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Home » Video » P. Allen Smith's Garden Home | Lavender Provence

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  • P. Allen Smith's Garden Home

P. Allen Smith's Garden Home | Lavender Provence | PBS

Duration: 02:12
Program: P. Allen Smith's Garden Home

In the early spring there's nothing more refreshing to me than to walk through a greenhouse like this and see so much potential growing. Just look at these gorgeous herbs. This greenhouse can hold between 40000 and 45000 of these plants. They are just getting ready to ship them out to your garden.

Now what I love about this plant, which is lavender 'Provence', is that it has an incredible bloom on it. It typically blooms in the summer and 'Provence' for me performs best in really well drained soil. My garden soil is heavy clay so I amend the soil with lots of sand. The idea is to give the soil excellent drainage. Now if your garden has heavy clay and you don't have raised beds what you might try is growing 'Provence' in a container.

I did this several years ago. I put 3 plants in a 24 inch terra cotta pot and they were gorgeous. As the plant grew together, which was up to about 24-inches tall it looked like one giant plant. Very dramatic. Now if you think lavender grown this way is a feast for the eyes, just wait until you smell the foliage. The foliage is so incredibly aromatic, but the blooms, well, they are just off the charts.

Honeybees love them. They love the nectar. Lavender honey is very sought after.

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Post Date: November 2, 2010