News & Events

Join us next for the next Oregon Lavender Festival on July 10 &11, 2010: Oregon Lavender Festival

Email the Oregon Lavender Association for more information about joining the festival, joining the association as a lavender lover, or joining the festival for help in marketing your lavender business.

Contact

Oregon Lavender Association
PO Box 741
Yamhill, OR 97148
info@oregonlavender.org
971-533-7753

Growing lavender in oregon

The three basic types of lavender which grow well in this area are:

• English Lavender (Lavender angustifolia) preferred by many for their aroma, their oil, and for culinary purposes. English lavender tends to be shorter, more compact and earlier blooming than the Lavandins. Most common angustifolias are: Hidcote, Melissa, Royal Velvet, Buena Vista, Martha Roderick, Lady, Irene Doyle, Blue Cushion, Jean Davis, and Sachet.
• Lavandin (Lavender intermedia), a hybrid formed by combining L. angustifolia with L. latifolia, are the most common, predictable and hardy of all the lavenders. Lavandins produce long-stemmed flower with thick flower spikes and often two secondary flower clusters below the primary one. They are used for u-cut, are used in crafts and for oil production, although the oil tends to be more camphoraceous than L.angustifolia oil. Some common L. intermedias are: Grosso, Provence, Seal, Dutch, Super, Fred Boutin, and White Spike.
• Spanish Lavender (Lavender stoechas) although showy with “rabbits’ears” on top, is more tender than English or Lavandins and tends to sprawl. It is grown as a landscape plant and not for crafting or oil use.

Tips on Growing Lavender in Oregon:

• Lavender plants need good drainage. Banks or slopes are great places for lavenders; if in flat places, create mounds.
• They like full sun
• Gritty or sandy loam is best, but lavenders will do well in clay if the site is amended with sand & lime or bone meal to increase pH level
• Pruning is critical! Plants must be pruned one half to two thirds of the growth, preferably in the fall.