Midsummer is the perfect time for lavender viewing, so this July, we're pleased to present it as our Flower of the Month. Get your 10% #FOTM discount code below.
This month, we're bringing you something extra special: We're giving you the chance to win one of our Medium Sets of Lavender, 2 x £10 Vouchers for Runners-up, as well as giving ALL entrants 10% OFF our entire range of flowers. Find out more here.
Botanical Information
Lavandula is the botanical name of Lavender, and it contains varieties such as English Lavender, Lavandula Angustifolia, and Lavandula x Intermedia. This plant is great for pollinators and is quite hardy and is a staple of any aromatic centred garden. It prefers dry sandy soil and is drought tolerant.
Lavender is singular among flowers in that it is most known for its pleasant aroma rather than its flowering beauty, lavender perfumes, soaps, hand creams, essential oils and pomanders are all common products. Not only that but lavender is a popular ingredient in flavouring food, sweets such as ice cream, cakes and biscuits, some beehives are kept near lavender fields to promote the use of the flowers' pollen in making honey, which enhances the flavour.
Lavender and its meaning
The English name lavender is thought by many to be descended from the Latin Lavare meaning to wash. The earliest evidence of Lavender in Great Britain can be found in the writing of the Myddfai, renowned Welsh physicians from the thirteenth century. It was brought in from the wild and cultivated in the gardens of monasteries, where it was grown for use in medicines and has therefore become associated with health and hygiene.
In Tudor times Lavender was as much associated with love as the rose, and many young women would give lavender to those whose love they wanted to win.
This flower has long been a favourite of royalty. Elizabeth the first had Lavender tea to sooth headaches, while Charles the sixth of France stuffed his furniture with Lavender, and Queen Victoria wore Lavender as her signature perfume.
The purple colour of lavender, along with mauve and violet where so difficult to produce as a dye that it was reserved for royalty. Other meanings related to Lavender, include serenity, purity, silence, devotion, grace, caution and calmness.
Where can I find Lavender in the North Wales Landscape?
There are plenty of rural gardeners who delight in cultivating lavender, but to fully enjoy all that this beautiful herb can offer, you can’t do better than visit the Wye Lavender Fields. A family run lavender farm, you can enjoy the beautiful vistas of the Cambrian Mountains among towering purple fields of lavender, with a cup of lavender tea and biscuits, or a bar of lavender chocolate, all available from the farm shop.
For a more educational trip the Farmers’ lavender farm allows visitors to view the distilling process of making lavender oil along with stunning views wild swimming in the pond and trying the products of the farmers labour in creams, oils and consumables. wherever you find Lavender in Wales I hope you find joy in this special flower.
Your Discount Code
Want to know more?
Checkout the links below for more information about this beautiful herb and where to it on your visit to Mid/North Wales.