Lavender Hardiness and Use
Answered by: Inge Poot
Question from: Debbie
Posted on: October 16, 2003

I am very interested in lavender. I am making sachets for friends and would like to know which lavender is best and how can I order bulk. Also, I live in El Paso, TX (USA) and I would love to grow lavender on my patio garden of my townhouse. Is that possible? We have very low humidity and it is very dry. I also want to have a resource for cooking with lavender. Any suggestions?

There are more than one opinion on which lavender is best for sachets, but most would agree that English lavender is preferred by most users. Richters sells the dried flowers in bulk, organic under catalogue number H3625-050 (25g and 1kg) and non-organic under H3625-100 (50g and 1kg). I would recommend the former for sachet use and the latter for cooking.

El Paso, Texas, is in zone 7 and since plants over-wintered in containers that are out of the soil, will experience root temperatures equivalent to 2 zones further north, you can grow all lavenders hardy to at least zone 5. This includes, English, Hidcote, Munstead, Rosea, Spira, Twickle, Grosso and Provence lavender. Lavender does not mind baking as long as its roots are kept moist but not soggy wet. On the patio you should have no trouble keeping an eye on the soil. Plant in as big a container as you can manage to reduce the chance of letting the soil dry out completely and killing the plants.

As for a resource to help in using lavender for cooking, I would suggest the book "Lavender" by Tessa Eveleigh. (Richters catalogue # B6177). If you want as well a book that shows beautifully what all the species and culivars look like, you might also wish to consult the book "Lavender: A Grower’s Guide" by Virginia Mc Naughton (Richters catalogue #B6178)

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