A Pathway of Lavender

There are many different types of lavenders you can grow.I have planted the English Lavender and the French Lavender in my front garden, my favorite being the French as I just love the shape and colour of its flower.

English Lavender is probably the most popular lavender grown, known for its strong scent and its bouquet appearance. Used as a decorative flower and as the base in most aromatherapy lavender oils its is also widely used in cooking.

A great hardy plant, small in size with a beautiful medium purple flower,lovely to use as a border plant.

The French Lavender has a beautifully shaped purple flower that is referred to as fluffy ears that are part of the flower head.

Its perfume is not as strong as that of the English Lavender but it is still used in the making of essential oil, lotions and soaps, as that of the English.

French Lavender is a compact plant making a wonderful perfumed shrub to plant in any garden.

Spanish Lavender and French lavender are often mistaken for each other as their flower is similar in shape and also of course colour.

The flower of the Spanish Lavender has a rabbit ear shape and the bloom is described as pineapple in shape and the contours fur ears are actually sterile bracks.

The Spanish Lavender has a different perfume to the English Lavender, it has an antiseptic, piny fragrance unlike the English which is much stronger in its fragrance.

The Spanish Lavender plant is rangy in shape and has thick flower heads.

The Lavender Plant, the flowering plant, is known to be part of the mint family.

It is known to be a native of the Mediterranean region, south to the tropical Africa and then spreads over to the South East of India and then extending to the Canary Islands.

The Lavender Plant has been planted in gardens all over the world and is known to grow wildly as an escapee plant because of its ease to cross - pollinate .

The Lavender especially the English provides the strongest perfume and is used widely in the making of Essential Oils.

The fragrance is also used in potpourri, sachets of dried lavender, used to drive the moth away, and as dried cut flower, commonly used in decoration.

Lavender is also used in cooking.

The Lavender flower yields a lot of nectar and so a lot of honey is made called Lavender 'mono floral' honey produced mainly in the Mediterranean.

Lavender flowers are sometimes used in the cooking of cakes and cake decoration.It is after used alongside chocolate in the ingredients in baked goods as they compliment each other so well.

Lavender flowers are sold and used in a blend with black,green and herbal tea which makes for a refreshing, relaxing cup of tea.

English Lavender is used mostly, as it has the strongest perfume, in balms, perfumes and cosmetics.

Lavender essential oils are an antiseptic and have anti inflammatory properties so can be used on insect bites and as a treatment for acne.
Diluted 1.10 with water, rose water or witch hazel was once used as a skin treatment in countries such as Iran and nearby regions.

The lavender heads made into a fusion makes for a relaxing cup of tea drunk at bedtime for a restful sleep is a common use as is a sachet of lavender under the pillow proclaiming to be a benefit to a restful night's sleep.

Such are the many wonderful uses and benefits of the Lavender Plant besides the beauty of the flowers which stand out on their own.