Have you been mesmerized by a field of lavender? It’s one of the most relaxing and sensory experiences. The colours, the aromas and the sounds of softly buzzing bees enhances the whole experience.
Lavender makes a wonderful addition to your home garden for that reason- the heavenly scent. It is a relatively easy plant to grow in Zone 6 and is known for its longevity and hardiness.
With their vivid color, cut lavender flowers make a nice addition to a home’s interior. A gift of lavender flowers symbolizes purity, devotion, serenity, hence our name. And in some schools of thought, it represents love. Not only does the flower have significance, the purple colour is also symbolic. Purple is the color of royalty and speaks of elegance, refinement and luxury.
It is certainly a flower you can grow to appreciate. If you love lavender, there are many varietals to choose from, making it easy to become a collector! Just like us at Serenity Lavender. We have over 40 varieties of lavender on display on site in our gardens and in our field.
In this post we will be focusing on 5 different varietals of Lavendula Angustifolia or English lavender. Read more to learn which lavender is best for your home and garden. For more information about plant care see our Gardener’s Guide to Growing Lavender.
Folgate Lavender
One of the first to to bloom, a coveted favourite. The plant grows 20-24″ and is a compact tidy bush with vivid, bright violet flowers. Soft, sweetly aromatic blooms abound on this dense mid green evergreen with narrow foliage and small neat looking upright spikes. Beautiful as an informal hedge, in rock gardens, and in mass plantings along sunny borders. Folgate is an excellent source of lavender oil and is terrific for culinary use. It is one of the varietals that we use in our culinary lavender.
Folgate Lavender
Royal Velvet Lavender
Royal Velvet is rich in fragrance and showy in bloom. It is covered with long stemmed, 3-4 inch long, velvety, dark purple-blue flower spikes which are much longer than Hidcote and the hallmark of ‘Royal Velvet’. Tall, waving flower spikes last and last, and will bloom a second time after a mid-season harvest in the right conditions. The flowers hold their dark colour extremely well when dried and makes excellent fresh cut bouquets and perfect for dried wreaths.
Royal velvet lavender
- Sun: Full
- Water: low once established
- Soil: sandy
- Hardiness zones: 5-9
- Bee Friendly
- Attracts Butterflies
- Deer and Rabbit Resistant
- Good for cut bouquets
Super Blue Lavender
A new addition to our collection, the fragrant wands of rich lavender-blue flowers deliver a soothing scent in early summer. ‘Super Blue’ produces blooms that are tighter together, delivering more color and fewer airy gaps. A compact and fragrant Lavender plant with short spikes that tops out at 12″, making it a perfect choice for edging walkways and setting into patio containers. The large, full blooms lend themselves to cutting and drying.
- Sun: full
- Water: low once established
- Soil: sandy well draining soil
- Hardiness zones: 5-9
- Bee Friendly
- Attracts Butterflies
- Deer and Rabbit Resistant
- Good in containers, edging pathways and dried buds
Super Blue lavender a new varietal at Serenity Lavender
Melissa Lavender
Lavandula ‘Melissa’ is a lovely lavender that was named by Oregon grower Andy van Hevelingen for his wife Melissa. A prolific bloomer with aromatic foliage that perfumes the garden when brushed against. Soft romantic pale lilac blooms offset the fine silvery green foliage. On mass the flowers appear white from a distance. Very prolific it has a nice upright and compact habit. The flowers are very sweetly fragrant and persist for a long time.
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Lavandula Melissa
Sun: full
- Water: low once established
- Soil: sandy well draining soil
- Hardiness zones: 5-9
- Bee Friendly
- Attracts Butterflies
- Deer and Rabbit Resistant
- Good for culinary and fresh bouquets
Hidcote Lavender
An old favourite, the flowers on this plant are the darkest purple of all lavenders. This erect greyish green bush with a splayed or floppy habit grows up to 12- 20 inches tall and approximately 24-30 inches wide depending on soil conditions. The flower stems are short but very aromatic. It is an excellent choice for edging and borders. In the right conditions this plant will bloom continually until the first frost, albeit with a smaller flush of flowers. To enhance blooming, cutting back the stems of faded flowers will enhance a second and third bloom. Hidcote retains it’s colour and is excellent dried and culinary use
- Sun: full
- Water: low once established
- Soil: sandy well draining soil
- Climate: hot summers and warm winters
- Hardiness zones: 5-9
- Bee Friendly
- Attracts Butterflies
- Deer and Rabbit Resistant
- Good as dried buds and culinary with a citrusy note to its flavour
The darkest of lavenders
If you are interested in purchasing lavender plants, our plant Sale begins May 1st, 2021. All varietals are currently available except Hidcote. Call 519 738-6111 to reserve your plants for curbside pickup.
You know what they say- new year, new home decor. With the beginning of each new year, January encourages everybody to hit the reset button – make some resolutions, hit the gym, find a new mantra or start a new project. In the spirit of that trend comes the instinct to freshen up our home.
