English lavender (true lavender)

True lavender.
A perennial with an amazing aroma!
Plant height 30-50 cm. The leaves are linear, silvery-greenish-gray, with delicate pubescence. The flowers are small, collected in interrupted spike-shaped inflorescences, lavender. Blooms in July-August.
Used for rocky slides, to create a fragrant border framing flower beds. Grows well in pots.
Agricultural technology.
The plant prefers a sunny place, dry, moderately fertile soils. Sowing for seedlings is carried out in the second half of January - February to a depth of 3 mm.
The planting container is placed for 14 days in a refrigerator at a temperature of +5°C. Then the seeds germinate at a temperature of +15+21°C for a month. When the seedlings grow up, they dive according to the 5x5 cm pattern. In May, the seedlings are planted in a permanent place.

* True lavender - Lavandula angustifolia = Lavandula officinalis = Lavandula vera.
Origin: Southern Europe.
Perennial semi-shrub with a woody fibrous root, reaching two meters in length, and numerous shoots up to 60 cm high, woody in the lower part. The flowers are small, bluish-lilac or blue. Smells very nice. Blooms in July - August.
Location: grows well in a sunny, warm (even hot) place.
Soil: dry, fresh, well-permeable, gravel or sandy-clay, moderately nutritious, containing lime.
Lavender cannot grow on heavy clay soils with high acidity and high-standing water tables.
The soil mixture is prepared as light and fertile: from leafy soil, humus and sand, taken in a ratio of 3: 2: 1, adding full mineral fertilizer to it at the rate of 20 g per hole.
Landing: plants are planted at a distance of 30-40 cm from each other.
Care: cut regularly in the spring. In dry weather, water is abundant.
In Estonian conditions, it must be securely covered for the winter (spruce branches and pine needles are suitable). If nevertheless, the aerial part is frozen, then it is cut off, and the plant, as a rule, is restored. The bushes are regularly rejuvenated with the same pruning so that they do not become bare from below.
Seeds require stratification for 30-40 days at +5°C.
Sow seedlings in late February - early March to a depth of 3 mm. Seeds germinate in the light at a temperature of +15+21°C.
When the seedlings grow up, they are planted in 5 cm increments. In May, the seedlings are planted in a permanent place.
You can sow seeds on the ridges in the fall, at the end of October. Shoots at the same time appear in the spring, at the end of May.
For reproduction by dividing the bush in autumn, the plants are cut to a height of 8-10 cm and spud with earth, carefully filling the space between the stems. In the spring, the earth is still poured into the bushes.
During the summer, lavender produces abundant shoots that take root well. In autumn, the bush is dug up and divided.
Another easy way to propagate lavender is by layering. To do this, in the spring, 2-3 shoots are carefully bent and placed in a shallow (3-5 cm) groove, pinned, covered with soil and watered. During the summer, the ground here should be slightly damp. Usually, next spring, the shoot can already live on its own and is cut off from the mother bush.
Application: on terraces, in gardens with fragrant herbs.
Partners: shrubs or semi-shrubs that love dry soils. Grows well with roses.


True lavender. Bot. syn.: Lavandula officinalis Chaix., Lavandula delphinensis Jord ex Billot, Lavandula spica L., Lavandula vera DC.