Lavender

Lavender comes in different varieties and colours; from lavender blue to purple, violet, pink and white. The most common is L. angustifolia 'Hidcote' with violet-blue flowers and narrow, grey leaves. Lavandula angustifolia suits our climate best, as it is hardy and can withstand wet weather conditions.

Not only are we fans of the lavender plant, but also bees, butterflies and other insects love the nectar and flowers. For these critters, a flowering garden is a sweet shop, especially considering that intensive arable farming and increasingly tiled gardens mean they can find less food. This makes them vulnerable, even though they are very important for the pollination of flowers, plants and crops. So we are also giving bees a helping hand by planting lavender plants.

Lavender can be planted all year round. From April to August the soil is still warm, which is the best time to plant. It is important to place the lavender plant in a bright and open place, as it is a real sunbather. It can be planted on the balcony in a pot or in the open ground in a border as a garden shrub. As lavender is a dwarf shrub, they are often no taller than 50 centimetres and mainly used as a ground cover or to fill borders. Lavender plants need space. Therefore, advise your customers to keep about 15 -20cm space between plants.

Besides being a beautiful plant, lavender is also loved for its wonderful scent which is especially released when touched. Because of this wonderful smell, many products are produced with a lavender scent, such as shampoo, perfume and soap. And everyone knows the little bags with dried lavender that are placed in wardrobes or in toilets.

In the past, the plant was already used for its calming effects. In fact, the scent helps with stress, nausea or car sickness. Lavender is also widely used in tea, which has a lowering effect on blood pressure, is bactericidal and disinfectant. So we can say that lavender has medicinal properties.