Lakeshore Garden Centres Plant Finder

Other Names:  Spanish Lavender

Group/Class:  La Diva Series

Brand:  Dummen Orange

Description:

Lovely, with outstanding fragrance, this selection is covered with very dark purple flowers with large, lilac-purple bract petals that rise above; exceptionally hardy and heat tolerant; ideal for borders, cottage gardens, and containers

Ornamental Features

La Diva Papillon Purple Lavender has masses of beautiful spikes of fragrant deep purple flowers with lilac purple overtones rising above the foliage from late spring to mid summer, which are most effective when planted in groupings. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its attractive fragrant needle-like leaves are grayish green in colour. The foliage often turns coppery-bronze in fall.

Landscape Attributes

La Diva Papillon Purple Lavender is a dense multi-stemmed annual with a mounded form. It brings an extremely fine and delicate texture to the garden composition and should be used to full effect.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and can be pruned at anytime. It is a good choice for attracting bees and butterflies to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

La Diva Papillon Purple Lavender is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Rock/Alpine Gardens
• Border Edging
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

La Diva Papillon Purple Lavender will grow to be about 10 inches tall at maturity extending to 14 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 16 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 14 inches apart. Its foliage tends to remain low and dense right to the ground. Although it's not a true annual, this slow-growing plant can be expected to behave as an annual in our climate if left outdoors over the winter, usually needing replacement the following year. As such, gardeners should take into consideration that it will perform differently than it would in its native habitat.

This plant should only be grown in full sunlight. It prefers dry to average moisture levels with very well-drained soil, and will often die in standing water. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for a low-water garden or xeriscape application. To help this plant achive its best flowering performance, periodically apply a flower-boosting fertilizer from early spring through into the active growing season. It is not particular as to soil type, but has a definite preference for alkaline soils, and is able to handle environmental salt. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.

La Diva Papillon Purple Lavender is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a mass of flowers and foliage against which the thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.