No garden should be without lavender, with its sensual combination of beautiful flowers and heady scent. I use it for perfumed hedges, dividing different parts of the garden. It is wonderful to suddenly come across the overwhelming colour of fields of lavender being grown commercially in Provence and other areas. But everyone can enjoy this plant on a small scale because it grows happily in pots.
Lavender is native to the Mediterranean, but now grows around the world. The Ancient Romans enjoyed it in their bathwater and in 1620 the Pilgrim Fathers took the plant with them to America. It has been used for centuries in the UK as an insect repellent and odour suppressor, usually strewn on floors.
COOKING
I dry lavender to mix with rose petals and herb flowers in pot pourri and to scent log fires. It also adds a floral, aromatic flavour to lamb and chicken recipes. I make lavender sugar every summer (see page 132), which I store in jars over winter for cakes and biscuits. Lavender Syrup (see page 130) is made within minutes from flower buds, sugar and water. I use this with strawberries, peaches and raspberries. But I also infuse cream or milk with lavender when I am making desserts, including ice cream, and lavender is used in my Apple and Herb Jelly (see page 166), one of my favourite jellies.
GROWING
Grow varieties of Lavendula angustifolia for the best taste. Its common name is English Lavender and I recommend Dwarf Munstead and Hidcot for hedging. Use flowers, buds and even young leaves in food through spring and early summer. You can grow new plants from cuttings, but they rarely “come true” if you try growing from seed. They thrive in sunny, free-draining soil. If you do not have these conditions, add lots of grit when planting.
Cut back in spring and summer. The normal advice is to replace plants when they become leggy, usually after three to five years. But I avoid having to do this by cutting right back into the wood after the summer flowers, after advice from a lavender farmer in the UK. I have not lost a lavender plant yet in the 20 years they have been growing in my garden.