True lavender purple spikes
True lavender bilabiate violet flowers
Potted lavender plan
Long, narrow true lavender leaves
Contents
Find all our tips in the Monstera application
Lavandula angustifolia, a true lavender for your garden
Contents
Find all our tips in the Monstera application
SA native of the western Mediterranean basin, true lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) symbolizes Provence, sunshine and summer. Alone or alongside other Lamiaceae, such as common thyme and rosemary, it gives your garden a garrigue feel.
How to recognize true lavender, Lavandula angustifolia?
Lavandula angustifolia is a shrub with a dense, compact habit. It grows to between 30 and 60 centimetres in height. Foliage and flowers grow on its woody, gray-green stems.
The elongated, pointed leaves give the variety its name: in Latin, angustifolia means "narrow leaves". The blades are no more than five centimetres long and three millimetres wide. Whole and opposite, they have a green-grey tint.
The inflorescence appears in the axils of the upper leaves. On a single flowering stem, a spike unfurls , adorned with ten or so groups of flowers. Each has a calyx of five petals and a bilabiate corolla.
In the wild, true lavender is adorned with violet flowers. But white (Lavandula angustifolia alba), pink (Lavandula angustifolia rosea) or dark purple (Lavandula angustifolia Hidcote) cultivars are now available. Whatever their color, the flowers give off the characteristic scent of this shrub, emblematic of the South and Provence.
Once wilted, the inflorescence transforms into a fruit, an oval, brown tetrakene.
Like its hybrid, lavandin, or its cousin butterfly Lavender, True Lavender is not toxic- quite the contrary. It is a melliferous plant that attracts bees and pollinating inspectors. Lavandula angustifolia essential oil is even renowned for its antiseptic, analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties. Used since Antiquity to embalm linen and soap, lavender is still used today in the composition of many perfumes and cosmetics.
Our maintenance tips
True Lavenders require little maintenance. These plants thrive in periods of drought and adapt to all types of soil. Their only enemy? Too much water. To keep your True lavender alive, take care not to drown its roots.
Watering
True Lavenders do not tolerate limescale. Use rainwater or filtered water.
Water the base of the plant when the substrate is five centimetres dry. Then drain off any stagnant water in the saucer or planter.
Spray
Your true Lavender hates wet foliage. You must not mist the plant.
Repotting
In spring, transfer your Lavandula angustifolia to a larger pot, so that it can continue to grow.
Get a pot with holes at least 30 centimetres in diameter. This will give your plant room to grow. Choose a ceramic or terracotta model. These materials help evaporate excess water and prevent root rot.
Pour a layer of clay pebbles or gravel into the bottom for drainage. Then add draining soil, such as potting soil for Mediterranean plants. Place your plant in the center and top with substrate.
Tamp and water for the first time.
Fertilization
You can stimulate the development of your plant during its growth phase, in spring and summer, with fertilizer.
True Lavenders are not very greedy plants. If you want to stimulate their development, apply a fertilizer for Mediterranean plants in early spring.
True Lavenders are not very greedy plants. If you want to stimulate their development, apply a fertilizer for Mediterranean plants in early spring.
Harvest
Depending on the variety, fruit is harvested between early and late summer.
Pick flower spikes. Make bouquets and hang them upside down in a dry place.
You can then use the dried flowers to perfume your linen.
Prune
Prune faded flower spikes flush with the foliage. This way, the plant doesn't spend energy on producing seeds.
If you have a single plant, use sharp, clean pruning shears. If you have beds or hedges, use shears with clean blades.
Never cut dry wood. The plant will not grow back on old wood.
Carry out maintenance pruning to maintain the shape of your True lavender and help it become denser.
Using shears or pruning shears, cut back the stems by about two-thirds.
Thinning out
When the first shoots appear, keep only the most vigorous from each bucket. Remove the others.
The following spring, you can plant your True lavender in a pot or in the ground.
Plantation
Once the last spring frosts have passed, you can plant.
Soak your True lavender. Meanwhile, dig a hole twice the size of the root ball. Place a handful of organic fertilizer at the bottom.
Plant your True lavender. The top of the rootball should be two to three centimetres lower than the soil surface. Fill in with garden soil, compact and cover the top of the rootball.
Water for the first time to eliminate air bubbles and encourage rooting.
Seedling
Fill cups with potting soil for seedlings. Plant a seed every two centimeters and cover with a thin layer of substrate.
Water for the first time. Water by capillary action, by placing your pots in a larger container filled with water. This way, you're sure to moisten all the soil without the risk of displacing or burying the seeds.
Place your seedlings in a bright spot with a temperature of 20°. You can place them in a mini greenhouse or on a heat mat. Spray the substrate regularly to keep it cool.
Cutting
Cutting is carried out during the strong growth phase, generally in spring and early summer.
For annual pruning, select a terminal shoot about fifteen centimetres long. The stem should still be supple. Remove the leaves from the lower half of the cutting.
In a pierced pot, pour a drainage layer (clay balls or gravel, for example).
Add potting soil for seedlings and plantations. Plant your graft in the substrate. To help you, you can use a pen to make a pilot hole.
Water for the first time to eliminate air bubbles and encourage rooting.
Diseases / Threats
Information
| Family | Lamiaceae - Lamiaceae |
| Type | Lavender - Lavandula |
| Species | True Lavender - Lavandula angustifolia |
| Lifecycle | Perennial |
| Foliage | Evergreen |
| Exposure | |
| Substrats | |
| Planting methods |
Open ground In pots In tubs |
| Category | |
| Tags |
Flowery Medicinal Rustic |
| Origins |
North Africa Southern Europe |
| Hardiness (USDA) | 7b |
| Leaf color |
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| Flower colors |
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| Fruit color |
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