A Bees Banquet
So here’s what it will say on your newly purchased the pot!
Lavender-Upright perennial, 6 plus hours direct sun. Bloom season Spring/Summer
But after 34 years of Phoenix flower gardening, (a passion if you haven’t yet noticed), Here’s what I know about Lavender…
A Bees Banquet
Bees really LOVE lavender plants when they are in bloom. For bees, who are drawn to blues, violet and yellow like females are drawn to tall, dark and handsome; Lavender is their perfect time management, because with lavender they’ll get both pollen and nectar. Excellent for the Busy Bee.
The Lavender fragrance will also attract birds and butterflies, and the plants’ parts and pieces can be used in floral arrangements, sachet, and potpourri. While it’s famous scent is pleasing to many humans, the exact opposite is true for mosquitoes, flies, fleas, etc. And that’s a good thing!
I’m a lavender lover, grower, nurturer, who loves the lavender scent outdoors in the fresh air however, I detest the fake fragrance found in most new age things with the relaxation implication.
Good ole’ lavender is a well-known tough plant, known as a perennial semi-shrub. With it’s unique green-grey leaf-stem coloring and lovely lavender colored shoots, it’s easily recognized the world over.
A lavender plant looks good in containers; along walkways and makes a nice informal hedge. A welcoming site to see and smell near the entrance of your home.
When you plant your starter plant, whether it’s a .5 gallon single plant or a larger 1 to 5 gallon potted shrub (it doesn’t matter), dig that hole 2 times the width of pot/plants and plant 1 “ above ground level with spacing of 2-feet apart. Then build a water basin using your hand, about 1 inch deep.
Water deeply at first so the water pools in the little basin and keep the plant moist the rest of the first year. Lavender accepts a gravelly soil so not a lot of soil mending or additives are necessary. In fact lavender is native to Mediterranean soil which Arizona soil resembles, hence our success with wine and olive growing..
Plant food can be offered to your lavender both spring and summer, but fertilizer isn’t needed. If you choose to use a fertilizer, choose a gentle one and apply lightly in early spring. Mulch helps to keep your plant a little extra moist throughout the year.
The plants will require a bit of pruning to keep healthy and blooming and doing so extends their life. In early spring, remove all grown tips before they start lengthening. They do tend to get woody on their inside. Best to trim them annually in late summer after flowering has finished, remove spent flower stalks and woody stems. Lots of woody stems, to me, usually indicates the plant might have roughly 3 years or less left to bloom and look nice. They do not have a real long life span, especially compared to our other native desert plants. (it’s hell to get old. Even in a state as lovely as Arizona.)
Average mature shrub size is going to be 2’H 2”wide. Cold hardiness 0 degrees (F) in the Phoenix area. We cover ours with burlap if it gets that low, which is seldom. Lavender does take the heat with adequate water and of course, if you can plant it so that it doesn’t get the western sunset, that’s a bonus. Count on it flowering early spring through early summer. Lower leaves of yellow indicate too much water; so cut back.
When planting, consider placing somewhere that you can enjoy the aroma.
** Did You Know ** Lavender and Rose fragrance are the top smells in both the Floral Industry & The Skin Care Industry? Lavender is the top contender for the holistic relaxation industry in both personal products and home décor/ home aesthetic products.
Lastly, Low maintenance flowering bushes help increase the value of your home.
