Lavandula angustifolia Montagnac Purple - True Lavender

Lavandula angustifolia 'Montagnac Purple' is a small variety, with spikes of fragrant purple flowers, whose flowering begins in June and ends in September. It is an low shrub with fine evergreen leaves that are highly aromatic and turn grey in the summer if the soil is dry. Planted in full sun, in well-drained soil, it is an ideal plant for borders, rockeries, and containers. Lavenders, are highly resistant to drought, are perfectly suited for ornamental use in Mediterranean gardens without irrigation.

Lavender 'Montagnac Purple' is a recent horticultural variety. The species, Lavandula angustifolia, is also known as English Lavender. It is a plant from the Lamiaceae family native to the Mediterranean basin, related to sage, thyme, and other rosemary plants. The 'Montagnac Purple' variety forms a small bush of 30-35 cm (12-14in) in flower, with a width of 35-40 cm (14-16in). Its decorative evergreen foliage is composed of small elongated aromatic leaves, measuring 4-5 cm (2in) in length, green in spring and becoming increasingly grey due to heat and drought. Its flowering, one of the earliest among lavenders, takes the form of a multitude of fragrant and melliferous flowers which are a deep purple colour, carried by cylindrical spikes measuring 5-6 cm (2in) in length, at the tips of slender woody and leafy stems. In reality, it is the coloured calyxes surrounding the flowers that influence the perception of the flower colour when viewed from a distance.

Lavender 'Montagnac Purple' grows in any well-drained, dry, poor, and rocky soil in full sun. In clay or excessively wet soil, it should be planted on a slope, in a raised bed, or in a rockery. This beautiful lavender can be used as a border plant alongside dwarf roses, dry soil grasses, and catmints, for example. It can also be planted in a rockery with thymes and oregano, or used to highlight a pathway... When cultivated in a pot, it should be regularly watered, but with spaced intervals to allow the substrate to dry between waterings.

Tips: Place dried flowers in a handkerchief and tie the four corners to perfume linen and repel moths. Create scented sugar by adding lavender leaves to brown sugar.

Properties: Lavender is a highly melliferous plant, contributing to the conservation of bees: the nectar from its flowers attracts bees, making some of the best honey.

Lavandula angustifolia is a medicinal plant, with once highly valued therapeutic properties: its essential oil has antiseptic, antispasmodic, healing, purifying, diuretic properties, among others...