Lavandula intermedia Dutch Group - Lavandin

Lavandula intermedia (x) dutch group, a variety of hybrid lavandin, offers an exceptionally long flowering period, from June to September, which is not the case with other varieties. It has slender spikes of light mauve flowers, carried on long stems, somewhat scattered. Its evergreen foliage is magnificent, silvery-gray, dense, highly fragrant in warm climates, giving the plant a mass ball-like appearance, highly decorative in winter and spring. Lavender is synonymous with Mediterranean holidays. It evokes the sun, the song of cicadas, the dry and fragrant hillsides of the Forcalquier region, and it is a piece of this ambiance that we capture in our own gardens. For dry, rocky soils, perfectly drained, in the sun.

The genus Lavandula belongs to the lamiaceae family. This hybrid is obtained by cross-breeding L. angustifolia and L. latifolia. These two species are found in the wild in the same mid-mountain environment and naturally cross-breed. They have given rise to numerous cultivars, all easy to install in the garden, tolerant to limestone. The 'Dutch' hybrid forms a large round cushion, with vigorous vegetation, reaching 1m (3ft) when in bloom, 60cm (24in) for the foliage, and a diameter of 80cm (32in). Its evergreen leaves, wider than those of true lavender, remain gray even in humid climates. They become even more silvery when the soil is dry and the climate is warm. However, in cooler climates, what the plant gains in foliage and robustness, it loses in color and intensity of fragrance. This variety has the longest flowering period, although never very intense. Long thin stems emerge from the massive foliage ball, carrying slender spikes of light mauve flowers, highly melliferous.

There are numerous and varied uses for lavandins. In nature, these plants always live in poor, rocky, dry, perfectly drained environments. With us, it is imperative to offer these evergreen undershrubs the sunniest slope possible, in a poor, very rocky soil, even limestone, and very well-drained in winter. Naturally, they will find their place in the rockery alongside cistus, helianthemums, and artemisias and salvias. Groupings can be created in large, well-drained slopes, planting different varieties of lavender, with volumes, flowering, and foliage creating a variety of mounds. Perennials with dry soil tolerance and vibrant or soft flowering will punctuate the landscape: Linaria 'Canon Went', Salvia jamensis, gaillardias, Hesperaloe parviflora and its red spikes, adding Convolvulus althaeoïdes, a Provençal bindweed that will run everywhere between and within the cushions without suffocating them. A border of lavandins will be more beautiful overlooking a wall, with aubrietas, for example, at its feet.