Abundant flower spikes on an evergreen sub-shrub of 60 to 100 cm, lavandin (Lavandula hybrida) is the hybrid lavender grown above all for perfume and essential oil. Give it full sun and light, well-drained soil, and the cut flowers will go on scenting clothes and laundry for months.
| Name | Lavandula hybrida (hybrid) |
|---|---|
| Parents | L. latifolia x angustifolia |
| Common | lavandin, dutch lavender |
| Family | Lamiaceae |
| Type | Herb sub-shrub |
| Height | 24-48 inches (60 to 100 cm) |
| Exposure | full sun |
| Soil | ordinary, well drained |
| Foliage | evergreen |
| Flowering | early summer |
The abundant productive flowers hint as to why it’s a favorite of professional growers. It’s a key ingredient in assembling perfume. It’s also an easy plant to extract essential oil from.
Lavandin appreciates well-draining, light and even poor soils. It can grow more or less anywhere, but is vulnerable when temperatures drop below 19°F (-7°C) in winter.
Prepare a place that is well endowed with sunlight with well drained soil. If your soil is heavy clay, mix sand into it to make it lighter.
As for all other types of lavender, lavandin fears moisture. Never should the root clump wallow in sitting water.
An advantage of lavandin over common lavender is that it’s sterile. Indeed, this hybrid only rarely produces seeds. The few that appear won’t sprout. It’s perfect for not interfering with other local plants, nor will it upset the surrounding ecosystem: it’s non-invasive.
As a consequence, the only way to propagate it is through cuttings or layering. Here’s how to layer lavandin.
All lavandins share the same needs — full sun, light soil, no winter wet — but they differ in size and in what they are grown for. Here are the ones most often found in garden centres and catalogues.
| Variety | Height | Flower colour | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| ‘Impress Purple’ | 80-90 cm | Deep purple | Long-stemmed cut and dried bunches |
| ‘Hidcote Giant’ | 90-100 cm | Bright violet-purple | Big informal hedges, cut stems |
| ‘Grosso’ | 60-80 cm | Deep violet | Essential oil, drying, bunches |
| ‘Provence’ | 60-90 cm | Pale lilac-blue | Oil, dried buds and sachets |
| ‘Edelweiss’ | 60-75 cm | White | Pale-toned borders and edging |
| ‘Phenomenal’ | 60-75 cm | Violet-blue | Colder gardens, low hedging |
| ‘Seal’ | 100 cm | Pale purple | Tall screens and hedging |
Pruning lavandin is possible, but must be exclusively performed on growth that still bears leaves. If you prune back to old wood, it won’t grow back…
If your climate zone has mild winters, you can also prune your lavandin bush in fall.
Cut lavandin flowers are an excellent way to perfume clothes and laundry.
Lavandin is vulnerable to harsh freezing, 19°F (-7°C), and can’t survive over long spells of deep cold.
Easy to care for, lavandin only requires reduced watering in case of high temperatures.
Lavandin can keep for months and even years if stored in a dry spot away out of direct sunlight.
The perfume industry boomed in the 1950s and required large amounts of essential oil. This triggered planting of vast fields of lavandin. Since this hybrid lavender produced much more essential oil than normal lavender, lavandin quickly gained appeal. It boasts both high quality essential oil and an impressive yield. At home, you can easily transfer oil compounds to carrier oils by infusing the lavandin flowers.
Today, lavandin is the most cultivated family of lavender in the world.
Thanks to selective hybridization, it’s also the most resistant to disease. Weather isn’t a problem since it can cope with frost, snow and a certain degree of moisture.
A very cute plant, this sub-shrub also symbolizes French Provence and the Mediterranean sun. Everyone now recognizes its lovely typical fragrance. Naturally, lavandin is a favorite when creating lavender wands, perfume, scented candles, and essential lavender oils.
Lavandin is among the older lineages of plants with traceable genetics. There are four main types of lavandin:
The most famous variety of lavandin is the ‘Grosso’ cultivar. Other notable ones are:
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