My heart bleeds lavender. A Coastal French country home needs it scattered throughout!

But growing lavender in New England isn’t straightforward. Our very shady acre in southern Connecticut is not hospitable to it. Downright rude, actually.

The Right Species

I bought three cold-tolerant, drought-tolerant, deer-tolerant Lavandula x intermedia Phenomenal® — supposedly a hardy species of lavender. I gave them what I thought was my best: a brand-new garden with southern exposure and good drainage.

But with the towering trees hogging the sunshine, the lavender struggled. I lost two of the three, and my dream to have a slice of Provence nearly died. This budding gardener wouldn’t quit, though. Not for all the Bleeding Hearts and Black-eyed Susans in the world. I was going to have lavender, and it wasn’t coming from l’Occitane for $15/bundle.

The Right Soil

I rescued my sole survivor, and moved it to the one reliably sunny patch we have — on the northern side of the house (of all places). I bought a couple neighbors for it. I amended the soil with sand and gravel, because though they’re lovely and soft looking, countless Monty Don episodes taught me lavender won’t tolerate being babied. It thrives in harsh, depleted conditions (see the Provence photo above) … so that’s what it got.

Persistence paid off. After a couple years, they grew large enough to provide an armload of a harvest. And, oh my, the scent … when you walk by and drag your hand through it .. when it rains .. when the dried buds accidentally get sucked up in the vacuum!

The first bouquet I brought indoors was a little scarce on blossoms because I didn’t have the heart to harvest until the deliriously happy pollinators had had their fun. I’d waited this long … what was one more season?

I thought it still looked beautiful at 50% blossoms.

And before I knew it another harvest rolled around:

TL;DR (Cliff Notes!)

To sum it up, you can grow lavender in New England (or anywhere in the continental US and Alaska!) with the right species, the right soil and the right attitude! Look for hardy species Lavandula x intermedia Phenomenal® or ‘Phenomenal lavender’ at your local nursery. Then make sure it suffers a little using poor soil and full sun. To know what nutrients are naturally in your yard and flower beds to start — check out our article on Soil Tests for Garden Success for a simple way to assess it.

Get an email whenever SkatingPond.com has a new post … subscribe here, or at the bottom of the page!