LAVENDER

 Lavender angustifolia produces spikes of small, purple to violet flowers that bloom from late spring to summer. The leaves are narrow, silvery-green, and aromatic when crushed. This variety of lavender typically grows to a height of 45-60 cm, with a spread of about 60-75 cm.

Aromatic: The flowers are used for making lavender oil, which is popular in aromatherapy, personal care products, and as a natural remedy for stress and sleep disorders.

Culinary: The flowers and leaves are sometimes used in cooking, adding a floral, slightly sweet flavour to dishes and desserts.

Medicinal: Lavender angustifolia is often used for its calming effects. It may help reduce anxiety, promote relaxation, and improve sleep quality.

Ornamental: It’s often planted in gardens or used in landscaping due to its beauty and pleasant scent.

Climate: Prefers a Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers and mild winters

Soil: Well-drained, slightly alkaline soil is ideal.

Sunlight: Full sun is crucial for healthy growth and abundant flowering.

Watering: Lavender is drought-tolerant and should be watered sparingly, as it does not like wet or waterlogged conditions.

Propagation: Lavender can be propagated from seeds, cuttings, or by dividing clumps.

Pruning: Regular pruning after flowering helps to maintain the plant’s shape and encourages new growth.

While Lavender angustifolia is the species, there are many varieties. At Chintin Botanicals we grow 5 different varieties, they are:

Swampy: A mid sized plant with lovely deep purple flowers. is a small shrub variety of lavender with deep purple flowers and grey leaves. Although when distilling it, it has a very low yield, it does have a lovely sweet secent. It holds it’s beautiful purple colour when dried and is a great culinary lavender.

Egerton Blue: Egerton Blue lavender is a variety very similar to Swampy. It also has a dark purple colour and a sweet fragrance. It too has a low yield when distilling.

Avice Hill: A small plant with very sweet scented flowers. This is used for high quality essential oil  that has notes of musk, honey, pepper, and wood.

Bee: This variety provides a great essential oil that sits between the musky scent of Avice Hill and the sweetness of Pacific Blue. It provides a good yield and tend to be ready later than our other varieitis, giving us a breather in between harvests.

Pacific Blue: Pacific Blue has a deep blue flower that is stunning. It provides the best yield of our Angustifolia varieties and has a lovely sweet scent.