Lavandula 'Alba'

Lavandula 'Alba': White Lavender With All the Perfume

Lavender, but make it white. Same fragrance, same silver leaves, totally unexpected colour. 'Alba' is the friend who wears white after Labour Day and DARES ANYONE TO SAY SOMETHING.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Lavandula angustifolia 'Alba'
• Common Name: English Lavender
• Height: 35–60 cm (14–24 in)
• Spread: 30 cm (12 in)
• Flowers: Fragrant white flowers on slender spikes
• Bloom Time: Early summer to early fall (June to September), heaviest in midsummer
• Foliage: Narrow, aromatic, silver-grey leaves on a woody-based mound
• Features: Fragrant, rabbit resistant

Where to Plant: Use it to edge a sunny path, along the front of a border, in a herb garden, or in a gravel or rock garden where drainage is sharp. It's especially good in white gardens, and the flowers suit a cutting and drying bed.

Companion Plants: Use white lavender in a sunny, dry bed with rose ice plant, crimson iris and indigo catmint. Delosperma 'Jewel of Desert Rosequartz' carpets the front at 10 to 15 cm with rose-pink flowers from May to September. Nepeta 'Cat's Pajamas' adds indigo blue spikes at 30 to 35 cm from June to September. Iris 'Play with Fire' opens ruffled crimson bearded iris at 90 cm in June. Panicum 'Blood Brothers' stands behind at 120 to 150 cm with red-tipped blades.

Plant Care: Plant in full sun in lean, very well-drained soil. Wet winter soil kills lavender more often than cold does, so heavy clay needs a raised bed, a slope or plenty of grit. Skip rich compost and fertilizer. Water regularly the first season, then only in long droughts. Don't cut it back in fall. Wait until spring, when new growth appears, then trim lightly and avoid cutting into bare woody stems, which may not resprout. A light shearing after the first flush of flowers keeps it tidy. In zone 5, a site with good snow cover and shelter from winter wind helps. Lavender doesn't like to be divided. Replace old, woody plants instead.

History: English lavender, Lavandula angustifolia, is actually native to dry, rocky slopes of the western Mediterranean. The species name means narrow-leaved, and 'Alba' is Latin for white.

Final Thoughts: Full sun, deer and rabbit resistant and a bee magnet. Plant it with the purple ones and BREAK ALL THE RULES.