Plant · P-601

Lavandin

Lavandula intermedia

Lavandin is a garden-bred hybrid of two lavender species and is the one grown at commercial scale for oil, yielding several times more per plant than English lavender. Its flowers draw bees, butterflies and moths heavily, its strong scent is thought to confuse pest insects, and the oil goes into soap, perfumery and burn treatments. It wants full sun and free drainage above almost anything else - it tolerates poor sandy or alkaline soil and real drought, but waterlogged ground kills it outright. Unlike its English lavender parent it actually copes well with a hot, humid summer, which is why cultivars like Grosso and Provence are the lavenders usually recommended where southern heat rules out the others.