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Impossible Gardening: Hot, Dry, Clay Soil, Part Shade-Part 3

© Diana Pederson

This week let's talk about my favorite, tough perennial plant - Lavandula angustifolia. I grow this plant next to the Rue and Russian Sage discussed last week. I've also planted it in my backyard, in a triangle shape, surrounded by daylilies in back and the sides, and alyssum and marigolds in front.

Lavender originates in the Mediterranean and North Africa regions, along with southwest Asia and India. There are 25 species total but only L. angustifolia is hardy to USDA growing zone 5 (can get to 10 below 0 F). Several cultivars are currently available in garden centers. The only one I find reliably hardy here in Michigan is L. a. 'Munstead' which is pictured above. This variety makes a nice bushy shrub one to two feet tall. Because the leaves are a light gray-green, many people use this in silver gardens. It forms a flower stalk that reaches appoximately 12 inches tall with a dense, purple flower spike at the tip.

Lavenders can be propagated from seed or tip cuttings. Because of the shortness of our growing season, I prefer to just purchase small plants from a local garden center. The plants grow quickly and flower, usually later in the summer, than they do their second year. The only fertilizer these plants get is a monthly foliage feed with seaweed or fish emulsion. I simply haven't found a need to fertilize either those plants growing in the solid clay soil, or those growing in my good backyard soil. The plants grow to approximately the same size in either types of soil which is surprising to me.

I'd like to offer a word of cautiion here. I have experimented with several lavenders that were reputed to be winter hardy and had them all fail. The only one that has made it through multiple winters are the L. a. 'Munstead' cultivars. If you live in a cold area, don't waste your money on the expensive varieties expecting them to survive outdoors. I've found they won't even make it indoors because they seem to dislike dry, heated air.

Lavender has many uses. Some use the dried flower stalks (harvested just before the flower opens fully) to make lavender "wands" described near the bottom of this article by another of SUITE101's garden editors. (Read this article for a description of non-hardy lavenders.)

Many herb shops sell dried lavender leaves and flowers for use in dried arrangements. Some believe lavender is beneficial in sleep pillows (scroll down the page to find these pictured). Still others use them in sachets which are used to scent their dresser drawers. I enjoy picking a few lavender leaves, putting them in my hands and rubbing them together to give a scent to my hands as I go about my gardening.