Lavandin, the most successful variety in the world

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Lavandin is a family of stunning lavender hybrids.

Key lavandin facts:

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

• Health benefits of lavandin

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.

Planting lavandin

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.

• We recommend planting clumps in fall, but you can plant in spring without any problems.
• Water a bit at the beginning and then refrain from watering as much as possible.
• No need to add fertilizer.
• Lavandin doesn’t grow well in excessively chalky soil.

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.

• Follow our planting advice.
• To grow a lavandin hedge, plant one stem every 12 to 16 inches (30 to 40 cm).

Potted lavandin:

As for all other types of lavender, lavandin fears moisture. Never should the root clump wallow in sitting water.

• Double-check that the pot has a hole.
• Pour a drainage layer of small gravel or clay beads at the bottom of the pot.

Propagating lavandin

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.

Pruning and care for lavandin

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…

• At the end of winter, prune as you wish, but follow the rounded shape of the plant.
  Avoid cutting off old growth, because those branches rarely send out new shoots.
  Favor pruning only on young, tender shoots rather than old, hard wood.
• If your climate zone has mild winters, you can also prune your lavandin bush in fall.
• After the blooming, snip off floral scapes to avoid needlessly draining plant nutrients (no need to produce seeds that will turn out sterile).
• More on pruning lavender and related species.

Cut lavandin flowers are an excellent way to perfume clothes and laundry.

Lavandin in winter:

Lavandin is vulnerable to harsh freezing, 19°F (-7°C), and can’t survive over long spells of deep cold.

• For regions with very harsh climates, protect the base with mulch in winter.

Easy to care for, lavandin only requires reduced watering in case of high temperatures.

• Plant it near and around your rose bushes because it is a powerful aphid repellent.

Keeping lavandin flowers

Lavandin can keep for months and even years if stored in a dry spot away out of direct sunlight.

• Best is to hang floral panicles together in small bunches to dry them before keeping them.
• Our grandmothers used to prepare small cotton pouches filled with lavandin flowers to perfume our laundry in the closet.

Good to know about lavandin

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.

• There’s a lavandin cultivar named ‘Provence’, but it was bred in the United States.

Types of Lavandin and main cultivars

Lavandin is among the older lineages of plants with traceable genetics. There are four main types of lavandin:

• Lavandin super
• Lavandin abrialis
• Lavandin ‘Grosso’
• and Sumian lavandin.

The most famous variety of lavandin is the ‘Grosso’ cultivar. Other notable ones are:

• ‘Provence’ lavandin (excellent for oil)
• Hidcote giant
• Gros bleu
• Impress purple
• Seal (huge)
• Alba (white flowers)

Read also:

• Health benefits of lavandin