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Lavender Companions

There are many wonderful companions for lavender.

I have L. angustifolia 'Hidcote', L. angustifolia 'Nana' and L. angustifolia 'Rosea' planted in front of roses in my garden.

Below is the beautiful David Austin Rose called 'Mary Rose'. In front of it is L. angustifolia 'Rosea', showing just a hint of pink in the flowers.

Lavender, because it likes hot conditions does well with most other herbs.

Rock Gardens

The smaller varieties like L. angustifolia 'Munstead' do well in rock gardens and with similar plants. Follow the link below to Brecks and you will find lovely iris bulbs, perfect for the spring rock garden. Most will finish blooming by the time the lavender comes into bloom, but they will not interfere with the lavender. Look at ...

In this area, Echinaceas have become very popular. The large, daisy-like flowers are born on strong drought resistant plants. They bloom late summer and into the fall. They come in pinks, white, yellow and orange, all nice colors for lavender. They tend to be 1 meter tall, (36"-40") and do well at the back of the border. The plant shown on the right is Echinacea purpurea.

Echinacea plants or seeds can be ordered from Richters Herbs. Richters also carries classic roses, those introduced prior to 1867.

Irises are also a lovely backdrop to lavender. The mid and late season varieties will probably be in bloom when the L. angustifolias are. L. x intermedia's bloom a little later in which case, the irises may be finished. I'm sorry I don't know the name of the iris below. It is a very old variety that blooms early in the season and is quite frangrant.

Below you will find a link to Brecks. They ship across North America and offer a beautiful collection of irises at a good price.

Dahlias

Brecks also has Worton Blue Streak Dahlia. This plant produces lots of semi-cactus shaped 4-5" flowers in a lavender-blue color. It blooms from summer to frost so it should be in bloom when the lavender is in its second flowering. The pink L. angustifolia 'Rosea' would be pretty in front of it, but I would go with an all purple color and plant L. angustifolia 'Hidcote'.