Lavender Indoors

After travelling in the Mediterranean, one usually remembers the warm, sunny, dry climate. You also think of beautiful flowering lavender fields.

Only some have a garden. But could lavender also thrive indoors in colder latitudes?

Not all lavender plants are suitable for pots in the living room. Yet, some varieties are ideal for indoor use. These are so-called “dwarf lavender plants” such as “Goodwin Creek Grey” and “Munstead”. A good choice is also “Little Lottie “, with fine pink flower tips. The French variety “Lavandula dentata” is also suitable as a pot plant.

If you buy seeds, you can plant them in the wintertime (December). But, as a first step, growing in trays with a bonnet and LED lights (available in most garden centres) is possible. Keep moist, not wet. When the plantlets are about five centimetres high, plant them in clay or stone pots. Five miniature plantlets fit into a pool. The jar can be twenty centimetres in diameter and height. Line the bank above the hole with small stones. Fill one quarter with clay granules or coarse sand and two quarters with herbal soil. After careful planting, cover the ground again with small rocks. Give the plants time. It usually takes four months or longer for the indoor lavender to flower. Light-flooded, not overheated rooms or the windowsill are suitable. Keep the soil moist but never wet. So, it needs pots with a perforated base and a tray.

In this way, lavender can also help create an excellent indoor climate and make the soul happy at the sight of it.

The lavender is in bloom

It is summer when the lavender gives off its wonderful scent. An oasis for bees, bumblebees and butterflies. A feast for the eyes.

Lavender comes from the coastal regions of the Mediterranean. Many of the original populations came from Spain. They also have their origin in the southeast of France and the neighbouring areas of Italy.

Feral populations thrive in dry, warm and rocky environments. They are widespread in Tuscany, Greece and also Dalmatia. The lavender shrub is also becoming popular in Switzerland.

The fragrant flowers of the lavender are blue-violet. There are light blue flowering lavender bushes and some with pink and white flowers. Lavender thrives best in gravelly, sandy soil. Good water drainage is a necessity. In particular for lavender in a pot or basket.

Lavender is a medicinal plant with a calming, antiviral and antibacterial effect. The active ingredients of lavender are well-concentrated in essential oils. Moreover, the soothing fragrance of lavender repels pests in the garden.