When gardeners talk about hardy lavender, they often want to know plant height and flower color. Those are important considerations, but the season of bloom is often overlooked. We have grouped our selection to highlight this important varietal difference. Through careful selection, a gardener may have lavender blooming all summer.

Although grown for their fragrance and color, lavender is used sparingly in teas, to flavor meats, and in some desserts. Hardy lavender are able to withstand temperatures below 0°F. For best growth they require at least four hours of direct sun but prefer sun all day.

Our soils are often heavy clay and should be amended with sphagnum peat or compost. A common problem with our soils is also high acidity (low pH),a condition that may stunt or even kill lavender which require a pH of 6.4 to 8.

Height will vary with the variety. In our area, plants should be spaced far enough apart to allow excellent air circulation. Do not plant lavender in an area with poor drainage, or watered by an automatic sprinkler system. Lavender detests wet roots or wet foliage, especially during periods of high heat.

Keep plants compact and finely shaped by pruning them each spring as new growth begins. By removing one-third to one-half the length of each stem at this time, new growth is encouraged that will also produce more flowers per plant. A 2-inch deep mulch of coarse sand or light-colored, pea-sized gravel on top of the soil underneath the plant aids growth, increases flower and essential oil production, protects against disease, and prevents winter damage.

You will notice that two of the best known lavender, 'Hidcote' and 'Munstead', are absent from our listing. Recent research has found that for all their ubiquity in catalogs and garden centers, true 'Munstead' and true 'Hidcote' are rare in America. Although eloquently praised for their stature and flowers over the past 50 years, other worthwhile cultivars have been virtually ignored by plantsmen and garden writers.

Perhaps excessive demand for these diminutive, slow growing plants prompted nurserymen to offer seed and seed-grown plants to the unsuspecting public. Lavender plants propagated from seed vary considerably from the parent and exhibit a wide range of plant size and flower color in a single generation. This careless and irresponsible practice has continued for so long that 'Munstead' may no longer exist in its originally described form. According to Dr. Arthur O. Tucker, virtually all plants labeled in nurseries as 'Munstead' should be renamed 'Compacta', a catch-all name for seed grown varieties. I have in my personal collection several plants of true 'Hidcote'. Unfortunately, it may take several years to produce enough to actually list for sale.

Many newer varieties, some selected from such seedling variants and renamed, are more reliable in our climate, offer longer periods of bloom, or are much more exciting as garden plants than are these two old standbys.

Although we rarely run out of lavender entirely, our selection of varieties is generally best around May 1. Occasionaly, crop failures of certain varieties occur . Please call for availabiltiy.