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Nov 16, 2018

Summer Lavender

Karl Batschke
General Manager for Darwin Perennials

Consumers love Lavender! Anyone who may have doubted or not been familiar with this idea likely hasn’t been paying attention. Evidence of the “Lavender Lifestyle” is everywhere; social media outlets like Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram are buzzing with ways people are incorporating Lavender into their daily lives. This is great news for perennial growers! We are able to supply Lavender plants year-round and flowering Lavender from spring thru fall. The key is variety selection and knowing what types of Lavender do best seasonally and regionally.

Because now is the time to be thinking about summer sales (and summer weather, since we were 19°F last night in Chicagoland!) I wanted to talk about what to grow and schedule for summer Lavender production.


L. angustifolia SuperBlue

Of the two most common species L. stoechas (Spanish Lavender) and L. angustifolia (English Lavender), the latter is THE BEST type for summer flowering. Modern English Lavender varieties do not require vernalization to flower and can be scheduled to meet a specific market demand or to have fresh plants in stores.

Darwin Perennials has two exciting English Lavender that can be scheduled for summer flowering: Lavender SuperBlue and Lavender Annet (new for 2020). These winter-hardy Lavender can be started from unrooted cuttings or from liners. Finished timing below are based on transplanting from a 72-cell multi-pinched liner.

Variety
1qt
1gal

10"/1.5gal - 3ppp

SuperBlue 6 - 8wks 8 - 10wks 10 - 12wks
Annet Not recommended 8 - 10wks 10 - 12wks

English Lavender are easy to grow during the spring and summer months and should be grown outdoors once threat of frost has subsided. Lavender are moderate feeders and prefer a well-drained perennial growing mix. Keep them actively growing, as too much drought stress can delay flowering and reduce plant size. In addition to better flowering and sturdier plants, outdoor growing improves flower and foliage color and reduces potential for diseases like Botrytis. If Botrytis should start to occur, sprench applications of labeled fungicides are more effective at attacking the disease within the plant canopy than conventional spray applications.

These English Lavender varieties will flower for several months and we recommend sending plants to market when they have at least 50% flower coverage to attract the most consumer interest.


L. angustifolia Annet

So what are your thoughts? How have YOU seen Lavender sales change in the past few seasons? Share your comments below, and be sure to check out all of our scheduling and production tools to meet the market demands.

Reader Comments (2)
So Annet is a larger growing variety since you do not recommend 1 quart production? When will cuttings be available? Winter hardy means zone 4? Mark
Monday, November 19, 2018 | Mark Rathnaw
Yes, Annet will easily fill out a 10 - 12" container with one plant. Cuttings will become available after April 1, 2019. Our trials indicate hardiness of USDA zone 5.
Monday, November 19, 2018 | Karl Batschke
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