English lavender is one of the richest in essential oils, meaning more fragrance power both fresh and dried. And Munstead, grown for its compact habit and earlier blooming flowers, is one of the best English lavender varieties of all, fabulously fragrant and absolutely beautiful. Add this evergreen perennial to your dry, sun-soaked border or meadow garden today, and begin enjoying years of beauty and fragrance.
The foliage of this bushy, naturally rounded lavender is blue-green, with a silvery sheen in the summer sun. The foliage is as strongly scented as the blooms, making a fine choice to edge a pathway or place near a conversation area of the garden. Bees and butterflies adore it, of course, but not as much as you will.
Munstead is the creation of famed British gardener, garden designer, and writer Gertrude Jekyll. It is named for her home, Munstead Wood, in Surrey. Introduced during World War I, this variety has been a perpetual favorite ever since, thanks to its multitude of blooms, its compact and very full habit, and its eagerness to grow and bloom in less-than-ideal settings.
Expect Munstead to reach 12 to 18 inches high and up to 24 inches wide, with small, strongly scented foliage that opens gray-blue, acquiring green and silvery hues as it matures. The flower stems reach a foot long, packed with intensely colored purple florets in mid- to late summer. Magnificent.
Munstead is glorious in the garden, asking only for a quick trim in early spring and again right after it blooms. Grow it in well-drained soil in an open, sunny spot, or in a large container. Rosemary is a traditional companion, but Munstead pairs with almost any flowering annual or perennial, and is a lovely foreground planting for a shrub border.
