All About Lavender 
By Judi Brady, of Rusty Acres Herb Farm - 'The Lavender Place'. Offering a variety of plants, gifts, foods, and spice blends, Rusty Acres is home to the Annual Lavender Festival held the last weekend of June, and Heirloom Tomato Tasting Festival every September. Located near Fallbrook & Temecula, visit them at 4233 Rosa Rancho Lane, Rainbow, CA, 92028-8380. Tel: (760) 731-7349, www.rustyacres.com.
Cooking with Lavender and Lavender Recipes       Growing Lavender
 

June is Lavender month because this the time of year when the real or true lavenders finally do their blooming and it can be pretty spectacular.  The English Lavender or “lavendula angustifolia” are the ones with the great scent and prized for their perfume quality. People ask us all the time which ones smell the best, well you have about 40 different varieties to choose from depending on size and color. These are the hardiest of all lavenders, enduring winter temperatures down to minus 20 degrees.  The average flower head shows 6 to 10 whorls of flower buds stretched along the stem beneath the main head.

For someone looking for a small compact English Lavender you should consider Burmanii, Compacta, Croxton’s Wild, Empress Hotel, Hidcote, Martha Roderick and Munstead (Dwarf Munstead). Lavenders like to grow in the ground because of their large root structure, but some can manage in a pot for a few years as with Martha Roderick being a good candidate for this purpose. For the adventurous gardener you can plant a white lavender which are called, Alba, Nana Alba or White Flower. Jean Davis, Pink Hidcote and Rosea have light pink blooms.  The dark blue ones are Ana Luisa, Betty’s Blue, Buena Vista, Folgate, Nana Atropurpurea, Premier, Royal Purple, Skylark and Tuscan.

I am sure most people have never heard of these names or seen them in the nurseries but they are alive and blooming at our farm. The most common lavenders sold are the French and Spanish varieties which are great for Landscape and bloom most of the year round. Also a lot of people are amazed that Lavenders grow in Southern California, but why not we are one of the five Mediterranean areas in the world.  Lavenders are native to the Mediterranean and grew wild there for centuries until brought to other parts of the world.  Today Lavender is cultivated in many countries and of course in Provence France which is the most renowned growing area in the world. Lavenders are drought tolerant which is ideal for our area where water is expensive. They are easy to care for and they don’t need fertilizer- just a hair cut twice a year. What could be easier?  They don’t like wet feet and most people can mange to kill them with too much water from the lawn sprinklers. Lavender love full sun and well drained soil. If you want to harvest your lavender for future use you should do this when they are in full bloom in the morning after the dew has dried off.  You can hang them in a dark well ventilated area like under your patio cover and within a week they will be ready for storage or culinary and craft use.