Find the best varieties to fill your garden with color, fragrance, butterflies, and hummingbirds.
Lavenderscores on many levels.
Lavender is toxic to dogs, cats and horses.
Credit: Laurie Black
Its oils are often used in perfumes, and its flowers and foliage are popular in sachets and potpourri.
It grows best insandy soilthat isn’t too rich in nutrients.
To keep the compact mounded form of this variety dense, prune it regularly.
Credit: Laurie Black
Like ‘Hidcote,’ ‘Munstead’ is known for its strong fragrance.
This compact variety grows best as a small hedge or in a knot garden.
It is slightly taller than other dark-colored English lavender varieties.
Credit: Laurie Black
Of all the different types of lavender, this variety’s blooms hold their color well after drying.
It features dark-blue flowers and gray-green foliage.
Its growth is not as compact as some other English lavender varieties.
Credit: Laurie Black
It shows off light violet and purple flowers and has a loose, open form.
These plants make excellentcut flowers, but they’re not recommended for drying.
Prune the plants in early spring, then as needed, so they keep their shape after flowering.
Credit: Laurie Black
Upright and compact, with gray green leaves, this variety blooms longer than other pink-flowered lavenders.
It’s perfect for borders,rock gardens, and containers.
Give it a moderate pruning after it blooms, which will prevent it from becoming woody.
Credit: Laurie Black
Its fruity, non-bitter taste makes it a top pick for culinary purposes.
This shorter varietygrows well in containers, rock gardens, or perennial beds.
Plant it with purple lavenders to create a muted contrast in colors.
Credit: Laurie Black
It’s typically a lighter color but has larger flowers on longer stems.
It tolerates hot temperatures better than English lavender but prefers to be kept drier.
Size:2-2.5 feet tall
Harvest lavenderon a sunny day after the morning dew has dried.
Credit: Laurie Black
confirm it has not rained in the 24 hours before because damp lavender is prone to rotting.
Its strongly scented purple flowers are often used in making perfumes and sachets.
This is the perfect plant toattract butterflies and hummingbirdsto your garden.
Credit: Laurie Black
This extremely aromatic selection offers light lavender-blue flowers on narrow spikes that grow up to four inches long.
‘Provence’ can withstand hot and humid temperatures better than many other lavender varieties.
With a sweeter scent than ‘Grosso,’ this hybrid is wonderful for both fresh bouquets anddried flowers.
Credit: Laurie Black
It forms a large mound of gray-green foliage that looks great even when it isn’t in bloom.
The buds first emerge as light pink before opening to reveal a pure white blossom.
Plant thesenectar-rich flowersto attract hummingbirds, bees, and other pollinators.
Credit: Laurie Black
These nectar-rich flowers make a wonderful addition to a pollinator garden.
The flower-heads are often short and topped with attractive bracts that look like large petals.
However, Spanish lavenders love hot weather and can’t withstand cold temperatures.
Credit: Laurie Black
Add these to your container gardens for a splash of texture.
After its summer blooms peak, prune it back to ensure shorter and sturdier flower stems for the future.
The effect looks a bit like cute miniature pineapples.
Credit: Bob Stefko
Add this plant to a garden border or in your favorite container to attract bothbees and butterfliesto your yard.
Each bloom sits atop six-inch stems.
Prune this plant regularly to maintain its shape and to encourage its abundant flowering.
Credit: Laurie Black
‘Madrid Purple’ also has a compact, upright growth habit.
The gray-green foliage accents the blooms nicely.
It doesn’t emit the same fragrance as English lavenders and lavandins.
Credit: Laurie Black
Its scent is more like camphor.
Still, it is a lovely plant, with clusters of purple flowers and furry, gray-green-toothed leaves.
Usually grown as an annual, it features narrow spikes of fragrant bluish-purple flowers that will bloom until frost.
Credit: Laurie Black
In frost-free areas, this species will bloom almost continuously.
Its lobed silvery-green leaves give it a delicate, lacy appearance.
Credit: Hidcote Giant
Credit: Laurie Black
Credit: Laurie Black
Credit: Laurie Black
Credit: Laurie Black
Credit: Laurie Black
Credit: Andy Lyons
Credit: Andy Lyons
