Lavender / Lavandin – Exceptional White (gallon pot)

Description

A relatively new lavender option are these Lavandin Hybrids. For many years, I recommended English lavenders – Lavandula angustifolia – (Munstead or Hidcote) as the best lavenders for growing in this area, although they often proved tricky to get through our winters and damps springs. However some new hybrids – Lavandula x intermedia have been proving to be excellent for growing in this area and have heavy essential oil content to boot. These Lavandins are much easier to grow and are exceptionally tolerant of both high heat and harsh winters.

Lavandins bloom a bit later than the traditional English lavenders – foliage is grey-green and the scent is strong and robust. Great plant for pollinators and bees. Deer resistant as well.

Exceptional is a white lavender! I’ve been trying to get white lavenders to grow through the winter for many years, and I am super excited that we now have this new Exceptional Lavandin!  We also offer two other classic purple Lavandins – Sensational and Phenomenal.

SOME MORE NOTES – Lavender can be tricky to grow in this area – but once you understand what it needs, it really is not hard to grow. Lavender plants tend to get root rot. They don’t like soil that stays damp and shady. They like soil that drains very well and they need full blaring sun. Hillsides facing south are ideal. Lavender doesn’t mind crappy soil that is full of gravel or shale. They like sand added to the soil or vermiculite. Lavender is also great grown in pots – just make sure the pots drain well (I add some gravel into the bottom to keep the moisture flowing out easily) and place the pots in full sun.

French (L. dentata) and Spanish (L. stoechas) varieties of lavender are also wonderful – with different scent profiles than English and different styles of leaves and colors and styles of flowers. I get a bit obsessed and grow a bunch of different lavenders – keeping the tender ones in pots that I bring into the greenhouse during the winter.