Pink Lavender or White Lavender, which will you choose?

Pink lavender

The pink lavender is easy to grow and likes dry soils. It brings a colorful and fragrant note to any natural space. And its flower can also be eaten. Let’s discover together its origin, its characteristics, and its method of cultivation.

Pink lavender: origin and description

Pink lavender, Lavandula angustifolia ‘Rosea’, also known as pink officinal lavender or true pink lavender, belongs to the Lamiaceae family. She is originally from the Mediterranean basin.

It is distinguished by its ball shape which, in adulthood, reaches a height of 70 cm and a wingspan of about 50 cm. Its flowering period lasts throughout the summer. This variety of lavender with edible pink flowers is extremely aromatic, both its foliage and its flowers. Unlike other lavender, it displays bright green leaves, which sets it apart.

Once well rooted, it is very resistant to negative temperatures that can reach -25 to -28 ° C. It can therefore be cultivated in dry mountainous regions.

The pink officinal lavender is intended for beds, borders, rockeries, and works wonders in a natural space on gravel. It can also be installed in a gabion or associated with other plants on a green wall. It naturally finds its place in a pot, on the terrace, and even in the kitchen.

Good to know: undemanding, pink lavender is very popular with amateur gardeners.

Pink lavender: cultivation

Planting

It is in spring that we can plant pink lavender in the ground, as soon as the risk of morning frost is no longer to be feared. In regions with a mild climate, pink lavender can be planted at the end of February, while in colder regions, the ideal is to wait until the soil has been able to warm up thanks to the spring sun.

It takes two feet of pink lavender per square meter to give them enough space to develop properly.

It can also be planted in a large pot or planter.

Reserve a sunny spot for pink lavender. She likes healthy, well-drained, slightly sandy and dry soils, rather calcareous. Stony ground does not dislike him. Pink lavender needs sufficient iron. In slightly acidic soil, you can add lime so that the pH is between 6.5 and 7.5.

Interview

Watering pot-grown rose lavender should be regular, but not excessive. Particular care should be taken in times of drought. Watering promotes flowering and keeps the plant its beautiful shiny foliage.

As for pink lavender grown in the ground, once installed, it does not require special watering except in cases of severe drought.

To stimulate its growth and keep it rounded, prune pink lavender once at harvest and another in spring when the vegetation starts again. This consists of removing the less vigorous branches and keeping the pink lavender plant in its ball shape.

Warning: do not cut all the way to the wood, as this could be highly detrimental to the plant.

Harvest

Throughout the summer, you can pluck the pink lavender blossoms to make pretty, fragrant bouquets. It is also possible to seed the flowers in order to distribute them in small muslin bags. They will pleasantly perfume the interior of cupboards, cupboards, or even toilets and keep moths away.

Good to know: very melliferous, pink lavender – like other varieties of lavender – is useful because it attracts pollinating insects.

Pink lavender: consumption

The flowering tops of organic pink lavender can be consumed in a number of ways. You probably know lavender honey, the benefits of which are well established.

But it is also possible to make an infusion with the flowers, to benefit from quality sleep, reduce the discomfort associated with bloating, or even overcome digestive problems. The Romans already used lavender for their well-being. It takes about two teaspoons of dried pink lavender flowers for 160 ml of simmering water. The necessary infusion time is about ten minutes. Three cups a day is enough.

Tip: do not hesitate to flavor desserts, rice cooking water, and various sauces with pink lavender flowers. They will bring a delicately scented touch to your culinary preparations.

White lavender seduces with its originality and multiple virtues

White lavender is attracting more and more people as its color makes it possible to play with originality and vary the pleasures. It blends ideally with the most widespread bluish lavender or it reigns as a goddess in your beds, in the vegetable garden, and even in a pot on your balcony. Perfect ornamental plant, this honey plant has, in itself, many assets beyond its aesthetic virtue.

The nurserymen proudly display it in their stalls and thus illuminate our desire to vary the pleasures. A small detour to the garden to discover all the treasures of this pure wonder.

Who is she?

White lavender, scientifically named Lavandula angustifolia “edelweiss”, is a cultivar of the classic lavender  (  Lavandula angustifolia ) whose flowers are bright pure white. It is also from this brilliant white that it gets its name since it obviously refers to the famous alpine silver star. With a naturally compact and spreading habit,  white lavender blooms in spring by producing long stems terminated by flowering spiky tops. Just as fragrant as its purple cousin, Lavandula angustifolia “edelweiss” delights budding gardeners with its hardiness and great resistance.

The White Lavender supports almost any soil, provided they are not too wet and/or too rich. So that your soil is calcareous, acid, dry, poor, or rocky, you can without risk deposit a plant of Lavandula angustifolia “edelweiss” there: simply think of watering it copiously the first week, in two times, to allow it to resume. . Once this is done, you just have to subject it to its two annual sizes explained below.   

Loving the sun and being not very difficult in terms of soil, lavender with white flowers is, therefore, an ideal plant for forming beds and rockeries.   Persistent, it will keep its beautiful green/gray foliage in winter, thus expanding your composition. Its beautiful white color also adapts very well to the violet color of its cousin with which it creates a delicate contrast of the most beautiful effect. In rockery, you can also happily associate it with perennial flower beds.   

And if you don’t have a garden but only a terrace or a balcony, white lavender can also be grown very easily in pots, tubs, or planters. It will brighten up your apartment and make you enjoy, at the slightest gust of wind, its delicate fragrance throughout the spring.  

Plural virtues

Lavender is sometimes used in cooking, especially in baking to flavor sorbets or cakes. Add a few petals to powdered sugar, they will perfume your Fromage blanc or crème brûlée. A few fresh leaves will also flavor your salads, sweet or savory. The seeds, which can be found in delicatessens and organic stores, go wonderfully with roasted meats and magnify fruit pies.  Very appreciated in the preparation of desserts, the flowers are infused in milk or in a sugar syrup, then incorporated into yogurts, ice creams, flans or even to spice up apricot or peach jam.

Its virtues are plural, lavender is traditionally used to make sachets which will constitute a natural repellent against moths and which, in the process, will perfume all your laundry for your greatest pleasure.

This honey plant is also known for its relaxing and soothing benefits. It is used regularly to perfume your bath and give yourself a good moment of relaxation.

It also has medicinal properties;  lavender helps treat coughs and soothe headaches. Its scent is a renowned anti-stress often used in the form of essential oil. It is the true lavender that invites you to calm down, to fall asleep in all serenity. When used externally, white lavender also helps soothe burns, sunburns, and insect bites.

Suffice to say that this plant has many advantages in addition to its undisputed beauty and its highly prized fragrance.

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