Lovely English Lavender

English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) is one of the most famous lavender species, and it's both beautiful and fragrant.

About English lavender

This plant (also known as Lavandula officinalis, which derives from its use in the English medieval period as a medicinal) has a wide variety of cultivars ranging from:

dwarf to tall,
white to pink to dark purple,

so it can be used in many different types of gardens for many purposes.

Hardy to zone 5, English lavenders are a good choice for those gardens with colder winters. Those who live below zone 5 can still grow them, but in containers, bringing them indoors during the winter.

Buy English Lavender Seeds (Burpee)

While the English claim them, these lavenders are actually native to Spain.

They enjoy dry, rocky, poor soil, and will not do well in wet or very rich soil.

These plants can be grown from seed, but you'll get flowers faster if you buy plants instead.

Typically, they bloom in mid spring, and are finished blooming by early summer, but this is dependent on temperatures, as these plants will stop blooming when the temperature gets too hot.

Buy Munstead Lavender Seeds (Cook's Garden)

The Hidcote cultivar especially dislikes hot weather and does better in locations with cooler summers, while the Munstead cultivar tolerates heat the best of all.

This sort of information is useful to know when you're choosing one of the English cultivars, so you will have the best success with your plants, especially when you're doing a large planting such as a lavender border.

Here are a few more English lavender pictures (with sources!):

Buy Hidcote Lavender Plants (Suttons Seeds)