Lavender Plants to Keep the Bugs Away

English Varieties

• English lavender flowers (Lavandula angustifolias) bloom in the spring. Some cultivars include the Jean Davis, Sarah, Hidcote and Munstead lavender plants. The soft, pink Jean Davis has a fruity taste to distinguish it among other lavenders of this group. Sarah lavender contains short flower spikes of dark purple flowers and isn't as well known as other English lavenders. Hidcote lavender also has dark purple flowers and is a little smaller than the Munstead variety, which deals with summer heat better than any other English lavender plant.

Non-English Varieties

• Most non-English lavenders also start blooming in the springtime, and they vary in color, size, texture and smell. Yellow, Spanish, Sweet and Woolly lavender are a handful of the plants that make up this group. The lemon-colored flowers of the yellow lavender (Lavandula viridis) form a pineapple shape and finish developing after four or five weeks. Spanish lavender (Lavandula stoechas), sometimes called French lavender, has a similar shape and time span for producing flowers as the yellow variety, but its blossoms are a dark purple. The largest lavender plant is the fast-growing Sweet variety (Lavandula heterophylla), which also contains the longest flower spikes. Woolly lavender (Lavandula lanata boiss) blooms its dark purple flowerheads later than the other non-English cultivars during the summer heat.

Hybrid Varieties

• Hybrid lavender plants (Lavendula x intermedia), or lavandins, are a cross between English lavender and spike lavender (Lavendula latifolia). They grow faster and larger, with leaves twice the size of pure English lavenders, and they bloom into the middle of the summer. Several hybrids exist, such as Fred Boutin and Dutch Mill lavender, but the Grosso and Provence cultivars are the most prominent. The Fred Boutin and Dutch Mill plants have purple flowers and provide silvery foliage for the winter. The dark purple flowers and gray-green foliage of the Grosso lavender provide a stronger odor than the sweet-smelling, long-stemmed Provence plant. Provence lavender also contains violet-colored flower spikes with lighter purple streaks.

General Care Requirements

• Lavender plants grow in various types of soil with a pH ranging from mildly acidic to alkaline, as long as the soil is well-drained and evenly moist. It tolerates partial shade but prefers full sun and needs watering on a regular basis.