Common Name

Lavender

Scientific Name

Lavandula Augustifolia

Habit

Compact, hardy shrub up to 3 ft. tall and 4 ft. wide. Grayish green, narrow leaves about 2 inces long, and fragrant flower spikes in summer that are white to deep purple, on long single stalks. Grows wild in the Meditteranean.

Hardiness

USDA Zone 5 - 9

Soil & Site

Well-drained, poor soil in warm area. South slope is ideal. Soil that is too rich will lessen oil yield by increasing leaf production.

History & Lore

The word lavender comes from the Latin lavare which means "to wash," and lavender has been the Queen of bath fragrances for at least two thousand years. Dried lavender leaves and flowers were worn in pouches around the neck during the Middle Ages to fend off various stenches. Lavender's fragrance runs throughout the plant, but the volatile oils found only in the flowers are most prized. Different lavenders have different oil qualities. English Lavender is much more aromatic and delicate than the French, and is thus much more expensive.

Suggested Uses

Culinary      

Lavender flowers are edible. Add the flower to vinegars or jams. Crystallize the flower to decorate desserts. Bake petals into sugar cookies for an exquisite treat.

Health

Lavender is used for a number of soothing purposes, including muscle strain, fatigue, nervousness, bee stings, and toothache. Depending on the condition, it is administered as a tea made from the flowers, an essential oil, tincture,with distilled water, or as dried plant. Lavender pillows are used to treat travel nausea, insomnia, and headache.

Beauty

What would the world be without lavender soaps, bath salts, and toilet waters? Put leaves and flowers in a cheesecloth pouch and soak in the tub. Sleep with a lavender-stuffed pillow. Infuse for a refreshing skin tonic. Carry a tussie mussie!

Fun Facts

Dr. Fernie, in Herbal Simples, says:
'By the Greeks the name Nardus is given to Lavender, from Naarda, a city of Syria near the Euphrates, and many persons call the plant "Nard." St. Mark mentions this as Spikenard, a thing of great value.... In Pliny's time, blossoms of the Nardus sold for a hundred Roman denarii (or L.3 2s. 6d.) the pound. This Lavender or Nardus was called Asarum by the Romans, because it was not used in garlands or chaplets. It was formerly believed that the asp, a dangerous kind of viper, made Lavender its habitual place of abode, so that the plant had to be approached with great caution.'

Says Parkinson, in his 17th century Herbal, 'Lavender is almost wholly spent with us, for to perfume linnen, apparell, gloves and leather and the dryed flowers to comfort and dry up the moisture of a cold braine. 'This is usually put among other hot herbs, either into bathes, ointment or other things that are used for cold causes. The seed also is much used for worms.Lavender is of 'especiall good use for all griefes and paines of the head and brain,' it is now almost solely grown for the extraction of its essential oil, which is largely employed in perfumery."

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