About Our Lavender History Harvesting Uses Cooking

 

About Our Lavender

Folks who visit the farm are often surprised that there are so many different varieties of lavender. In fact, there are over 200 varieties of lavender and 28 different species. Our collection of over 120 different types of lavender ensures there will be a variety for everyone to enjoy.

Most of our lavenders fall under four different species:

Lavandula angustifolia, commonly referred to as English Lavender, has a large assortment of varieties. Colors range from whites and pinks to all shades of blue and purple. L. angustifolia plants are typically small to medium sized and have a sweet to spicy scent.

Lavendin x intermedia (lavandins), are hybrids of L. angustifolia and L. latifolia. Cultivated for their high quality and quantity of lavender essential oil, popular lavandins include the Grosso and Super varieties. Both are beautiful large plants with wonderful fragrance. Grosso flower spikes also make beautiful cut flowers. We have a large quantity of both varieties in our field along with several other types of lavandins.

Wooly lavender or Lavandula lanata varieties are prized for their beautiful silvery foliage. The leaves and stems often have a soft fuzz on them, hence the nickname of wooly lavender. The contrast of dark purple flowers against the soft silver foliage is a striking vision. Lavandula lanata x Lanvandula angustifolia are common hybrids.

Lavandula stoechas or Spanish Lavenders look a bit different than more traditional lavenders. Their flower spike has a pinecone looking shape and they sport showy flags on top, making them a beautiful landscape plant that blooms early, and for many varieties, throughout the summer.

These different types of lavender can be found in our main field, which has about 1100 plants in 20 different varieties, our Sample Garden which displays over 80 different varieties and our L. stoecha Garden which showcases over 20 different types of this beautiful species.

With so many different varieties of lavender on the farm, there is typically an abundance of lavender in bloom from mid June through August.