Plant Name: Lavender, Silver Frost
Common Name: Silver Frost, also known as Kathleen Elizabeth.
Botanical Name: Lavandula x chaytorae, “Silver Frost.” The “chaytorae” lavender varieties are cross breeds. This means they are a cross between two varieties of lavenders: L. angustifolia and L. lanata (wooly lavender).
Origin: Van Hevelingen Herb Nursery, Newburg, Oregon, 1991.
Height/Physical Description: This variety is 36-48 inches in height and width with flower stems that are 12-14 inches. It has silvery, fuzzy foliage that provides striking color in Winter and Summer. The flowers are violet and bloom once in early Summer.
Special Attributes: Striking silver, fuzzy foliage in Winter and Summer with violet flowers that bloom in early Summer.
Purchasing: Online or private nurseries.
Planting Requirements: Plant in Spring after danger of frost or in the Fall. Lavenders require good drainage. If soil is mostly clay, amending and aerating the planting area will ensure better success. Planting in a dome is another way to promote good drainage and keep your lavender from sinking down in clay soil. The preferred mulch at the base of the plant is gravel or a thin layer of compost. Do not use wood or leaf mulches as this contributes to root rot.
Repotting and transplanting: To determine your lavender is hardy and ready to repot or transplant, check the bottom of the container for vigorous roots coming out of the drainage holes. This is a sign of good health.
Watering: Water at base of plant only. Lavenders do not like overhead spray. Use of a drip system is best. Put on a drip line with plants that have similar water needs to avoid overwatering. Lavenders rot very easily when overwatered. To avoid this, allow the soil to dry out moderately before next watering.
Fertilizing: Lavenders are hillside plants that thrive in rocky, good draining soil that is somewhat alkaline (pH of 6.5 to 7.5). Lavenders do not require a great deal of fertilizer as they prefer neutral soil. Since this is the case, use of compost or compost tea is all that is needed.
Blooming Time/Harvesting: Violet flowers on 12 to 14 inch stems that bloom once in Winter and Summer.
Pruning: Lavenders can live up to 25 years if well maintained. The time to prune is after the flush of flowers. The flowers and stems should be gently pruned so the plant is the shape of a ball. Consider it a haircut not a severe pruning. Removing the flowers in this manner allows the plant to regenerate foliage and avoids it from becoming “woody.”
Note: If the plant has become woody, it cannot be reversed. It will live but will not have the original full shape that it had at the beginning.
Pruning underneath the plant is another way to keep the plant healthy as this promotes good air circulation which prevents root rot.
Pests: Spittle bugs, grasshoppers, gophers, moles.
Diseases: Root rot.
Hardiness: zones 7-10
Additional Comments: Wonderful landscape plant that provides beautiful contrast.
Plant Name: Lavender, Spanish Curly Top
Botanical Name: Lavendula stoechas, “Spanish Curly Top”
Note: The Stoechas family of lavenders is easy to identify as the flowers on all are cylindrical with the look of “rabbit ears” or “butterfly wings” on top of the flower. The plant varieties come in numerous different colors and many bloom continuously throughout the year. The name “Stoechas” comes from Stoechades, the former name of a group of islands off the coast of France.
Origin: Rhonda Whetham, Forever Lavender, New Zealand, year unknown.
Height/Physical Description: This variety grows 30 to 36 inches in height and width. The leaves are moss green with plum-colored, curly-topped flowers that are on 8 to 10-inch stems. The flowers bloom continuously starting in Spring.
Special Attributes: The flowers are plum-colored and very curly on top and bloom continuously throughout the year starting in early Spring.
Purchasing: Online or private nurseries.
Planting Requirements: Plant in Spring after danger of frost or in the Fall. Lavenders require good drainage. If soil is mostly clay, amending and aerating the planting area will ensure better success. Planting in a dome is another way to promote good drainage and keep your lavender from sinking down in clay soil. The preferred mulch at the base of the plant is gravel or a thin layer of compost. Do not use wood or leaf mulches as this contributes to root rot.
