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Lavender Herb
The lavender herb is a good value addition to any garden, whether you have a full blown herb garden or not. It is perennial and evergreen as well as having an abundance of fragrant flowers in the summer. It attracts bees in vast quantities during the summer which is good for the rest of your plants as they pollinate. Some ideas of using the lavender herb as a herbal remedy and cosmetic uses are here. It is useful for easing headaches, anxiety, burns of all kinds and relieving insomnia. It makes a good hair rinse and scents bathwater - aids sleep if you put it in a bed time bath. Fragrant lavender sachets can be made by cutting the flowers as soon as they are fully open, tie the stems then hang them upside down in a brown paper bag. About a week or so later, when they are dried, rub the flowers off. Take a circle of muslin or similar fine cloth and put a small amount of lavender in the centre. Gather it up and secure with an elastic band - you can finish it off with a length of ribbon if you like so that it's decorative and also gives you something to hang it from. Use them to scent clothes and help in deterring moths and insects. You can also use it to flavor biscuits, cakes, ice creams, vinegar, marmalades and jams. Lavender is easy to grow - you buy plants, take cuttings or grow from seed. The varieties are numerous, many colors from pale lilac to deep purple - some small, neat flower heads and some huge fluffy things. The fragrance is wonderful - just brushing past the plant will release the aroma and it lingers for a long time. They grow best in a well drained soil and like sun. I have some in my back garden which faces north east and some in my front which faces south east - they can be about 2 weeks apart in flowering. They make an excellent low hedge around flower beds also, plant some around your vegetable patch so that the bees can help you out. It is easy to strike cuttings in mid to late summer so that you can increase your stock - that way you only need one plant to begin with. Problems are few if you have some stock plants - they may get leggy if you don't trim them back but will normally recover from a hard pruning if necessary.
For an explanation of gardening terms that you might not understand, please check out the Growers Dictionary section. I found that I was either skimping on explanations or giving too much information on the individual pages so I have posted all relevant terms in one section - if there's anything you need to know, please drop me an email.
Lavender Herb - to Growing Herbs
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