Lavender has been valued for its scent, flavor and medicinal properties since ancient times. Called nard in the Bible, it is most frequently associated there with its desirable fragrance. Mary is said to have washed the swaddling clothes of the baby Jesus and spread them out on a lavender bush to dry. When she gathered the clothes she found that the bushes had the pure sweet fragrance imparted by the clothes of Jesus and lavender became known as “Mary’s Drying Plant.” Lavender is not the only plant given this name, however, and other fragrant shrubs like rosemary are known by this name too.
Although known as English lavender this strongly aromatic shrub is not native to England but to the western Mediterranean especially the Pyrenees and northern mountains of Spain. It is a member of the mint/deadnettle family, Lamiaceae, that also includes basil, rosemary, and beebalm. Plants grows into a mound about two to three feet high and as wide. The gray-green leaves are evergreen, one to two inches long, and narrow. The flowers are pinkish-purple and produced in whorls on leafless terminal spikes one to three inches long from late spring to early summer. Phot Credit: By Sten Porse, Wikimedia Commons
The genus name, Lavendula, comes from the Latin word lavare meaning to wash and refers to the use of the plant is in toiletries. The specific epithet, angustifolia, is the Latin words angustus meaning narrow, and folia meaning leaf and refers to the appearance of the leaves.
Lavender is hardy in zones 5-8 and grows best in full sun and well-drained, neutral to alkaline soil, and tolerates drought. Propagation is usually by cuttings because seed germination is very slow. Plants are susceptible to leaf spot and root root and do poorly where soil is wet in the winter.
Karen