“And still she slept an azure-lidded sleep, in blanched linen, smooth, and lavender’d…” – John Keats.
There are plenty of reasons to grow the fragrant lavender herb in your garden, according to master gardener Judith Rogers.
A member of the mint family, lavender has long been grown for its sweet scent and soothing properties, and it is still “a great English or cottage garden plant,” Rogers said at the July 8 Innisfil Garden Club meeting.
Native to the Mediterranean, lavender thrives in full sun and dry conditions. For gardens in Zone 5, she recommended growing munstead and hidcote, both varieties of English lavender.
Lavender is used in cooking, in perfumes and soaps, and its medicinal uses have long been known. As an essential oil — another bit of trivia, it takes 80 pounds of lavender to make one ounce of oil — lavender soothes migraines and headaches.
Rogers provided another tip for keeping away mosquitoes: pick the flowers and rub them on the skin.
“Lavender is always a good insect repellent,” she said. “It does work.”
Lavender had many historical uses — for instance, it was spread on floors in medieval times to eliminate vermin, and included in soldiers’ kits in the First World War to soothe burns.
Rogers also provided tips on the growing and care of lavender. When winter is over and the snow melts, lavender may look like little more than a collection of dead stems.
“Don’t be afraid to cut it,” she urged. Wait until new shoots appear, then cut back the old growth ruthlessly.
Blooms should be harvested “when a quarter of the flowers are open,” Rogers said, either to be used in bouquets, or hung in bunches in a cool, dark space to dry over a span of two weeks. And once flowering is finished, cut off the flowering heads to encourage re-blooming.
Rogers also mentioned the “language of flowers” — the symbolic meaning ascribed to blooms. Lavender, she said, stands for affection, but also for distrust. According to folklore, poisonous asps may make their home underneath lavender, definitely something to distrust.
