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A recent email question asked, “Is there just one type of lavender to grow?”

Here are some varieties you may want to consider as you begin farming lavender.

English Lavender (Lavandula augustifolia) is a perennial in USDA zones 5B through 8, this is the most widely grown lavender species. It's used for dried-flower production, fragrance such as in oils and perfumes and flavoring. According to the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension Service, most plants are 2 to 3 feet tall. Buena Vista, Munstead and Hidecote are three popular varieties of English lavender. 

Spanish Lavender (Lavandula stoechas) has varieties in this species that include Tiara, Blueberry and Hazel and they have flower pedals that don't look unlike helicopter blades growing from the top of the flower pod. These are often used in dried-flower production and grown as annuals. 

French Lavender (Lavandula dentata). You will find that the buds of these large plants are rosemary-scented and the leaves are "fringed” or serrated. They thrive in warm, temperate regions and are often grown as annuals in the U.S.

Wooly Lavender (Lavandula lanata) aka, SpanishMountain lavender and this type has a strong balsam-lavender fragrance so it’s most often grown for potpourri. It can reach 2 to 3 feet tall. 

Spike Lavender (Lavandula latifolia). This is the lavender type grown for its essential oil, especially for soaps, but it’s rarely grown in the U.S. because of its Mediterranean-climate needs, according to the North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension. It can grow to 3 feet tall and spread out. 

Lavandin (L. hybrida, L. x intermedia) is also called Dutch lavender and this is a hybrid of L. angustifolia and L. latifolia. These 2- to 3-foot-tall and -wide plants bloom once in late summer but produce the highest yield in flowers and more oils than English lavender, but the oils are not generally of as high of quality. Lavandin buds tend to fall off of the stems, so these varieties don’t make good dried-flower lavenders. Lavandin produces sterile seeds, so can only be reproduced through cuttings, according to Colorado State University Extension. Grosso, Provence and Silver Frost are a few varieties to know.

May the Creative Force be with you.