Lavendula angustifolia, a.k.a English lavender, is said to be “marginal” in this neck of the woods; i.e. the Zone 5-8 plant, which is native to the dry, sunny Mediterranean is said to be not hardy enough to survive the cold wet winters of Zone 4 Temple. (See Opinionated Gardener’s “Winter Musings on Cold Hardiness…”).
Don’t believe what “they” say. The English lavender cultivars (cultivated varieties) ‘Munstead’ and ‘Hidcote’ the OG ordered from Bluestone Perennials out in Ohio back in 1991 more than beat the odds before succumbing to old age this past winter. They had graced the garden for almost 20 years, providing a pleasing camphor-like scent, spikes of small bluish-gray and deep-purple flowers and gray-green, needle-like foliage
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And it didn’t take herculean efforts to keep the shrubby-like plants going. In fact, their “survival” required little if any effort, depending on lots of sun, well-drained soil, and a bit of lime and a little pruning from time to time. Twenty years ago, the OG planted them in a sunny patch of what could best be described as well drained and ill-nourished soil. The lavender flourished!
While it was probably time for the ‘Hidcote’ and ‘Munstead,’ – gnarled, woody, and rich in character in their later years – to go, their replacements ‘planted only four years ago in anticipation of their elder’s demise, should have been hitting their stride this spring. But they too didn’t make it through the winter of 2008-9.
Given the recipe for survival if not success, their early demise was probably inevitable. They had been planted in soil well-drained enough to make it through three winters but not a forth. Given the high water table in their part of the garden, the OG should have known better and built some raised gravelly beds to keep their “feet” out of the water. No slow lingering into old age for those plants. No chance to build character. The OG pleads guilty.
Long live the lavender
With the loss of the ‘Hidcote’ and ‘Munstead’ and with space to fill in the sunny, still ill-nourished patch of garden, the OG decided it was time to investigate and invest in some of the newer cultivars being offered, like one called ‘Grosso.’ Local nurseries were still only offering the reliable ‘Hidcote’ and ‘Munstead’ so she turned to Google and eventually logged onto www.discoverlavender.com. It led her to “Purple Haze Lavender Farm,” a 12-acre certified organic farm in Sequim Valley, Washington. To quote from their online catalogue www.purplehazefarm.com:
“Our lavender fields contain more than 15,000 plants of more than 50 varieties. The rows of lavender when blooming vary from white and pink to shades of violet and deep purple. Our test gardens have varieties of English, French and Spanish lavenders as we are always looking for the perfect lavender…”
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15,000 plants! Fifty varieties! White! Pink! Deep purple! French and Spanish! The OG was ready to hop on a train and head west to lavender land. But not quite that ready. For there amid the several dozen cultivars described in their catalogue was ‘Grosso’ with its “hardy, dark color, strong fragrance and long stems.” Grosso isn’t an English lavender; it is what is called an “Intermediate lavandin” – a hybrid of English Lavender (Lavendula angustifolium) and Spike Lavender.(Lavendula latifolia).
According to the folks at Purple Haze, the cross of these two species (there are 28 species of lavender) occurred naturally in the hills of Southern France and was discovered in 1882. Intermediate lavandins are said to be prized for their large size, rich color, hybrid vigor and high oil yield. What more could a gardener want? (A close read indicates that the Intermediate lavandins might not be as hardy as their English parent. But for the heralded size and color, the OG figures it’s a risk worth taking.)
Purple Haze Lavender Farm in Washington retail cheap offerings aside, given the OG’s penchant for buying local, she did a Google search to see if anyone in Maine was selling ‘Grosso’ and found two Maine sources: Glendarrah Farm in Appleton www.mainelavender.com, which says it is the “home of Maine’s first commercial lavender farm” and Estabrook Farms www.estabrooksonline.com in Yarmouth. The OG was ready to drive both east to Appleton and south to Yarmouth to purchase ‘Grosso.’
But she’s going to have to wait till later this summer to visit Glendarrah. Their grand opening won’t happen until July, when they will only be open to the public on Saturdays. But they assure the OG they have pots of hardy ‘Grosso’ and many other hardy in Maine cultivars; their prices for potted lavender will range from $8 to $12. (See below for directions)
Estabrook’s Web site, while describing in word and picture some 15 varieties is actually selling only four varieties: ‘Elegance Purple,’ ‘Elegance Sky,’ ‘Hidcote Superior’ and – bless them – ‘Grosso.’ Suffice to say, the OG hurried to Yarmouth (see their website for directions) last week and purchased her first ‘Grosso’ and her first ‘Hidcote Superior.’
Stay tuned.
Seeds of Lavender
You can‘t buy seeds for starting your own ‘Grosso.’ It’s a hybrid and hybrids don’t breed true. You can only buy plants that have been propagated from cuttings from young parent plants.
That is not to say you can’t grow lavender from seed. The folks at Fedco Seeds www.fedcoseeds.com sell the seeds of two cultivars of the species Lavandula angustifolia: English lavender (The OG would like to know the name of the cultivar; English lavender, the species name, is too general a name to suit her needs.) and ‘Vincenza Blue.’ They also report that their patch of ‘English lavender’ grown in Zone 3 survived ten straight winters until coming a “cropper” during the nasty winter of 2003-4.
Pine Tree Seeds www.superseeds.com in New Gloucester sells the seeds of Lavandula stoechas, which is also known as Spanish or Butterfly Lavender and is described as a tender perennial; one is advised to grow it as an annual. The cultivar Pine Tree is selling – ‘Purple Ribbon’ – is described as having “ten inch stems surrounded by distinctive spiky green foliage. Atop each stem is a good-sized dark purple bract and atop that are two wavy light purple petals that create the illusion that a delicate butterfly has landed on the top of each plant.” The OG plans to try it next year in her search for the new and exotic, starting from seed.
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Scent of Lavender
Hardiness and color aside, for most people, lavender is also about the subtle fragrance both its flowers and its leaves impart when crushed. Louise Beebee Wilder, the author of The Fragrant Garden: A Book about Sweet Scented Flowers and Leaves, a Dover reprint of The Fragrant Path, originally published in 1932 called lavender “the most famous of the nose herbs” but having said that added that “…they do not force themselves upon our attention, we must seek them out on the contrary and signify by a touch or gentle pressure that we desire. They are like shy people who find it difficult to open up their hearts save at the magic of a sympathetic touch.”
* Directions to Glendarraugh Lavender Farm. From Augusta, Route 17 toward Rockland, left onto 131 in Union (by the tractor dealer); the farm is in Appleton Village, 151 Searsmont Road/Route 131, Appleton.
