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Lichen-Z-Farm grows several different types of Lavender
Our Hidcote Lavender (Dark Purple) and Provence Lavender (Light Blue) are available in bunches (fresh and dried), in bulk (potpourri) or pressed (for scrapbooking or special projects). Our white lavender is very rare, so we use it for our specialty items such as our gift baskets, paper luminarias, potpourri sachets and flower paper, and do not resell it.
1. Dark Purple Hidcote Lavender (angustifolia Hidcote)
This mid-sized lavender has deep purple blooms and grows 10-16" tall. Hidcote Lavender is one of the "English Lavenders" (Lavandula angustifolias) and flowers in mid to late spring. Hidcote Lavender looks great, and is exotically fragrant. Hidcote lavender is famous for its dark purple flower.
2. Light Blue Provence Lavender (Lavandula intermedia)
Provence lavender, originally from France, has a long, slender flower wand that is useful for dried bud collecting. Provence lavender, 22-24" tall, has gray green foliage and spikes of blue-violet and blooms in mid summer. Excellent for potpourri!
3. White Provence Lavender (Lavandula intermedia alba)
Very rare, and found only in areas of high altitudes, white provence lavender is considered to be a form of L. delphinensis, the white flowers being a case of albinism. White lavender is a must have for the vase. Its swan white blooms complement the purples of other lavenders and they stay white when dried. We DO NOT RESELL our white lavender, instead we use it for our specialty items such as our gift baskets, paper luminarias, potpourri sachets and flower paper.
Uses for Lavender
Medicinal Uses
Lavender is ideal for physical and emotional support. Lavender as a whole is an "adaptagenic" essence with a relationship to all body systems. It is nicknamed the ultimate "first aid in a bottle" oil. Lavender produces an anti-allergic essential oil, with an inherent antibiotic action. It is also an astringent as well as moisturizing to skin. Lavender alleviates aches, pains, and swelling from arthritis to injury to headache. Lavender also alleviates motion sickness. Lavender was used in hospitals during World War I to disinfect floors, walls and other surfaces. These extracts are also popularly used as fragrances for bath products.
Emotionally, lavender helps support a calm composure and self-expression. It reduces irritability, insomnia, nightmares, apprehension, panic attacks combined with uncontrollable shaking, stress, nervous tension, hysteria and is generally balancing to the psyche.
Lavender is antibacterial, anticonvulsive, antidepressant, anti inflammatory, analgesic, anti rheumatic, antispasmodic, antitoxic, antiviral, anticoagulant, carminative, cholagogue, cicatrisant, cordial, cytophylactic, deodorant, decongestant, diuretic, emmenagogue, galactogogue, hypotensive, insecticidal, nervine, parasiticidal, rubefacient, restorative, sedative, sudoral, tonic, vermifugel, and vulnerary!
An infusion of lavender is claimed to soothe and heal insect bites. Bunches of lavender are also said to ward off insects. If applied to the temples, lavender oil is said to soothe headaches. Lavender is frequently used as an aid to sleep and relaxation: Seeds and flowers of the plant are added to pillows, and an infusion of three flowerheads added to a cup of boiling water are recommended as a soothing and relaxing bedtime drink. Lavender oil (or extract of Lavender) is claimed to heal acne when used diluted 1:10 with water, rosewater, or witch hazel; it is also used in the treatment of skin burns and inflammatory conditions.
Dried Lavender flowers are commonly used to perfume linen, their powerful, aromatic odor acting as a preventative to the attacks of moths and other insects. In the United States, lavender is commonly used for disinfecting hotrooms and keeping away flies and mosquitoes, who do not like the scent. Oil of Lavender, on cotton-wool, tied in a little bag or in a perforated ball hung in the room, is said to keep the room free from all flies.
In France, it is standard for most households to keep a bottle of Essence of Lavender as a domestic remedy against bruises, bites and trivial aches and pains, both external and internal.
WARNING: There is scientific evidence to support the effectiveness of many of the remedies discussed above, especially the anti-inflammatory effects, but they should be used with caution since lavender oil can also be a powerful allergen. The use of herbs is a time-honored approach to strengthening the body and treating disease. Herbs, however, contain active components that can trigger side effects and interact with other herbs, supplements, or medications. For these reasons, herbs should be taken with care, under the supervision of a health care provider qualified in the field of botanical medicine. Although side effects are rare, some individuals may develop an allergic reaction to lavender. Nausea, vomiting, headache, and chills have also been reported in some individuals following inhalation or absorption of lavender through the skin. Pregnant and breast-feeding women should avoid using lavender.
Lavender Oil
Lavender is grown commercially for extraction of lavender oil from the flowers. This oil is used as an antiseptic and for aromatherapy.
Lavender Honey
All lavender flowers yield abundant nectar which yields a high quality honey for beekeepers. Lavender monofloral honey is produced primarily in the nations around the Mediterranean, and marketed worldwide as a premium product. Lavender flowers can be candied and are used as cake decoration.
Lavender in Cooking
Lavender is also used as a herb, either alone or as an ingredient. Lavender is also used to flavor sugar, the product being called "lavender sugar", and the flowers are occasionally sold in a blend with black, green, or herbal tea, adding a fresh, relaxing scent and flavor.
