Lavandula stoechas
French lavender
Common names: Spanish lavender, Topped lavender, Butterfly lavender
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Pot size
- from 10 l
- Lifespan
- Perennial
- Flowering
- May–Aug
- Hardiness
- Cold damage below −5 °C
- Water need
- Low
This description was machine-translated.
Description
French lavender, botanically Lavandula stoechas, is easily recognized by its flowers. Dark violet, compact spikes carry large, light violet bracts that resemble a small crest or two rabbit ears. This evergreen subshrub grows 30 to 60 cm tall, has narrow, gray-green leaves, and emits a strong fragrance. It is native to the Mediterranean region, where it grows in dry, lime-poor soils. It blooms from May to July and often flowers again in late summer after cutting back. In cooler regions it is less hardy than common lavender, so it is especially suited to pots and tubs on balconies and terraces that can be moved to a bright, frost-free place in winter. Bees and bumblebees also visit it readily.
Care instructions
Place French lavender in the sunniest, warmest spot available, with at least eight hours of sun per day being ideal. After the Ice Saints in mid-May (from calendar week 20), plant it in permeable, lime-poor soil, such as a mix of potting soil for container plants and sand, and choose a pot with large drainage holes. Water sparingly: the root ball should dry out well between waterings, as waterlogging is the most common cause of death. Fertilize very little, since too much nutrition makes it soft and reduces flowering. After the first bloom in June or July, cut it back by about one third, which often leads to a second bloom. Never cut into bare, old wood, so the plant stays compact. Common mistakes include lime-rich irrigation water, a too-shady location, and a winter quarters that is too wet.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
FloweringMay–Aug
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
well-drained, sandy, lean, lime-avoiding
French lavender grows wild on dry, sandy, low-lime soils and needs a free-draining, lean substrate in the garden or in a pot too. Mix container plant compost with about a third sand or fine grit. Unlike English lavender, it dislikes lime: the pH is best in the slightly acidic to neutral range, and hard tap water and strongly chalky soil lead to stunted growth over time. On heavy, wet soils it dies off, especially in winter.
Feeding
Light feeder
Months
Apr, Jul
French lavender comes from lean soils and needs only a little fertiliser. In spring give it some mature compost in the top layer of soil, and after the first flowering, when it shoots again, one more sparing dose of liquid fertiliser for flowering plants. No more is needed. Too much fertiliser makes the shoots grow soft and the flowering sparser.
Pruning
French lavender tolerates only moderate pruning. Cut it straight after the first flowering in June or July: remove the faded stems and shorten the shoots by about a third, always within the green, leafy part. A second, weaker flowering often follows in late summer. In spring you only remove frost-damaged tips. Never cut into the bare, woody old growth, from which it no longer shoots reliably. This keeps the subshrub compact and stops it going bare from the base.
Overwintering
French lavender tolerates only light frost down to about minus 5 degrees, and wet in winter is especially hard on it. In late autumn, before the first lasting frost, put the pot somewhere bright and cool at 5 to 10 degrees, frost-free, for example in an unheated stairwell or a cool conservatory. Water just enough that the root ball does not dry out completely, and ventilate on mild days. In very mild wine-growing regions it can stay outdoors against a dry house wall with a cover of brushwood, but this is not certain.
Propagation
Methods
- Cuttings
You propagate French lavender from cuttings. From July to September, cut 8 to 10 cm long, semi-ripe side shoots without flowers, remove the lower leaves and insert them in a lean, sandy substrate. Place the pot somewhere bright and warm, out of the full midday sun, and keep the compost only slightly moist so the cuttings do not rot. After four to six weeks they have rooted. Overwinter the young plants bright and frost-free and set them outside the following May. This keeps the characteristics of the mother plant, including the colour and shape of the flower tufts.
Companion planting
Good neighbors
nightshade family (Solanaceae)
particularly well establishedYou will find that basil next to tomato and pepper improves taste and keeps whiteflies and aphids away.
For example PotatoTomatoSweet pepperCocktail tomatoEggplantCape gooseberry and 14 more species in the catalogue
Source: classic companion planting (DACH-Gartenpraxis)
cabbage family (Brassicaceae)
You will notice that the intense scent of basil, thyme, and others confuses the cabbage whitefly and keeps it away from the cabbage family.
For example White cabbageKohlrabiRadishKalebroccolicauliflower and 41 more species in the catalogue
Source: bio-gardening intercropping practice
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
Some of these explanations were machine-translated.
For your garden
Grow French lavender yourself
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