Lavender
by Sally Gregson

At this time of year in France row after row of hazy purple lavender basks in the Provençal sun, as they have done for centuries.
Lavenders have been grown for their perfume since Roman times. The essential oil was used to scent the water for bathing and for ‘laundering’ clothes. So when the Roman troops arrived on our cold, damp shores, which were devoid of familiar herbs and flowers, they must have hastily sent messengers back to Italy to return with lavender plants and lots of other ‘herbs’ for flavouring and medicinal use.
These herbs were grown in the early monasteries in medieval times, where the knowledge of their properties was kept alive. It is documented in contemporary herbals that lavender was still used in the Roman way, to protect clothes from ‘dirty, filthy beasts’, and in 1525 Richard Banckes, in his herbal, considered that lavender ‘preserves chastity … if the head is sprinkled with lavender water’. We, in the 21st century, bow to his evidently greater experience.
When King James I visited the Bodleian Library in Oxford, oil of rosemary was rubbed into the floors and the oak furniture was polished with beeswax perfumed with oil of lavender. And to this day we can still buy lavender-scented polish, albeit, more prosaically, in mauve spray-cans.
Lavandula officinalis has the finest fragrance and essential oils. Its name implies that it was once sold in an ‘office’ or ‘shop’ for use in the home. But, alas, the botanists have renamed it L. angustifolia and the historic reference has been lost. Opinion is divided over precisely which named hybrid has the best fragrance, but many consider that L. angustifolia ‘Seal’, with the longest stalks and largest flowers, is perfect for drying. The stalks should be picked on a dry day just before the petals open and hung in bunches somewhere cool and airy.
The dwarf lavenders make a beautiful, informal hedge in a dry, sunny garden. Try mixing the colours: lilac L. a. ‘Munstead’; purple L. a. ‘Hidcote’; and L. a. ‘Hidcote Pink’ are very effective edging a bed of roses or tall perennials. Trim them over when they have finished flowering, and then again in April to keep the plants compact. And be prepared to replant the hedge after five or six years. It may still be healthy but weeds have a way of insinuating themselves irredeemably among the roots.
Other species of lavender tend to suffer from homesickness. Our cool, damp climes cause them to rot off in winter. But many are happy in a large pot in the summer sun, and then tucked away somewhere dry, light and cool for the winter. Among the favourites are the increasing numbers of L. stoechas hybrids, the ‘stic-a-dores’. Each spike has a pair of tall ‘rabbit ears’ above its full, fat head, and a refreshing eau-de-cologne scent. And there are some lovely new varieties to tempt this year: L. s. ‘Helmsdale’ has true, burgundy-purple flowers and ears, and very aromatic leaves; and in the ‘Ruffles’ series the variety L. s. ‘Peachberry Ruffles’ has creamy-white flowers with peach-tinged ears and L. s. ‘Raspberry Ruffles’ has rich pink spikes and darker pink ears.
Plant two or three of these in a large terracotta pot and place it where you sit on a summer afternoon. The flowers and foliage will have warmed in the sun, releasing their refreshing scent. After ten minutes with a cup of tea you’ll soon be ready to return to the weeding.

Propagating lavenders

• Take heeled cuttings of the side shoots in spring.
• Pinch off the tips and remove the lower leaves.
• Root them in shallow pots of 40:60, peat or an alternative:grit.
• When they are rooted pot them up, and overwinter them in a cold greenhouse or frame, out of the winter wet.
• Plant them out the following spring.