Lavender is a lovely, fragrant perennial that can be grown in flower beds or containers and is a great plant to attract pollinators to your garden. Unlike most of the flowers you see in our garden, lavender is not native to North America but is indigenous to the Mediterranean. The name comes from the Latin verb lavare, meaning “to wash” which gives away how it has been used for nearly 2,500 years. Lavender has long been celebrated for its fragrance and has been used in baths, soaps, and perfumes since the days of ancient Egypt and Rome. It also was discovered to have medicinal benefits and has been used to treat stomach ailments, coughs, nerves, muscles, headaches, and even depression.
Explorers during the Age of Discovery, from the late 15th through the 17th century, brought lavender back to Europe where it quickly became incredibly popular. Used for its scent and medical and culinary benefits, it also became a staple in traditional English gardens; something still true today.
Its popularity with Europeans ensured lavender quickly came over to North America along with the first European settlers. We chose to add lavender to our garden because of its medicinal uses among colonial settlers. Here are some examples of uses from the OCHM collection.
Dr. John Williams’ Last Legacy; or, the Useful Family Herbal, by Dr. John Williams, 5th edition, printed 1829.
So, now on to growing lavender. And, to be honest, lavender is a little tricky. First of all, there are lots of varieties of lavender and so if you have a variety in mind, you want to read about it and make sure you can provide the right growing conditions in your garden. Lavender plants can be found locally at nurseries and garden centers, but we are trying everything from seed and that adds a few extra challenges. When growing from seed, keep in mind that:
- Seeds require cold stratification
- Lavender seeds are slow to germinate
- Plants grown from seed may not flower in the first year
- You need to start early and be patient
Going into it we knew we may not be successful, but in gardening, that happens! We won’t know until we try. So on we go.
January 28th
After ordering our seeds from Eden Brothers, we started the cold stratification process and the whole batch of seeds went into the freezer at the very end of January where they stayed for the next six weeks.
March 6th
In early March the mixture was removed from the freezer and distributed over an 8-pack seed cell filled with seed starting mix.
Now, again, lavender is a bit tricky. The seeds actually need light to germinate, so the pack went immediately to the grow lights.
March 13th
After a week. There wasn’t a lot of action. But we knew we needed to be patient. The seed packet says it could take 14-28 days to germinate!
March 20th
Two weeks after planting–a beautiful sight! Some tiny lavender seedlings have germinated. We will nurture the baby lavenders as they grow, and repot them into 3-inch pots once they are a bit bigger. They will go outside after all danger of frost has passed.
Once outside they will still need our attention. Lavender needs some special soil amendments and the plants are prone to overwatering (tricky, we told you). But we’ll go over all of that later in the spring.
While we wait, we can plan our visit to the Cape Cod Lavender Farm and make plans for Drying Flowers this fall.
Say tuned for updates!
Updates
March 25th