French chefs in and around Provence, France have been incorporating this herb into their cuisine for many centuries. Lavender lends a floral, slightly sweet and elegant flavor to most dishes. For most cooking applications it is the dried buds that are utilized, though some chefs experiment with the leaves as well. It is the buds however that contain the essential oil of lavender, which is where both the scent and flavor of lavender are best derived.
Lavender Potpurri
Lavenders are widely grown in gardens. Flower spikes are used for dried flower arrangements. The fragrant, pale purple flowers and flower buds are used in potpourris. Dried and sealed in pouches, they are placed among stored items of clothing to give a fresh fragrance and as a deterrent to moths.
History of Lavender
The Ancient Greeks
The ancient Greeks called the lavender herb nardus, after the Syrian city of Naarda. It was also commonly called nard.
Lavender was one of the holy herbs used in the biblical Temple to prepare the holy essence, and nard is mentioned in the Song of Solomon (4,14):
nard and saffron,
calamus and cinnamon,
with every kind of incense tree, with myrrh and aloes,
and all the finest spices
In the Gospel of St. Mark, lavender is referred to as Spikenard, which at the time was considered something of great value. He tells of a woman who came to Christ with an alabaster box containing ointment of Spikenard and who broke the box and proceeded to pour the valuable ointment on his head.
Ancient Rome and Britannia
During Roman times, flowers were sold for 100 denari per pound, which was about the same as a month's wages for a farm laborer. Called "Asarum", lavender was commonly used in Roman baths to scent the water, and it was thought to restore the skin. That name evolved from the Roman belief that the much-poisonous asp viper lived among lavender and that the plant must therefore be approached with great caution.
Lavender's late Latin name was lavandārius, from lavanda (things to be washed), from the verb lavāre (to wash). When the Roman Empire conquered southern Britain, the Romans introduced lavender.
During the height of the Plague, glove makers at Grasse would scent their leathers with lavender oil, and this was claimed to ward off the Plague. This story could have some validity as the Plague was transmitted by fleas, which lavender is known to repel.
Lavender has been cultivated in England since the mid-1500s and has been grown throughout the centuries since for commercial purposes. Many historical references mention England, particularly Surrey, as a location most suitable for growing lavender. Several publications dating from the late 1800s mention that lavender oil from Britain could garner market prices as much as 4-6 times greater than the oil produced from plants grown in France and elsewhere on the continent.
North America
Grown primarily in France and England, Lavender was brought to the North American continent by our forefathers, the pilgrims. There is much documentation from the pilgrims describing their use of the plants, and their attempts to grow it in North America.
Lavender Today
Native to the mountainous zones of the Mediterranean where it grows in sunny, stony habitats, lavender today flourishes throughout southern Europe, Australia, and the United States.
Growing Lavender
Lavender can be grown in almost any garden soil. It grows best in light soil - sand or gravel - in a dry, open and sunny position. Lavender requires good drainage and freedom from damp in winter. The plant flourishes best on a warm, well drained loam with a slope to the south or south-west. A loam that is too rich is detrimental to the oil yield, as excessive nourishment tends to the growth of leaf. Lavender is liable to injury by frost and low-lying situations and those prone to become weather-bound in winter are to be avoided.
Lavender may be grown from seed (sown in April), but is mainly propagated by cuttings and layerings. It may also be propagated by division of roots. Cuttings of the young wood, or small branches, with a root or heel, pulled off the large plants, may be inserted in free, sandy soil, under hand-lights in August and September, and planted out during the following spring. The 'cuttings' are taken by pulling the small branches down with a quick movement, when they become detached with the desired 'heel' at their base. Cuttings root freely in April, also, in the open, protection being given in cold weather. They should be of young growths. A certain amount of watering will be required in dry weather until the cuttings are thoroughly established.
Young plants should as far as possible be kept from flowering during the first year by clipping, so that the strength of the plant is thrown into the lateral shoots to make it bushy and compact. A full picking is usually obtained from the second to the fifth year. After the third year, the bushes are apt to become straggly. They can be pruned in March and care should be taken to always have young plants ready to follow on, to take the place of exhausted, over-straggly bushes.
In commercial practice, the bushes are seldom retained after their fifth year. It follows, therefore, that in order to keep up a continuous supply of bushes in their prime, planting and grubbing must, on an established plantation, be done every year. Most growers plant a fifth portion of the ultimate area of Lavender aimed at in the first instance and this is repeated each year until the fifth year, when the area first planted is grubbed immediately after flowering, the old plants burnt, the ashes put upon the ground, and the land ploughed and manured and left fallow until the following spring, when re-stocking can commence.
Dried Lavender
Once harvested, the lavender stalks should be spread out in the open, on trays or sieves, in a cool, shady position, out of the sun, so that they may dry slowly. The trays should be raised a few feet from the ground, to ensure a warm current of air, and the stems should not be allowed to touch. They must be taken indoors before there is any risk of them getting damp. When dry, they should be stored in a dry place and made up into bundles. The flowers may also be stripped from the stalks and dried by a moderate heat.
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