Re: lavender Q

On 4 Apr 2005 at 14:49, Nan Sterman wrote:

> Which species/variety of lavender has green leaves rather than 
> gray/green or silver?
> 
> Nan


Nan
I've come in a little late on this topic, but would like to endorse what 
has already been posted.  Certainly L.viridis (native to Portugal and 
SW Spain) is considered one of the greenest lavenders with regard to 
foliage.  It grows in the wild alongside the acid-loving L. stoechas 
subspecies but I have certainly found it does well in cultivation in a 
neutral medium. The apical bracts vary in colour from a very pale 
creamy green to almost yellow - it is sometimes called the lemon 
lavender for this reason, and I suspect because of the lemony scent to 
the foliage.

The other contender , as Jan suggested, would certainly be L. 
canariensis.  The variety found on Tenerife (ssp canariensis) is a bright 
green, contrasting beautifully with its vivid blue flowers.  In the wild, 
you can see it from a long way off.  This subsp seems to be the one 
normally found in cultivation but if you are lucky enough to come 
across the subsp from the more westerly islands, here the foliage is a 
deeper colour, more of a pine green, and mostly lacking in the scent.  
Beautiful flowerheads, though.  

I would agree with Sean that L. dentata var dentata is also in the 
running for greenness of foliage and it is such a beautiful flower spike, 
one of my favourites.  There is a pink flowered version of this, 
collected in the Anti Atlas in Morocco.  I had a piece some years ago 
from Tim Upson (Cambridge BG) and passed material on to 
Downderry Nursery in Kent UK but the owner tells me it doesn't sell 
very well. A pity, because it's a good pink and not muddy like some of 
the pink-flowered angustifolias.  There is also a  white-flowered form 
which I haven't seen but hope to come across in my lavender 
wanderings one day.  (I have the white flowered cultivar of var 
candicans cllaed 'Pure Harmony' which I believe is more widely 
available now).   

Joan
Editor, The Lavender Bag
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