My Auntie Betsie just adored Lavender. She would always gesticulate wildly, flapping her bingo wings whenever it was mentioned and in her flouncy blouse she would look like a cross between Barbara Cartland and a humming bird.
In recent years Lavender has become more popular with the florists. Using it in unusual combinations with roses and carnations brings a new tone to an old tale. The old Elizabethan’s used to put Lavender in a posie called a Tussie Mussie which they thought would help defend the poor blighters from the plague. Unfortunately it didn’t and most of them croaked but at least they smelt nice.
It is said that Cleopatra used Lavender in her seduction of Mark Anthony…that and the fact she was drop dead gorgeous and the most powerful woman the world had ever known.
Lavender can flower from April right through to October but we’ve found it difficult to grow from seed so if we were you just buy some plants. There are loads of varieties, we at Higgledy favour the Hidcote blue…but we are fickle fellows and will be seduced by others next year I’m sure. Make sure it has free draining soil, otherwise it will have a full on hissy fit and not perform for you…and a Lavender that doesn’t flower is about as useful as boobs on a nun.
If you live in our neck of the woods why not go and visit the fabulous Norfolk Lavender Farm…they mainly farm Lavender in Norfolk and have become very good at it.
What varieties do you grow?
Ranners and his imaginary squirrel.
Attract Butterflies To Your Garden | Higgledy Garden
December 15, 2010 @ 6:40 pm
[…] Lavender. Everyone’s favorite and a big hit with the Butterflies too. Plant it in April and cut back flowers once they have gone over. A true English Lady of our gardens. […]
Attracting Bees To Your Garden | Higgledy Garden
November 22, 2010 @ 6:43 pm
[…] Lavender. The stripy little critters can’t get enough of lavender, they’re bonkers for it. Plant some and you will make friends with our insect friends and your garden will smell deliciously English. […]
English Cut Flowers. Which One Is King? | Higgledy Garden
November 12, 2010 @ 1:17 pm
[…] or texture? Does the romantic rose win over the cheerful Zinnia or the traditional values of the lavender or sweet […]
November 11, 2010 @ 1:35 pm
My favourite combination, in terms of smell, is lavender, rosemary and mint. And I’ve always said that I’d like these planted on my grave. But I think its beauty is strickty olfactory? The mint will spread to trespass on neighbours’ graves, the rosemary and lavender look too similiar to be eye catching. I’ll have to have cut flowers instead… What is the Higgledy fee for cut lavender, mint and rosemany (plus something to pretty it up) on my grave for eternity?
November 1, 2010 @ 7:20 pm
Ha!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Aw bless their wrinkly socks!
November 1, 2010 @ 5:55 pm
Am very much liking “flapping her bingo wings”. When I was a kid, one particular aunt’s were at just the right height to give you a good thwack round the chops as they moved in for a hug. Ah, happy days. J