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French lavenders


When the heat bounces off the ground and almost overwhelms you some plants are revelling in this heat. On scorching days in high summer you won’t have to touch the foliage at all, it will waft through the air providing an aromatherapy session for the gardener that’s both relaxing and soothing.

Whether it’s the lavender, sage, rosemary or thyme throughout the year you can massage their oily foliage and smell their rich aroma. This oily coating is a sunscreen and many of the plants are either silver, a colour that doesn’t absorb much heat, or have needle-like leaves to cut down on water loss. However any aromatic plant must have a sunny position in well-drained soil. It will sulk in any shade.

The earliest lavenders to flower are those with tufted petals at the top of the flower spike and these are often referred to as French or Spanish lavenders.

The most elegant of all is Lavandula pedunculata subsp. pedunculata, an upright lavender with long slender leaves and fat flowers topped by several long petals (bracts to the botanist), that rise upwards by almost two inches. This needs a hot spot and minimal pruning, because it’s vulnerable in cold winter.

However it is the most beautiful lavender and the most useful grown as a single specimen in a sunny border, or in a container. Give it a fleece cover in winter in colder areas.

Prune these French lavenders after their main May or June flush, and then allow them free reign to grow. Always take off the spent flowers as they fade though, because they will rot in winter and may spread infection to the rest of your plant. After the worst of winter is over, take off any dead tips and then allow the lavender to grow and flower.

In the wild (and when established) lavenders rely on a deep root system that can go down several feet. A newly planted lavender will not have had enough time to develop a deep root system and it must be watered in dry spells for the first growing season - between May and August. Most aromatic plants will also need nurturing in their first summer, despite being drought tolerant once established.

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