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Lavender and Rosemary Plant Selector

Frost-hardy lavender (not as tough as Hardy Lavender (-15°C)

These are best planted in spring and early summer.

These are some of the most spectacular lavenders. The flowers all have ‘ears’ on top. These ‘ears’ are apical or sterile bracts and so have no flowers at their base, unlike the rest of the flower head. The flowers have a gentle, sweet honeyed scent that is easily masked by the very pungent camphoraceous foliage.

Thanks to milder winters in the UK these lavenders are more widely grown. Tolerant of -5°C and below for a few successive days. Very sharp drainage is crucial for survival through wet and snowy winters. Crisp dry winters are much better. Deadhead through the season for almost continuous flowering from May to September. Plant as specimens or in small groups rather than large swathes.

The foliage of viridis adds a zing to cold desserts. The flowers of all are sweet to the taste and the ‘ears’ decorative and edible on salads and cold desserts.

Showing all 15 results

Ballerina

A wonderful delicately coloured cross, with purple flowerheads and white ‘ears’ that colour to pink and purple with age.

Fathead

A distinctive hybrid with masses of long-lasting very plump dark purple flowers, fading to pink with age. Introduced by Downderry in 1997.

Flaming Purple

A beautiful long ‘eared’ purple (rather than the magenta of pedunculata) lavender. One of our own hand pollinated hybrids. Best planted late April-late June.

pedunculata subsp. pedunculata

The long flower stalks (peduncles) are topped with purple flowers and beautiful, long, pale purple ‘ears’ that look magical fluttering in a summer’s breeze. Very narrow pale green leaves.

Petit Rouge (Whero Iti in Maori)

A real compact hybrid with distinctive reddish-crimson flowers. ‘Whero Iti’ means Little Red in Maori. Narrow green leaves. NZ selection. UK introduction by Downderry 2005.

Pink Panache

A flamboyant lavender with purple flowers and gorgeous magenta pink ‘ears’. Upright habit. Bred by Downderry and introduced in 2018. Best planted late April-late June.

Pretty Polly

A beautiful, well-behaved lavender. Very neat and tidy with lovely rich purple flowers topped with yellow-white ‘ears’ and a wonderfully sweetly scented foliage. Best planted late April-late June.

Purple Panache

A flamboyant lavender with purple flowers and rich purple ‘ears’. Upright habit. Bred by Downderry and introduced in 2018. Best planted late April-late June.

Regal Splendour

A luxuriantly velvet-purple-flowered lavender, with a wonderfully compact habit.

stoechas subsp. stoechas forma leucantha

(White French Lavender) A tidy rotund habit with masses of white flowers. Great in a pot.

stoechas subsp. stoechas Night of Passion

An extremely dark purple stoechas with a compact habit and a seriously seductive name! Great in a pot. UK selection and introduction by Downderry 2008. NB: Prefers an acidic soil.

stoechas subsp. stoechas With Love

A stunning improved version of ‘Kew Red’ with the same scrumptious cerise-crimson flowers.

Van Gogh

Subtle powder-blue flowers rise above green foliage and are topped with pale yellow ‘ears’. Spreading habit. Introduced from New Zealand in 2003.

viridis

Distinctly different, with amazing yellow-green flowers and ‘ears’. Very green foliage with a strong and unusual lemon scent, particularly when bruised. Best planted late April-late June.

Willow Vale

A lovely lavender with crinkly-eared purple flowers and pale purple ‘ears’. Introduced from Australia in 1992. Best planted late April-late June.