Best Lavender for Your Garden

Which type of lavender is best for your garden? It depends on what you want. If your climate is agreeable, English lavender (L. angustifolia) is an excellent choice, and to my nose it has the finest fragrance. For something similar but a little bolder, there's Lavandin (L. x intermedia) growing a little taller in general and with a stronger camphor-like scent. If you're all about the flowers, you could hardly do better than Spanish lavender (L. stoechas). I'll also throw in a handful of recommendations for warmer climates.

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Photo credits:
L. angustifolia flowers (with butterfly) by Emőke Dénes CC BY-SA 4.0
L. x chaytorae by Couleur Lavande CC BY-ND 2.0
L. multifida by Forest & Kim Starr CC BY-SA 3.0
Lavandin flower by Julien FourCC BY-SA 2.0
Phenomenal and Sweet Romance courtesy of Walter's Gardens

[thfpnw]

Love having both the English and Lavandin to cover the entire summer with their incredible scent.

[holzmann]

Germinating lavender seeds was a challenge for me as an amateur gardener. 1/48 sprouted, even with cold stratification. Fortunately that one plant is doing well.

[gwbuilder]

Knowing your climate is so important because sometimes no matter what you do certain plants simply cannot survive in a particular region.
I would love to have all three main types of lavender, but the Egyptian is just not suited for the drastic weather changes up here. In fact many of the plants that have been doing great so far are really struggling at the moment because the wind is incessant this time of year and there is usually quite a bit of rain along with it, but not this year. So dry.
Of course this is typical of the high desert area I live in, but it is so important to understand what those changing conditions are and very likely could be in any particular season.
Always good to know that more options are becoming available.
Thanks for the quick video Jason.🤙

[boulevardbricks]

I have 2 rows of Spike lavender - about 65 plants - in SoCal high scrub (zone 8b). There are cold snaps and snow, but the summers are very hot, dry and windy. I have them set up with drip irrigation. Tried Vera and Munstead and the rabbits tore through them. I covered the Spike for about a year with wire, then the rabbits left it alone. I started it all from seed and had a strong success rate...better than 85% at least. Grew them in seed trays with domes in a spare bedroom with some repurposed shop lights. The scent from the Spike is strong, and it makes good hydrasol; the oil yield is not great though. If producing oil a Grosso would be a better choice. Thanks for the video!! Lavender is awesome to grow.

[melissaoleary]

I have a 20 plant hedge of Vera I started from seed last year. In a few weeks I will be adding a hedge of both Hidcote and Melissa, started from seed this year. One of my favorite plants! 🪻

[KylieQueen]

Thanks for the information, Jason. I’ve grown all 3 varieties in my garden over the past 4 years. The Spanish was the shortest lived and didn’t come back after the 1st season. The lavandin (Grosso), lasted 2 seasons, but I like the Hidcote the best. It has a smaller/tidier habit and I’ve had no issues with it surviving the winter in zone 7. I’ve also been able to save seeds from it and grow new plants from that seed successfully (winter sowing method)

[lorip]

As always thank you Jason! Lavender is near the top of my wish list this year. I’ve got a yellow legal pad scribbled full of info from watching your channel. It’s a bit raggedy but goes with me when I’m plant shopping. Cheers!

[jackijax]

Perfect timing for this video. Thank you!!
💪🏼

[Nickelini]

Nice video. I have grown all three types for decades. If you were to make a video of how to prune lavender to maintain a nice shape that would be appreciated! Also I just want to mention that I've given up growing Spanish lavender as a perennial as too many winters we get a cold snap that kills them. So I look at them as an annual in my zone 7 garden.

[judymckerrow]

Thank you Jason. 💐💚🙃 maybe I’ll try to find all three types of lavender to see which I like best. 💐💚🙃

[MyFocusVaries]

Interesting run through. Thanks. I've tried a taller white variety years ago and more recently a variegated pale lavender, both of which were very floppy and messy looking for me. I absolutely love Hidcote for its bolder colour and dense tidy form. I started lavender from seed this year for the first time, just to give it a try. And I took cuttings to start new plants this spring, inspired by your previous videos! I should have a lavender forest with even a 50 percent success rate 😊

[Dovietail]

We are low Sonoran Desert, HOT HOT HOT! But we do pretty well with all the lavenders in pots surviving year to year as long as they are well established and we keep them watered.

[deborahweinstein]

To avoid killing off your lavender, remember that good drainage is critical, and they like to be on the dry side after they’re established. We live in the wet Blue Ridge mountains and ours thrive in dirty limestone fines.

[Dianamukusheva]

My favorite is Grosso, it winterizing great, grows beautifully. I love Anouk too, but didn’t try to grow it yet. I don’t like Phenomenal lavenders they don’t grow too well in my experience and dying in couple years.

[micekic]

Great explanation, just what I was wondering recently ❤

[debbiewilson]

Jason, I grow Grosso lavender here in Texas.

[bluesky]

Lavandin has more camphor than the English varieties. Here in my Colorado garden, Lavandin is not as long lived. The English also reseeds nicely.

[KINGYAH-SEER...]

TRUTH SAIDDDD- KING JASON_KEEP CREATING GREATNESS💯🔥✔️

[bradcarby]

I killed all three of my lavender plants in one afternoon. I will buy some new ones soon. Maybe I won't over-prune them next time. They certainly were delightful.

[BruceDuffus]

Hi Jason. Really enjoying your videos. I.have a quick question on end-of-year pruning for lavender. I grew a number of lavender this year and they are about 8 inches to 12 inches high. Should I prune the first year lavender back to a few of inches or so or, should I leave it at full height in this first year? Thanks so much for your time.