Valued for its foliage as well as its flowers, lavender has been cultivated as a garden ornamental for centuries but it’s probably never been more fashionable than now. Interest in the genus continues growing. There are as many as 32 species of lavender plus numerous hybrids and cultivars and tempting new varieties arrive in the nurseries every summer. Growth habits of the various lavenders differ widely and create different patterns and textures in a garden design. These can only be judged in mature plantings, not from young nursery plants in pots or black bags. You may want the quiet velvety mounds of French lavender types (L dentata), the richly coloured flowers of the Spanish lavender (L stoechas) or the Ebullient growth of the ‘Margaret Roberts’ lavender (L intermedia).

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