Difference between English and Intermediate Lavender and Harvest info

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English Lavender – Hidcote. Starting to bloom. June 2019

Due to the cold, wet spring 2019 lavender production is behind.  We usually have harvested by now.  Unfortunately, it may be several weeks to a month behind depending on weather.  We will post updates as to when the harvest comes in.  The English lavender are budding but just not quite ready for harvest, but it will be soon.  The intermediates, which were hardest hit by the cold, wet spring, are still trying to recover.  Some have recovered and are starting to bud, others are still just getting a little green, and we have removed over 40 plants so far and are in process of replacing.  This means our harvest will not be as robust as last year.  

We are also switching over to more English lavender than intermediate on replacement plants. We have replaced about 6 Phenomenal plants with Phenomenal.  However, English lavender is much hardier for our growing regions and winters.  It also survived the cold, wet spring in much better shape than our other lavenders.  So, I was able to obtain Royal Velvet plants – a particular Engilsh variety I have found hard to find in my area of SE Mi – and  I should have these in July sometime.  They make lovely bouquets and also great culinary lavender. July is beyond our usual planting window, but it should be fine as the English varieties are hardier. I have planted English as late as August and September and they have survived the winter. 

The switch over to more English lavender will mean that starting after this season, our floral design will incorporate more of the English variety mixed in with the Grosso or long-stemmed we usually use.  I think this will be a good change as the English lavender has a more vibrant color.  

I have used long-stemmed in the past for floral design because it’s longer and buds are bigger and sturdier.  However, the color and scent is usually far superior, in my opinion, with the English lavender. Since English is significantly smaller in length and  size I intend to do a mix of Grosso and English together in bouquets. 

English lavender can also be used as a culinary lavender, which is an added bonus.  Those fallen buds, collect them and you can use them in lavender tea, in recipes, or lemonade.  We also will beginning to sell tins of our culinary lavender with the increase in English lavender plants and production next season.  

The varieties we use of English are Hidocote and Royal Velvet (starting this season) .  They are a lovely deep purple color.  We also have Melissa which is a light lavender and some tend towards pink.  We also have some Folgate lavender plants.  

I have added some pictures below to show you some fresh cuts of each type and dried bouquet examples.  Hover over each picture and it will show you the type of lavender.