A flower that adds colour, fragrance, repels insects, is good for your beauty regimen all at one go; that’s lavender for you. It may not fall under the traditional houseplant category, yet the benefits far outweigh any qualms you have; especially since the plant thrives in sunny climes like India!

Lavender is a flowering plant in the mint family that’s easily identified by its sweet floral scent. It’s believed to be native to the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and India, with a history dating as far back as 2,500 years.

Lavenders are small evergreen shrubs with gray-green hoary linear leaves. The purple flowers are sparsely arranged on spikes at the tips of long bare stalks and produce small nutlet fruits. The fragrance of the plant is caused by shining oil glands imbedded among tiny star-shaped trichomes (plant hairs) that cover the flowers, leaves, and stems.

Different Varieties:French lavender, English lavender, Canary Island lavender,fern leaf lavender

Care Instructions For Growing Lavender Plant Indoors

Place it on a windowsill or a ledge to get the plant to grow as near to the sun as possible. Also bear in mind that to avoid root rot from setting in, the pot for the plant needs to be only an inch or two larger than the rootball itself.

Light: Thrives in bright sunlight.

Soil: Ensure that the bottom of the pot contains an inch or two of limestone gravel topped with a basic soilless mix. Blending a tablespoon of lime into the osil will give that alkaline edge, the plant needs.

Water:Water sparingly and pull back during winter months; growing lavender in a terracotta pot would be your best bet.

We’ll be sharing more about this plant in future.