Lavender

Lavender Plants and flowers: 
Lavender 'Hidcote', Purple Ellagance, Phenomenal  and Purple Essence, Mini Blue, Early Blue Scent.

Lavandula angustifolia 'Essence Purple' PPAF

Photo Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.

Common Name: Lavender-English

In our trials here at Walters Gardens, we have been trialing a lot of varieties of Lavender because it meets the needs of today’s home gardeners: it is long blooming, deer and rabbit resistant, drought tolerant, and very easy to grow. 

There are two varieties that have really stood out to us as the best of the best—‘Silver Mist’ for its intense silver foliage and ‘Essence Purple’ for its consistently outstanding landscape performance.  Both cultivars are scarce in the US trade but are destined to become very popular. 

‘Essence Purple’ forms a perfect rounded ball-shaped, uniform, dense clump of green, aromatic foliage.  In our trials, the plants retained their shape all season without opening up or discoloring. 

It starts to bloom about 10 days earlier than standard Lavenders such as ‘Hidcote’, producing a profusion of bright blueberry colored flower spikes for many weeks.  The stems are just the right length for cutting for fresh or dried bouquets.

If you’ve been growing the same varieties of Lavender forever, it’s time to give this new kid on the block a try.  You won’t be disappointed!  

Lavender has been grown for centuries for its intensely fragrant flowers and beautiful appearance. It is a staple item of every sunny garden, and its dried flowers are widely used in potpourris and arrangements.

Intro Year: 2012

Origin: Not Native to North America

CHARACTERISTICS:

Height:
  18 Inches

Spread:
  18-24 Inches

Flower Color:
  Purple-blue shades

Foliage Color:
  Green shades

Hardiness Zone:
5,6,7,8,9
Find Your Zone

Sun or Shade?:
  Full sun (> 6 hrs. direct sun)

Wet or dry?:
  Low water needs

Want to see wings?:
  Attracts butterflies

Need critter resistant plants?:
  Deer resistant
  Rabbit resistant

How fast should it grow?:
  Medium

When should it bloom?:
  Early summer
  Midsummer
  Late summer
  Early fall

Looking for seasonal interest?:
  Evergreen (in some or all zones)

How's your soil?:
  Poor Soil

Sweet or Sour Soil?:
  Neutral Soil (pH = 7.0)
  Alkaline Soil (pH > 7.0)

What's your garden style?:
  Container/Patio
  Prairie
  Cottage
  Formal
  Rock Garden
  Eclectic

Lavandula angustifolia ‘Mini Blue’

English Lavender

USDA Zone: 5-9

Lavender is actually a low-growing shrub, native to the Mediterranean region. The fragrant flowers and foliage make it a favourite for herb gardens and in the perennial border. This compact selection has grey-green foliage and features spikes of vivid blue. Prune lightly in early spring, if required, no harder than 4 inches. Lavender MUST have good drainage in order to avoid root rot problems. Will also grow fine in tubs or containers, but in colder regions the plants may then need shelter for the winter.

Lavandula angustifolia ‘Mini Blue’

Pollinators A Regional Guide for Farmers, Land Managers, and Gardeners In the and NAPPC Central Appalachian Broadleaf Forest Coniferous Forest Meadow

For National Pollinator Week. I thought I'd suggest this excellent 24 page guide to plants for pollinators. It's a great resource for farmers, gardeners and students alike. The regional guide offers nice illustrations, plant lists, seasonal charts to encourage you to have blooms throughout the season and descriptions of the various pollinators in our region.

http://www.pollinator.org/PDFs/CentralAppalachian.rx4.pdf

Below I've listed the plants we sell that are noted as good plants for our struggling pollinators.

Trees and Shrubs
▪ Clethra acuminata 'Vanilla Spice'
▪ Hydrangea arborescens 'Incrediball'
▪ Hydrangea arborescens 'Incrediball Spirit'
▪ Rubus odoratus - Flowering Raspberry
Perennials:
▪ Chelone lyoni - Turtlehead
▪ Geranium macutatum - Wild Geraniium
▪ Helianthus sp.
▪ Liatris spicata - Blazing Star
▪ Lobelia syphilitic - Great Blue Lobelia
▪ Monarda didyma - Bee Balm
▪ Penstemon small - Blue ridge Beards Tongue
▪ Thermopsis sp. 'Sophia'
▪ Vernonia noveboracensis - Ironweed
Vines:
▪ Aristolochia macrophylla - Dutchman's Pipe
▪ Parthenocissis quinquefolia - Va. Creeper
▪ Flower Habitat for Bees:
▪ Catnip - available some years
▪ Irises
▪ Lavender - great for bumblebees
▪ Penstemon
▪ Rugosa Roses
Garden Crops:
▪ Blueberries
▪ Eggplant
▪ Gooseberries
▪ Squash
▪ Tomatoes

Asclepias incarnata 'Cinderella' is on sale

Our Asclepias 'Cinderella' is in full bloom so we thought we would put them on sale for $5 each instead of $7 for our full gallon pots. I grew these from seed and they are now 2 years old and blooming. The blooms will be bigger when they are in the ground. The following is a description from on of my wholesale sources.

We grow them for the blooms and the butterflies. Be aware the caterpillars will eat the leaves later in the season, so if you like butterflies do not use any sprays or pesticides on these perennials.

A virtually hassle-free perennial, offering three months of vanilla scented, rose pink flowers in large, compact clusters from midsummer to early fall. Deadheading the flowers will stimulate another bloom cycle about a month after the first one. The flowers, which are heavily laden with nectar and pollen, are particularly attractive to hummingbirds, butterflies, bees, and other beneficial insects.

Following the fabulous flowers, typical milkweed seed pods develop which rupture to reveal seeds with long, silvery-white, silky hairs. These are great to use in dried flower arrangements.

This species grows in loose clumps by means of slowly creeping rhizomes. It is not invasive and can be safely mixed in with other perennials in the border. Ascelpias incarnata is native to North America.

We often have people ask for the Orange Butterflyweed Asclepias tuberosa. It is a bit harder to grow here in the High Country but it can be done. Site them in a very dry hot well drained location and they will be happy. They are much shorter at only 12-18" and the Monarchs do love them, like all the Milkweeds. The bitter sap in the milkweed plants makes them taste bad to predators. They do have to eat the foliage to get the protection. A small price to pay for beautiful butterflies.

Special on Helianthus hirsutus Perennial Native Sunflower

Bareroot divisions of Helianthus hirsutus are now available. This is a tall 6' perennial sunflower. It is great for the wildflower meadow or garden. It's a native to the eastern US and the birds love the seed in the fall and winter so leave the flowerheads on for them. If 6' is too tall for you, it can be shortened by pinching ( cutting back the shoots in May.) The divisions have already been cutback this year to make transplanting easier on them. Call if you want any in the next week or so. Clumps are $5 each.

Daphne- tougher than you think

While this photo shows a larger Daphne than ours. We have some great little plants for sale. At $9 each, they sure beat the mail order cost. We've had ours for 2 years in the field (full sun). They are surprisingly tough, surviving last years long cold wet winter with flying colors. The best thing about Daphne 'Carol Mackie' is it's wonderful vanilla fragrance. Late May seems to be their bloom time here in the High Country.