The Lavenders I sell are ‘Munstead,’ ‘Lady,’ ‘Grosso’ and ‘Hidcote’ because those are the best for Zone 4/5 and have a SLIGHT chance of making it through a Wisconsin Winter if planted near a brick wall, a huge heat-holding rock or someone has a nicely enclosed, yet sunny yard..
All lavenders (even though there are 30 varieties and a many more hybrids) have the same ‘properties’ though some are higher in oils, hence some smell better than others and are better for commercial use.
They usually use “French” lavender in making the oils, however, I’m not sure which genus of lavender that is! Maybe ‘Lavender augustifolia Hidcote?’ I’d assume a rather large plant that puts out lots and lots of leaves and flowers, versus something smaller. In it’s home, lavender (and rosemary) is more of a shrub than the smaller garden plants we’re used to. Same with Sage. Ever seem true ‘Sagebrush’ in the desert? Ten feet and taller is “normal” for that plant, and it’s covered in red blooms. A total Hummingbird Magnet! (As an aside, ‘Pineapple Sage,’ which is a rather different plant, is also great for Hummingbirds, as is red ‘Lady’ Salvia.)
Lavender is used to living on the French Riviera and Rosemary, the rocky shores of Italy. They’re really not at home in the Midwest with our cold winters and higher humidity, though we sure do love them! :)
Diana, thank you, those are the names that I could not think of for the lavender plants.
I did not know it would grow so tall, it would be fun to trim one into a single trunk tree, LOL, after you had all the massive plants that you wanted.
I am not high enough for the sage plants, about all that is wild here are stickers, and creosote bushes.
If you have a nursery, do you and Garden Girl have links that we will want to visit for them?
There is always something to be learned.