Lavandula Phenomenal®

Lavandula Phenomenal®: Cold Winters, Muggy Summers, No Problem

Most lavender wilts in humidity like a hairdo at an outdoor wedding. This lavandin laughs at sticky weather, stays in a tidy silver mound and pumps out fragrant violet spikes anyway. FRIZZ? NEVER HEARD OF IT.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Lavandula x intermedia 'Niko'
• Common Name: Lavandin, Lavender
• Series: Phenomenal® is the trade name for the cultivar 'Niko'
• Height: 60–90 cm (2–3 ft)
• Spread: 60–90 cm (2–3 ft)
• Flowers: Fragrant violet-purple spikes on long stems
• Bloom Time: Midsummer (July to August), sometimes with a light repeat in fall
• Foliage: Silvery grey-green, forming a dense, uniform mound
• Features: Tolerant of heat and humidity

Where to Plant: It's big enough to act as a low hedge, anchor a hot, dry border, or cover a sunny slope, and a row along a driveway makes a fragrant, silvery edge. The long stems are good for cutting and drying.

Companion Plants: Plant Phenomenal® in a sunny, dry bed with cobweb rosettes, rattlesnake master and pearly everlasting. Sempervivum arachnoideum 'Cobweb' tucks in at the front at 5 to 10 cm with webbed rosettes. Anaphalis margaritacea 'New Snow' adds papery white flowers at 45 to 60 cm from July to September. Eryngium yuccifolium brings greenish-white globes at 90 to 150 cm from July to September. Muhlenbergia Undaunted® adds a fine mound that turns into a pink-red haze in fall.

Plant Care: Plant in full sun in very well-drained soil. Lean, sandy or gravelly soil is better than rich soil. Heavy clay that stays wet over winter is the main thing to avoid, so raise the bed or add grit if needed. Water through its first season, then only in prolonged drought. Leave it standing over winter. In spring, once new growth appears, cut off the old flower stems and trim the mound lightly, never into bare wood. Give it room, because it fills out more than an English lavender.

History: Lloyd Traven of Peace Tree Farm in Pennsylvania found Phenomenal® among lavandins selected by Niko Christou, which is where the cultivar name 'Niko' comes from, and Peace Tree Farm introduced it around 2012. Lavandins like it are hybrids of English lavender and spike lavender, which is why they grow bigger and bloom later than the English types.

Final Thoughts: Plant a whole row and pretend you run a lavender farm. The neighbours will want a tour. CHARGE ADMISSION.