Growing Hardy Lavender in Colorado

Recognized for its contribution to a variety of culinary and medicinal applications, hardy Lavender is also an outstanding addition to your garden, providing color and fragrance to the landscape as well as providing support for pollinators. There are two types of hardy lavender that do well here: English and French hybrid. English lavender - Lavandula angustifolia, includes Munstead, Phenomenal and Hidcote varieties. French hybrids include Grosso and Provence. 

 

'Hidcote Superior’ is a compact English Lavender that grows only 18-24 inches tall, with highly fragrant, deep purple-blue flowers. An excellent choice for both fresh and dried bouquets, 'Hidcote Superior' attracts pollinators and is rabbit and deer resistant. 

'Phenomenal’ is a hybrid of English Lavender and Portuguese lavender. This variety is cold hardy and tends to stay in bloom longer. 'Phenomenal' is a taller variety, typically growing to 30” tall. ‘Provence’ is also a good choice, if you're looking for taller varieties, often growing to three feet tall with mauve-purple flowers.  

 

'Munstead' is an English Lavender that has fragrant, cool lavender-blue spikes and gray-green, mounded foliage. Can be planted with other perennials as long as you give them adequate space.  

 

Another long-blooming variety, 'Grosso' Lavender is very showy, with large and spiky dark purple blooms set against silver foliage and purple bracts, adding to its colorful presence in the garden. Sometimes referred to as “the lavender of Lavenders". 

Hardy lavender can be planted now and through the fall. Hardy lavenders do best when located where they will receive full sun and in soil that drains well. When planting hardy lavender, soil preparation should include the addition of coarse organic material to the planting site. Earth Essentials Top Soil is a good selection to add to your existing soil because it contains compost and bark fines. Mix Earth Essentials Top Soil at a 50:50 ratio with the existing soil. We do not recommend adding rock or sand to our typical clay soils. Once the planting site is ready, apply Root Stimulator at the rate of three and a half tablespoons per gallon of water. Root Stimulator should be applied again, one month after planting.  Once established, pruning helps to extend the life of the plant by promoting growth, branching, and blooming.  Because lavender blooms on new stems, pruning should take place when green leaves start to emerge from the base of the plant in the spring. Remove approximately one third of the top. Pruning keeps the plant from splitting open and becoming too woody. As a rule, hardy lavender does not require fertilization. Use this colorful, aromatic perennial in your herb garden or in a perennial bed to provide interest and support pollinators as well as harvest fresh lavender whenever you choose.