We have all done it some time in our lives. Turned our homes into the fields of Provence or made ourselves smell like a Burning Barbershop.Lavender is THE vintage accord. Whether in the garden, scenting our pulse points, our pillows and underwear drawers!
Lavender perfumes has a bit of everything -floral, fruity and woody. One of the oldest perfume ingredients, ancient Egyptians aromatizes themselves, their houses and their mummies with lavender sprigs. The Romans used it in their baths. Lavender mixes well with many other ingredients including resins and vanilla. On its own, in the original modern lavender-centric scent by Yardley’s – lavender can be ultra-cloying but, in modern iterations.,it remains the freshest and most distinctive of aromas.
Many people’s favourite lavender perfumes would come from a shortlist comprising D.S.DURGA BURNING BARBERSHOP, TOM FORD F***ING FABULOUS , PENHALIGON’S LAVANDULA, JO MALONE LAVENDER AND SILVER BIRCH.
And, L’Occitane’s “Blue Gold” products include a hand cream, shower gel, foaming bath, eau de toilette and eau de cologne. 50% of lavender in Provence is at risk of being lost through climate change. To help preserve the survival of lavender and encouraging biodiversity to thrive, the brand bred a new variety – the blue and white Mila & Eternelle – which is climate and insect-borne disease resistant.
Lavender was one of the first flowers used by L’Occitane’s founder, Olivier Baussan when he started the company in 1976 in the south of France. The brand has its own producer, Jerome Boenele who is the President of the true lavender PDO. Protected Designation of Origin) label. It also has a new permanent White Lavender Collection.
Gardeners prefer Munstead or Hidcote Blue.
They prefer hedging and container planting to spritzing. Sprigs to vials.
Trays and 5cm ready-to-plant plug plants to flacons. B&Q and garden centres to Parisian perfume maisons.
The most common garden lavenders are Lavandula stoechas (French lavender) which, being not so hardy, requires a warm sunny, position and slightly acidic soils and L. × intermedia (English lavender).
Coming in shades of purples, blues, mauves, pink and white on wiry spikes above silver-grey or grey-green foliage, lavender is happiest in well-drained, chalky or sandy alkaline soil. They thrive in containers, herb and gravel gardens and balconies. . They don’t won’t tolerate shade or suffer wet, freezing or heavy soils. The less hardy need to be brought under cover over winter where water is only needed occasionally to avoid rotting and grey mould. These include: L. canariensis, L. dentata, L. lanata and L. pinnata from areas including Portugal, Madeira and the Canary Islands.
Best planted in April or May ,when plants become available in garden centres, lavender should never be planted in winter when young plants are vulnerable to rotting in cold, wet soils. Lavender will not thrive in any soil that becomes compacted or waterlogged. They abhor wet feet. They love low nutrient soil.
Fast-growing, lavender goes straggly and unkempt quickly and should be given a good trim and late summer haircut. But don’t touch the wood. New plants should be watered in but otherwise are drought-resistanmt.
If grown in containers, move to a sheltered spot over winter. Protect again inter rain by standing them in the lee of a wall (at the base) or in a cold frame or greenhouse. The best choices for container growing are tender or half hardy varieties, as well as a few dwarf cultivars.
Opt for a clay, wood or terracotta pot as they leech excess water from the oil. Don’t stint on drainage holes. Add coarse sand, vermiculite and perlite to the potting mix for improved drainage. Fertilize occasionally with a liquid organic seaweed or kelp solution. Repotting yevery two years with new potting medium replenishes nutrients. Repot before new growth begins in spring in a pot about 2 inches larger. Harvesting flowers encourages more blooms and extends the blooming period.
Bee-teeming drifts make heady, aromatic wafts.
The best white lavenders are Vienco, Edelweiss, Arctic Snow and Beezee White( available via Dobies).
Trustworthily showy Award of Garden Merit lavender include Imperial Gem, Miss Katherine, evergreen shrub creating domes of narrow grey-green leaves and fragrant spikes of dark violet flowers in early smmr, Beechwood Blue, L’Alba, Sussex, Ballerina ad ‘Willow Vale’ a vigorous upright evergreen shrub, with narrow, yellow-green leaves and erect flower stems mingled with the foliage bearing dense spikes of deep violet flowers. These have conspicuous reddish-purple terminal bracts.
Which can be worn behind the ear!!
Or put in your sock drawer.