Overview

Transform your garden into a fragrant oasis with this offering of 2 French lavender live plant starter plants. These vigorous young plants are of the Lavandula x intermedia variety, renowned for their striking beauty and intensely aromatic flowers. Commonly known as French lavender, this variety is a hybrid revered for its robust growth, abundant blooms, and high essential oil yield, making it a favorite for both ornamental gardening and practical applications. Unlike some other lavenders, Lavandula x intermedia tends to grow larger and produce more flower spikes, offering a spectacular visual and aromatic display. Whether you’re looking to establish a fragrant border, create stunning fresh arrangements, or even try your hand at distilling essential oils, these fragrant lavender plants provide the perfect foundation for a thriving lavender patch.

Key Benefits

These French lavender live plant starter plants bring a multitude of advantages to any garden or home:

• Exceptional Fragrance: Enjoy the classic, strong, and soothing aroma that French lavender is famous for. Their flower buds are packed with oils, ensuring a long-lasting fragrance perfect for sachets and fresh bouquets.
• Vigorous Growth: As Lavandula x intermedia varieties, these plants are known for their robust growth habit, reaching significant sizes and producing numerous flower spikes for a lush display.
• Versatile Use: Ideal for garden hedging, borders, rock gardens, or as a beautiful accent plant. The flowers are excellent for culinary uses, essential oil extraction, and crafts like wands and potpourri.
• Pollinator Attraction: The vibrant purple blooms are a magnet for bees, butterflies, and other beneficial pollinators, enhancing the biodiversity of your garden.
• Drought Tolerance: Once established, these fragrant lavender plants are highly drought-tolerant, making them a water-wise choice for various climates.
• Low Maintenance: French lavender is relatively easy to care for, requiring minimal attention once settled in the right conditions, making it suitable for both novice and experienced gardeners.
• High Oil Yield: These are among the most widely distilled lavender varieties due to their superior oil content compared to other types, offering potential for homemade essential oils.

Plant Care & Growing Tips

To ensure your French lavender live plant thrives, providing the right growing conditions is crucial. These plants demand full sun exposure, ideally receiving at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight per day. Good air circulation is also important to prevent fungal issues. When it comes to watering, less is often more. Lavender prefers dry conditions; allow the soil to dry out completely between waterings. Overwatering is a common cause of failure for these plants. They are accustomed to arid Mediterranean climates, so mimic those conditions as much as possible.

The ideal soil for Lavandula x intermedia is well-draining, sandy, or gravelly, with a slightly alkaline pH. Avoid heavy clay soils that retain too much moisture. If your soil is heavy, amend it with sand or grit to improve drainage. For fertilization, lavender is not a heavy feeder. A light application of a balanced, slow-release fertilizer in spring is usually sufficient, or you can skip it entirely if your soil is reasonably fertile. Pruning is essential for maintaining plant shape, promoting new growth, and encouraging abundant blooms. Prune in early spring, removing about one-third of the plant’s growth, and deadhead spent flowers throughout the blooming season. These lavender starter plants are quite hardy, typically thriving in USDA zones 5-9.

Size & Details

You will receive 2 healthy, well-rooted French lavender live plant starter plants. Each seedling is shipped in a small plug-size container, approximately 1 inch in diameter and 1.25 inches deep, with a robust root system ready for transplanting. While plant sizes naturally vary, they are typically young starts, not mature or blooming plants, allowing you to cultivate them from an early stage. These Lavandula x intermedia plants have the potential to grow quite large, reaching up to 48 inches or higher with flower spikes extending up to 30 inches, making them excellent choices for garden hedging lavender. With proper care, they will develop into impressive, fragrant specimens, providing years of beauty and aroma.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Q: How big does this plant get? A: A: These French lavender live plant specimens can grow quite large, reaching up to 48 inches (4 feet) in height or more, with flower spikes extending up to 30 inches. Their mature size makes them ideal for creating substantial fragrant hedges.
• Q: What size pot does it come in? A: Each lavender starter plants arrives in a small plug-size container, approximately 1 inch in diameter and 1.25 inches deep, ensuring a healthy root system for transplanting.
• Q: Is this an indoor or outdoor plant? A: French lavender, including Lavandula x intermedia, is primarily an outdoor plant that thrives in full sun. While it can be briefly brought indoors for specific purposes, it generally does not flourish as a long-term houseplant.
• Q: How much sunlight does it need? A: These fragrant lavender plants require full sun, meaning at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight per day, to achieve optimal growth and flowering.
• Q: Is this plant easy to care for? A: Yes, once established in the proper conditions (full sun, well-draining soil), French lavender is considered a low-maintenance and relatively easy plant to care for, especially for those looking for garden hedging lavender.
• Q: What condition will it arrive in? A: Your plants will arrive as healthy, well-rooted starter plants in their small plug containers, ready for transplanting. Please note that leaf yellowing can occur during transit due to lack of light, but new growth will resume a normal green.
• Q: How long until it blooms? A: While these are starter plants, with proper care and adequate sunlight, you can expect your French lavender live plant to begin blooming within the first growing season, typically later than some other lavender varieties.
• Q: When is the best time to plant? A: The best time to plant these lavender starter plants is in the spring after the last frost, or in early fall in warmer climates, allowing them to establish before extreme temperatures.
• Q: Will it survive winter in my zone? A: Lavandula x intermedia varieties are generally hardy in USDA zones 5-9. In colder zones, they may require winter protection or be treated as annuals.
• Q: Can I use this lavender for cooking or essential oils? A: Yes, French lavender (Lavandula x intermedia) is highly valued for its strong fragrance and high oil yield, making it excellent for essential oil distillation, sachets, and various crafts. While some culinary uses exist, it’s primarily known for its aromatic properties.