Repotting and transplanting: To determine your lavender is hardy and ready to repot or transplant, check the bottom of the container for vigorous roots coming out of the drainage holes. This is a sign of good health.
Watering: Water at base of plant only. Lavenders do not like overhead spray. Use of a drip system is best. Put on a drip line with plants that have similar water needs to avoid overwatering. Lavenders rot very easily when overwatered. To avoid this, allow the soil to dry out moderately before next watering.
Fertilizing: Lavenders are hillside plants that thrive in rocky, good draining soil that is somewhat alkaline (pH of 6.5 to 7.5). Lavenders do not require a great deal of fertilizer as they prefer neutral soil. Since this is the case, use of compost or compost tea is all that is needed.
Blooming Time/Harvesting: Plum-colored flowers bloom continuously starting in early Spring.
Pruning: Lavenders can live up to 25 years if well maintained. The time to prune is after the flush of flowers. The flowers and stems should be gently pruned so the plant is the shape of a ball. Consider it a haircut not a severe pruning. Removing the flowers in this manner allows the plant to regenerate foliage and avoids it from becoming “woody.”
Note: If the plant has become woody, it cannot be reversed. It will live but will not have the original full shape that it had at the beginning.
Pruning underneath the plant is another way to keep the plant healthy as this promotes good air circulation which prevents root rot.
Pests: Spittle bugs, grasshoppers, gophers, moles.
Diseases: Root rot.
Hardiness: zones 7-10
Additional Comments: Continuous bloomer starting in Spring.
Plant Name: Lavender, Spanish
Botanical Name: Lavendula stoechas
Origin: Many varieties, with many different origins
Height/Physical Description: There are countless varieties that differ in flower color, height and width. In general, the flower stems are shorter in length and the flower is cylindrical and wrapped in tiny flowers with “rabbit ears” or “butterfly wings” on top.
Special Attributes: This variety blooms continuously starting in Spring and comes in a variety of colors, and is cold and heat hardy. Good for residential gardens.
Purchasing: Easy to find in local nurseries.
Planting Requirements: Plant in Spring after danger of frost or in the Fall. Lavenders require good drainage. If soil is mostly clay, amending and aerating the planting area will ensure better success. Planting in a dome is another way to promote good drainage and keep your lavender from sinking down in clay soil. The preferred mulch at the base of the plant is gravel or a thin layer of compost. Do not use wood or leaf mulches as this contributes to root rot.
Repotting and transplanting: To determine your lavender is hardy and ready to repot or transplant, check the bottom of the container for vigorous roots coming out of the drainage holes. This is a sign of good health.
Watering: Water at base of plant only. Lavenders do not like overhead spray. Use of a drip system is best. Put on a drip line with plants that have similar water needs to avoid overwatering. Lavenders rot very easily when overwatered. To avoid this, allow the soil to dry out moderately before next watering.
Fertilizing: Lavenders are hillside plants that thrive in rocky, good draining soil that is somewhat alkaline (pH of 6.5 to 7.5). Lavenders do not require a great deal of fertilizer as they prefer neutral soil. Since this is the case, use of compost or compost tea is all that is needed.
Blooming Time/Harvesting: Continuously blooming starting in Spring. Harvest when flowers first pop open.
Pruning: Lavenders can live up to 25 years if well maintained. The time to prune is after the flush of flowers. The flowers and stems should be gently pruned so the plant is the shape of a ball. Consider it a haircut not a severe pruning. Removing the flowers in this manner allows the plant to regenerate foliage and avoids it from becoming “woody.”
Note: If the plant has become woody, it cannot be reversed. It will live but will not have the original full shape that it had at the beginning.
Pruning underneath the plant is another way to keep the plant healthy as this promotes good air circulation which prevents root rot.
Pests: Spittle bugs, grasshoppers, gophers, moles.
Diseases: Root rot.
Hardiness: zones 7-10