The Provence French Lavender, otherwise known as the Lavandula X Intermedia ‘Provence’ or Lavender ‘Provence’, Lavandin ‘Provence’, is a rather well known shrub plant by gardening enthusiasts around the world.
Best known for its average maintenance and moderate growth, this shrub will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its gray-green colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
Fortunately, taking care of your Provence French Lavender is not too difficult – as long as you follow our guidelines in this Provence French Lavender Care Guide. Now let’s get started.
In order to take proper care of your Provence French Lavender you’ll need to keep in mind the following guidelines:
- Water: The Provence French Lavender needs at least weekly watering, or more in extreme heat, preferably with regular water.
- Light: Keep your Lavandula X Intermedia ‘Provence’ in an environment where it can receive full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Provence French Lavender in soil with well-draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of sand, chalk, and loam.
And as with many other plants, these are the only three care factors you need to remember to make sure your Provence French Lavender is, for the most part, healthy and well to survive.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Provence French Lavender belongs to the Lamiaceae family, and the genus Lavandula, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Lavandula X Intermedia ‘Provence’ (la-VAN-dew-la in-ter-MEE-dee-uh).
As with other Lavandula’s, the Provence French Lavender is an evergreen plant, which means it will be present year round in your garden.
Growing Region
The Lavandula X Intermedia ‘Provence’ is native to France.
You might be wondering why your Provence French Lavender’s native region is important. Well, if you know where your plant originally came from, you’ll know which environmental conditions it prefers, and with it, knowledge on how to replicate it at home.
With this in mind, the Lavandula X Intermedia ‘Provence’ will be most used to the heat zones in the 5 – 8 region, and in climate zones that range between 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Provence French Lavender is a relatively moderate grower, which makes things somewhat easy for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But what exactly does this mean for your Provence French Lavender? How large a pot should you consider, how tall, how wide can it get? Let’s jump in…
The Lavandula X Intermedia ‘Provence’ can grow up to 2′ – 3′ (60cm – 90cm) in 2′ – 3′ (60cm – 90cm) and 2′ – 3′ (60cm – 90cm) in 2′ – 3′ (60cm – 90cm).
These dimensions make the Provence French Lavender a relatively medium shrub compared to others, so it’s best to keep this fact in mind since it will affect where you want to keep yours at home.
Also, expect it to grow in a wonderful compact shape, which is something worthwhile to remember when making your garden landscape plans.
This is why experts recommend keeping an area of approximately 24″ – 36″ (60cm – 90cm) free so the Provence French Lavender can spread to its best extent.
Watering
In terms of watering, the Provence French Lavender is a fairly simple plant to take care of. This is mostly because it has a straightforward watering schedule and somewhat regular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Lavandula X Intermedia ‘Provence’ needs at least weekly watering, or more in extreme heat, preferably with regular water.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively low needs in terms of water.
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Provence French Lavender in soil with well-draining characteristics, as these will guarantee the right conditions for your plant to grow and thrive.
When you consider this, this is why you should aim to choose soil that has good drainage, and occasionally dry properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
However, in our experience, the best solution to knowing the right amount of water for your Provence French Lavender is with the ‘thumb’ technique. Basically, you insert your finger into the soil, and based if you feel the soil moist or dry, you determine if it needs any water, which is the most appropriate way to go about watering your leafy friend.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Provence French Lavender prefers to have soil with good drainage, and occasionally dry properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of sand, chalk, and loam.
This is why most experts agree that the Provence French Lavender requires soil with sand, which will give you the right conditions it needs.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably alkaline, acid or neutral soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Provence French Lavender requires full sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this shrub will do well as long as you keep it in full sun, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Lavandula X Intermedia ‘Provence’ in full and direct sun (more than 6 hours of direct sunlight per day).
Season
Being an evergreen plant, the Provence French Lavender will be present year round in your garden. But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the summer (mid, late).
Flowers
You can expect your Provence French Lavender to flower around the summer months from July to September (summer).
In particular, this shrub is well known for its fragrant, flowers for cutting and showy flowers around the plant enthusiast community.
The Provence French Lavender produces some beautiful purple or lavender flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Provence French Lavender have a beautiful gray-green color during most of the year.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The Provence French Lavender is well known for being able to attract butterflies, so keep that in mind when choosing your plant, as you’ll likely end up finding one or another in your garden.
Additionally, it has a special tolerance for drought, rocky soil, dry soil and animals like rabbit and deer, so don’t worry if any of these come along, your Lavandula X Intermedia ‘Provence’ will be fine.
Garden
How should you then organize your garden to include your new Provence French Lavender? Here are some recommendations by expert gardeners.
Most Lavandula X Intermedia ‘Provence’ owners agree that this shrub will look great in most mediterranean, cottage and rustic gardens of all types.
Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of coastal garden, informal and cottage, city and courtyard, gravel and rock garden, and in mediterranean garden styles.
In particular, the Provence French Lavender’s best location within your garden is in beds and borders, hedges and screens, banks and slopes, edging, and in patio and containers, others use it for landscaping in a mass planting, hedge, container, border, cutting garden, green roof, or a rock garden.
Companion Plants
Provence French Lavender plants do well with some other plants beside it. One good companion plant is the Rudbeckia, which will pair up nicely with your leafy friend.
Others consider that a nice Echinacea will work well too, so choose whichever you find works best for you!
Conclusion
Even though we covered a lot of care information for your Provence French Lavender, remember the basics: sunlight, soil and water, as these should be enough to grow a healthy plant at home.
