lavender use in italian garden

beauty, medicine and wondrous scent in just one flower!

We all know that lavender is a beautiful plant for Italian gardens and that it has a pleasant scent, however there is far more to discover about this wonderful plant
Lavandula is a genus of flowering plants of around 25 species, which curiously come from the mint family (Lamiaceae), the most widely used are the angustifolia and intermedia species. They can be found throughout the Mediterranean region, where they are native, down into Africa and even into southern reaches of India. Thriving in hot climates and dry, well-drained soils lavender has come to symbolize the Mediterranean for many people.
In fact, from a garden design perspective, it is a superb plant for Mediterranean gardens given its ability to withstand extremely dry conditions. Its beautiful metallic silver foliage and the fact that its purple flowers attract and display every butterfly in the neighborhood also render it a visually breathtaking addition to any garden.
On warm summer evenings the resinous foliage can emanate it's heady scent for many meters and moths such as the hummingbird moth www.lifeinitaly.com/garden/hummingbird-moths.asp will appear, as if by magic, to feast on the rich nectar in the lavender flowers.

Medicinal Properties

The name lavender was derived from the Italian word lavarsi, meaning simply to wash oneself, as the plant was crushed, added to olive oil and then used as a primitive soap in Roman times to improve its suppleness. The plants strong scented resin has strong antibiotic properties and was even used to disinfect hospital floors during World war II. When the plants oil is burned in aromatherapy it will aid insomnia and curiously will also repel moths from the house and induce a positive effect on human respiration. lavender's anti-inflammatory properties can relieve skin burns and when mixed with rose water can even cure acne. The plant was used during the years of the plague to repel the fleas that carried the disease.
The Romans highly prized the cleansing and exfoliating qualities of this plant and knew that it restored and soothed the skin. The Romans loved the plant and a pound of lavender flowers would have cost around a months wages for a farm laborer So intrinsic was this plant to Roman culture, it was transported everywhere throughout they were in fact responsible for introducing lavender to England and other far reaches of their vast empire.

Culinary uses

In France and Italy lavender is used as a flavoring for meat dishes and sauces and this is a recipe that I adore, using lavender flowers to flavor chicken

Recipe: Lavender Chicken Escalopes with Caramelized Peaches

Ingredients:

2 organic chicken breasts
4 large peaches or nectarines
3 whole lavender flowers, without stems
300g dried breadcrumbs
1 small organic egg

- Beat the chicken breasts well with a rolling pin or large, blunt vessel on a solid workbench. Lightly dust the flattened breasts with some seasoned flour and set aside.
- Finely chop the lavender flowers and mix with the breadcrumbs.
- Immerse the breasts in the beaten eggs and then coat in the breadcrumb and lavender mixture, set aside in the fridge to rest.
- In the meantime slice the peaches or nectarines into thin slices, heat a knob of unsalted in a non-stick pan
- When the butter foams, add the peach slices and pan-fry until golden brown and caramelized then place them in a warm serving dish and cover.
- Heat a generous amount of olive oil in a non-stick pan to a medium heat and fry the chicken breasts until cooked through and golden.
- Drain on absorbent kitchen paper, sprinkle with a pinch of fine sea salt and serve.

Propagation

Here in Tuscany there is a saying that a Lavender plant dies after 7 years and this indeed true if that same plant receives absolutely no pruning during those 7 years. To maintain the vigor of your lavender it needs to be trimmed, with garden shears, in early spring (around March in Italy). Shoots should never be pruned below vegetative growth as there arent any dormant/active buds below this point. This should always be followed by a generous application of compound fertilizer and a good watering- to help it recover from the prune.
The best time of the day to collect the flower spikes, is at sunrise, as they tend to preserve longer than those collected at other times of the day.

Happy gardening!

Lavandula officinalis