Meet English Lavender

Ahhh… lavender.  The mere mention of its name eases stress and brings back pleasant summer memories – the places we’ve been, experiences we’ve had, and the people we’ve met.  One of the most widely used and loved of all the aromatic botanicals, lavender is an important ingredient in a dizzying array of products used by all genders and ages.  Whether it’s skin care, spa, herbal, medicinal, aromatherapy, fragrance or culinary products – lavender is often an important ingredient.

The word “lavender” derives from the Old French lavandre, and the Latin lavare (to wash), because the flowers were commonly used to infuse bath water.  Originating in Southern Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, lavender can be grown almost anywhere summers are sunny and hot, minimum winter temperatures do not go below minus 15C, and the soil is free draining (no clay or rich organic soils please – the roots don’t like being soggy).  Lavender grows well at our farm – where the sun, sea air, and planting amongst trees of the native forest produces an exceptional essential oil – nuanced by the terroir.

Lavender is part of the Lamiaceae family of flowering plants that includes aromatic herbs such as mint, sage, rosemary, thyme, and many more.  The convention for plant names (those Latin names you see on garden centre labels) has three parts: genus – species – variety.  All lavenders fall under the genus Lavandula – that includes more than 45 species and more than 450 named varieties.  For example, we grow Lavandula Angustifolia Maillette to distill for essential oil, Lavandula Angustifolia Folgate (for culinary products), and Lavandula Angustifolia Royal Velvet (for flower bundles).

Angustifolias are also referred to as “true lavenders” or English lavenders”, and share these common traits:

• Size/Form – medium in stature (0.5m high x up to 1m wide), with stems and flower heads of moderate length. The flower buds grow in spaced whorls along the end of the stem.  Flowering is once a season – starting early in June on Salt Spring and lasting for about six weeks.  Varieties come in bloom colours ranging from purple, to blue, pink or white.  The plants are dormant in winter.
• Fragrance – is, in a word, heavenly. Of all the lavender species, Angusifolias have the softest, sweetest and most pure floral scent of lavender.  Folgate has sweet and almost fruity notes, while Maillette has depth and floral complexity.
• Typical Uses – herbal remedies, perfume, skin care, culinary, and dried flowers.

 We hand harvest and steam distill fresh lavender flowers in a beautiful copper alembic.  The resulting essential oil contains over 100 unique molecules – but just three make up over half the composition of English lavender oil.   These are linalyl acetate (30-45%), linalool (15-25%), and caryophyllene (about 5-8%).  The ranges reflect variability between Varieties.  Linalyl acetate and linalool give lavender its characteristic scent.  These molecules are strongly anti-inflammatory – reducing skin redness, irritation and aiding regrowth – which is why lavender is often an important part a home first aid kit for cuts and burns.  Caryophyllene is a strong antioxidant and antibacterial, with anticarcinogenic and local anesthetic properties.  Lavender has been the subject of many studies that consistently prove its effectiveness in lowering stress, aiding sleep, and helping heal skin damage.

Linalyl acetate and linalool are relatively simple and inexpensive for industry to produce synthetically.  It is sad but true that most fragrance, cosmetic, bath and cleaning products use one or both compounds to produce their lavender scent.  If you value products that use real lavender essential oil - always check the ingredients label.  

More disturbing than artificial lavender scent however is when unscrupulous suppliers use a small amount of real lavender oil and “stretch” it by adding linalyl acetate and linalool.  Essential oils adulterated like this can be difficult to differentiate from the real thing.  Buyer beware – if the price of that English lavender essential oil seems low – it may not be pure.  Buy brands you know and trust – or even better, support your local farmer/distiller!

English lavender is easy to incorporate into a daily routine.  You can use dried flower buds to make tea or flavour hot chocolate, as an ingredient in herb blends or baking, and even as seasoning for meat or fish.  A drop or two of the essential oil on your pillow will help you sleep.  And you can diffuse it to relax or just give any space a lovely scent.  An effective way to use lavender essential oil for de-stressing is palm inhalation.  Simply place one or two drops of the pure essential oil in the palm of one hand and rub your two palms together.  Cup your hands over your nose and breathe in deeply 2-3 times.  A more subtle way to use it for sleep is to rub one or two drops of the essential oil into the soles of your feet at bedtime.

We don’t recommend internal use of pure lavender oil.  For reducing stress or anxiety, try lavender tincture – which is an extract of the flower buds produced the same way as vanilla extract.  A few drops of this can be taken orally or put in your coffee, tea or hot chocolate.

Stay tuned for future Journal articles where we will explore the species X-Intermedia and Stoechas (French and Spanish lavenders respectively).  Very different from the Angustifolias, they are another part of the wonderful world of lavender.