Top 5 Lavender
Lavender is one of the most beloved garden plants, prized for its soothing fragrance, soft colour palette, and versatility in landscaping, aromatherapy, and culinary use. With many varieties available, choosing the right one can elevate your garden’s beauty and functionality. Here are our Top 5 five recommended lavender varieties, each with its own unique charm and characteristics.
1. Lavender Angustifolia (English Lavender)
Lavandula angustifolia, commonly known as English lavender, is perhaps the most classic and widely recognized variety. It thrives in cooler climates and produces compact mounds of narrow, silvery-green foliage topped with fragrant purple flower spikes. Blooming in early to mid-summer, this variety is highly valued for its essential oils, making it a favourite for perfumes, sachets, and culinary uses. Its sweet, delicate scent is less camphor-like than other lavenders, which makes it ideal for baking and teas.
2. Lavender Angustifolia ‘Munstead’
‘Munstead’ is a popular cultivar of Lavandula angustifolia, cherished for its reliability and compact growth habit. It blooms slightly earlier than many other English lavenders and features soft lavender-blue flowers that contrast beautifully with its grey-green foliage. This variety is particularly well-suited for borders, edging, and container planting. ‘Munstead’ is also known for its excellent cold hardiness and strong fragrance, making it a practical and ornamental choice for gardeners in temperate regions.
3. Lavender ‘Papillon’ (Lavandula pedunculata)
Often referred to as butterfly lavender, Lavandula pedunculata ‘Papillon’ stands out for its distinctive flower heads topped with petal-like bracts that resemble butterfly wings. These showy blooms come in vibrant shades of purple and add a whimsical, ornamental touch to gardens. Unlike English lavender, this variety prefers warmer climates and has a more intense, slightly resinous fragrance. It blooms from late spring through summer and is excellent for attracting pollinators like bees and butterflies.
4. Lavender Stoechas ‘Lucie Pink’
Lavandula stoechas ‘Lucie Pink’ is a striking variety of Spanish lavender, known for its soft pink flower bracts that sit atop deep magenta flower heads. This variety adds a gentle, romantic colour palette to any garden and pairs beautifully with other Mediterranean plants. It thrives in full sun and well-drained soil, making it ideal for rock gardens or containers. While its scent is less sweet than English lavender, its visual appeal makes it a standout ornamental choice.
5. Lavender Stoechas ‘Devonshire’
Another member of the Spanish lavender family, Lavandula stoechas ‘Devonshire’ is prized for its bold purple flower heads and prominent upright bracts. It has a longer blooming season than many other lavenders, often flowering from spring into late summer with proper care. This variety is well-suited to warmer climates and coastal gardens, where it can tolerate wind and drier conditions. Its robust appearance and extended flowering period make it an excellent focal point in garden designs.
Whether you’re designing a fragrant border, creating a pollinator-friendly garden, or simply enjoying the calming presence of lavender, these five varieties offer something for every gardener. Don't forget that we grow all our own lavender which helps us to provide you with a better quality of plant and more choice.
Why Choose Lavender