Once the Christmas decorations have come down, your interior can suddenly feel quite bare and unadorned. While January is a perfect time to declutter. It can also be a time to update your home with a few key pieces. No one has the budget to redo their home year after year to meet the current trends and colours. But, one of the easiest ways to make a change is to find a new unique accent piece for your table like a vase or sculpture.
We absolutely adore this funky sculpted vase that is handmade at Hillborn pottery in Cambridge Ontario and is available for purchase at Serenity Lavender Farm. This fashionable vase can hold water and is suitable for fresh or dry flowers…. like lavender. We of course love, love love the periwinkle colour and blue accents. It is a perfect statement piece to perk up a room in shades of grey, cream, beige or white.
Purple pottery vase by Hilborn . The perfect statement piece for your home
Artisan pottery by Hillborn brings a winter wonderland to your home
Another cool piece or rather pieces for winter is this winter wonderland… you can keep a bit of the holiday season in your home all winter long and brighten up any space with it’s vibrant colours reminiscent of the northern lights in Northern Ontario. These pieces are again from our friends at Hilborn Pottery and available at Serenity Lavender.
Imagine the calming scent of lavender in your home
Simplicity is sometimes best and after indulging over the holidays we are partial to this DIY idea. All you need is a metal tray. Spray paint it to suit your taste- pewter would be fantastic. Then find 3 glass vases even from Dollarama or mason jars and add some dried lavender – available at Serenity Lavender. You can even add some ribbon but we like the unadorned elegance of this centrepiece and so simple to make yourself.
There is plenty of inspiration around us to refresh your home decor. Check out our shop or some of the websites or instagram pages of some your favourite local shops. Support local and small business!
Serenity Lavender Farm welcomes you to our 8th Annual Lavender Festival! Come join us as we celebrate Lavender bloomand our 10th store anniversary!
Saturday, June 22 and Sunday, June 23
10am – 5pm 
130 County Road 50 East, Colchester, Ontario
FREE ADMISSION
This year’s festival will the the best yet, with over 30 artists and artisans, live music, tai chi demonstaration, yoga class, craft demos, a painting workshop, scavenger hunt, children’s activities, plant sale and lavender garden tours.
Here’s the line up so far and we invite you to come and celebrate our lavender bloom:
Musical Entertainment:
Max Marshall – Saturday, June 22, 11am – 2pm
Aaron and Joel Furlotte – Saturday, June 22, 2pm – 5pm
James Staley – Sunday, June 23, 11am – 2pm
Six Degrees – Sunday, June 23, 2pm – 5pm
Artisans:
Local artists, crafters and artisans make up our Artisan Alley, a place to admire and purchase hand-crafted original works and include:
Pawsitively a Dog Thing A Slice of Nature LRRR Designs
G-Pots Cary’s Cutting Boards Glen Eden Salsa
Bishop Artwork EVB Jewelry Stellas Works
Whispers of Wonder Handmade by Deb That’s Sew Sarah
Creations by Ann Mayz Birdhouses Whispering Willow Designs
Jewels by Jasper Transformed Treasures JWaters Design
Couture Art Terra Green Gardens Ayesha Drouillard
R.W Studios Garage Glass Art Dana Laferriere
Twisted to Life KandA Chalk Adventures Then n Now
Kap’s Collection Unconscious Reality Seaside Jewels
Silver by Wendy Jeff Perz Floyjoy Studio
Painting Workshops:
Local artist Rico Dancel is offering two of his well-loved Paint ‘n Wine workshops. His theme, “Lavender Fields Forever.” No experience or materials are necessary! Enjoy a relaxing afternoon with Rico as he leads you and your friends through a guided painting workshop. You’ll take home your own original creation of a lovely lavender field. Tickets must be purchased in advance. $50 + HST. Call Serenity Lavender Farm at 519-984-2684
Children’s Activities:
Every child is an artist and we have lots of children’s activities planned for Lavender Festival 2019! So bring your children and delight in the enchanting world of lavender where they can express their creativity in the chalk walk and colour station, be entertained by the whimsical story telling and readings of local children’s authors including Jane Buttery and Kara Koostra , explore the lavender labyrinth and experience the dance of the butterflies, go on a curiosity invoking adventure with our children’s scavenger hunt or simply write and tie a wish on the magical wishing tree.
Come join us for this fun filled weekend at Serenity Lavender Farm!
Join us in the traditional art of decoupage! All supplies are provided to make a set of 3 beautiful eggs. Follow our lead or add your own artistic touches. Make the day extra special and book lunch prior to the workshop or afterward, in our own Bistro 42 (Meals are not included in the price of the workshop).
If you love all things lavender, you’ll want to save the date! Lavender Fest returns, June 22nd and 23rd this year. We’ve got lots of scent-sational fun in the works and we can’t wait to meet you! More details to come…stay tuned!
