Promising Plants Profiles

Lavandula angustifolia 'Tucker's Early Purple'

Common Name: English lavender, true lavender
Family: Lamiaceae
Genus: Lavandula
Specific Epithet: angustifolia
Cultivar Name: 'Tucker's Early Purple'

Life cycle: perennial
Zone: 6-9
Flower color: vibrant ,violet-blue
Bloom time: early to late summer and in the fall with trimming
Growth: 18 in. x 24 in.
Habit/Form: upright, compact, semishrub
Light requirements: full sun
Soil requirements: well drained, loose, likes soil with gravel mixed in
Propagation: softwood cuttings
Uses: ornamental, container, drying, fragrance, crafts

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Description: Compact, erect plant with linear, gray-green leaves. The plant has a bushy habit with semi-open foliage. Flower spikes are dense with fragrant, deep violet-blue flowers.

Cultivation: Plant in well-drained soil in full sun. Do not over-water as lavender does not like wet feet. Lightly prune flower stems after the flowers have faded to prolong the blooming season.

"Lavandula angustifolia 'Tucker's Early Purple' is one of the earliest lavenders to bloom in the spring and one of the last to finish in the fall. Introduced in 1993 by Tom DeBaggio. Lavandula angustifolia 'Tucker's Early Purple' is a cross between two outstanding lavenders -'Mitcham Grey' and 'Irene Doyle' -this is an early bloomer. Dark buds and dark flowers with a recurrent blooming habit, height about 18 inches. It is named after Dr. Arthur O. Tucker, the doyen of American herb growers and an international herb expert." -Gloria McClure, Promising Plants Presentation, 2008

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