In this article, we will provide you important information about lavender plants.

Lavender (lat. Lavender) is essential – oil plant from the family of Lamiaceae.

There are over 30 botanical species of the genus Lavandula, which are broadly classified into three types:

– Common lavender (Lavandula Vera) – the so called Fernleaf lavender, which is the most common variety grown due to its high-quality essential oil.

– Broad-leaved lavender (Lavandula Spica) – typical for this type of plant is, high production of essential oil ,than usual, but its quality is significantly lower due to the substance camphor.
– Lavandin (Lavandula Hybrida) – as its name suggests, the lavandin is a hybrid derived from the other two main types, characterized by high amounts of camphor in the essential oil.

Lavender is grown and used in traditional medicine and cosmetics since ancient times. This culture is introduced in Bulgaria in 1907. At first it was grown on small areas mainly in the region of Kazanlak. Just over 100 years after, however, lavender is grown in almost every corner of our country, helping Bulgaria to be  the leading worldwide manufacturer of lavender oil for 2011.

The visible part of the plant is a small shrub (tuff) in diameter, which, depending on the type, is ranging from 60 to 100 cm in mature plants. The leaves of ordinary lavender are oblong and  are located opposite to one another, In appearance similar to those of conifers. Lavender is an evergreen plant as the change of leaves take place consistently. Lavender has a small and very beautiful buds. They are separated in classes , and depending on the variety and type of plant are pale pink, blue, purple or violet. The main roots of the plant can reach 3 meters in depth, making lavender a good choice for soils, that need erosion prevention.

To understand the intricacies in the cultivation of lavender and what kind of products are made from the culture, please, read our articles further.