or bundle to scent drawers and to protect linen from moths.  Rub fresh flowers of skin to discourage flies and mosquitoes.  Use stems as incense or as firelighters.  Use all parts in potpourri to give the house a nice clean fresh smell.  Use as an antiseptic cleaner for floors and furniture.  

Medicinal 

Infuse as a tea to soothe headaches, calm nerves, ease flatulence and bad breath.  Use essential oil as an antiseptic, mild sedative and topical pain killer particularly on insect bites and stings.  Add to bath water to calm irritable children.  Place a drop of Lavender essential oil on the edge of the mattress of a teething baby to calm him/her down. 

Our Plants

We are proud of the selection of Lavender varieties we offer.  We try to offer varieties that work well for this area or that are unique in some manner.  Our Lavender plants are available in two sizes: 1) a four inch square pot and 2) a three gallon specimen plant.  Many people appreciate the larger size offered by the 3-gallon plants.  

Recipes

I guess this sounds a bit on the fringe to us and Nancy and Katie are very apprehensive about cooking with lavender.  We have yet to experiment with cooking with lavender at this time.  Until that time, if you are interested in cooking with lavender click here to view some others recipes. 

This site created and maintained by Steve McCannon / Cedar Ridge Farm

We will gladly grant permission for the use of any information on this site.  

Page updated last at Saturday, January 15, 2005