How to Grow Lavender

Growing Joy with Plants - Wellness Rooted in Nature, Houseplants, Gardening and Plant Care

Maria Failla- Happy Plant Lady and Author of Growing Joy: The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness

Education, How To, Health & Fitness, Mental Health, Home & Garden, Leisure

4.8 • 883 Ratings

🗓️ 1 July 2025

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Did you know that lavender comes in dozens of varieties, each with a different smell, and many with different growing habits? I did learn that from Rebecca at Lavender Connection, who owns a family-run lavender farm in Sequim, Washington, which also happens to be the lavender capital of the United States! After meeting her at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show, where her beautiful lavender scents were wafting over to my booth all day, I knew I had to have her on the podcast to share her incredible expertise.

In this episode, we learn:

[02:40] How Rebecca became a lavender expert
[06:25] Where does lavender grow natively?
[07:17] How many species does lavender have?
[09:06] English vs French vs Spanish lavender
[11:19] How to avoid killing your lavender (top growing tips!)
[12:55] Why you need well-draining soil for lavender
[15:13] Make someone’s special day unforgettable by gifting them Wind River Chimes!
[17:27] Common mistakes new lavender gardeners make
[20:12] Life as a lavender farmer: agritourism, DIY, and more
[22:17] The lavender essential oil bar experience
[24:03] How Starbucks drinks was inspired by her Lavender Connection!
[25:29] Favorite lavender varieties (including the mysterious Row 19)
[27:15] What you can actually do with harvested lavender
[29:30] What’s the easiest thing you can do with a lavender?
[30:28] Where can you find Lavender Connections?

Mentioned in our conversation:

Planning to grow your own lavender?

Check out the full show notes and blog for Rebecca's expert growing tips!

Follow Lavender Connection:

Thank you to our episode sponsor:

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Order my book: Growing Joy: The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness (and Plants) by Maria Failla, Illustrated by Samantha Leung

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Did you know that lavender actually comes in dozens of varieties and they all smell differently and many of them have different growing habits?
0:08.3	Well, today's guest is not just a professional lavender farmer, but she runs an essential oil bar where you can sniff your way through 25 different types of lavender.
0:16.2	And she's joining us today to share her best growing tips, favorite varieties of lavender to grow,
0:21.4	and the wild story about her farm and how it inspired the Starbucks lavender drinks we've all been
0:27.5	enjoying this spring.
0:34.8	Welcome to the Growing Joy with Plants podcast, where we not only learn how to care for plants
0:39.5	successfully, but how to simply and affordably use our plant babies to cultivate more joy
0:44.4	in our lives by doing so. I'm Maria, former plant killer turned happy plant lady, author of
0:50.1	Growing Joy, The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness, speaker, podcaster, and most
0:54.6	importantly, your new best plant friend. On growing joy with plants, you'll find conversations
0:59.1	about house plant care, gardening tutorials, and wellness through the lens of plants.
1:03.9	Plant care is self-care on growing joy.
1:13.0	Hello, plant friends. Welcome. I am Maria. I'm here to help you care for plants and grow joy.
1:18.1	Welcome if you're new and welcome home if you're a returning listener. Today's episode is super fun.
1:23.0	All about lavender. I feel like lavender is a plant that we all want to grow. It's an herb as we learn,
1:28.8	not a flower. Today, we're going to learn that in this conversation, but we all want to grow
1:32.4	lavender, right? It's a beautifully delicate fragrance that so many of us love. And it can grow and
1:39.9	thrive very successfully in a garden, but also for beginner gardeners, there are some key mistakes
1:43.9	that can be made to really wreck it. So today's guest, Rebecca, the co-owner of Lavender Connection,
1:50.4	which is a family-run lavender farm nestled in the Lavender Capital of the U.S., which you will
1:54.9	learn about, joins us for a deep dive on the difference between English, French, and Spanish Lavender,
2:00.6	how to care for it at home.
	...

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