Norann Oleson, Editorial Director of Food Gardening Network

Welcome to the fragrant, flowering world of culinary lavender!

Take a deep breath near a lavender field and you’ll walk away both energized and relaxed by the heady, heavenly scent of this beautiful, versatile plant. A cold-hardy, drought-tolerant evergreen, lavender is more than just a pretty plant. The culinary variety of lavender is delicious in cookies and cakes, teas and lemonades, as a garnish, and as a secret ingredient in herbal blends.

You can grow lavender anywhere you have well-draining soil and lots of sunshine. We’ll walk you through the whole process.

First is the collection’s Introduction, where you’ll learn some of the basics about lavender and how to choose the right variety to grow. You’ll also get the history of this powerful and aromatic herb.

Next, in the Feature Articles, you’ll get specifics about growing lavender—from the best way to start growing to watering, harvesting, and winterizing your plants so they stay healthy and productive throughout the season and protected over the winter.

There’s a lot to know about growing lavender, so even if you’re a veteran, you might learn something new. We aim to gather everything there is to know about growing lavender into this single collection!

We have several fun Plant Profiles with the more popular varieties listed, including options for gardeners around the country and those who want to grow lavender in containers.

There are hundreds of varieties of lavender throughout the world, and more being developed all the time. We’ve chosen these lavender plant profiles because they are some of the most commonly grown for culinary use. If you’d like us to include another lavender variety that appeals to you, please let me know by commenting below.

After all, this is Food Gardening Network, and we want to include the knowledge of all our gardening readers in everything we do. Your input is just as important to us as anything we come up with on our own!

We do think you’ll love the lavender Recipes we’ve compiled for enjoying the fruits of your labor. You’ll find that cooking with lavender is fun and easy—and that a little bit of lavender goes a long way!

After that, you’ll be interested to learn how lavender can benefit your health in Nutrition Facts about Lavender. Lavender contains calcium, iron, and vitamin A, all essential for good health.

Then there are the Home Remedies & Health Benefits of Lavender where you’ll learn how lavender is thought to help with anxiety, depression, headaches, and insomnia, and how it contributes to better digestive health.

Because we want you to have everything there is to know about lavender at your fingertips, we’ve included a Resources section that’s complementary to this collection. Learn more about tools that will help make your lavender harvest easier.

As always, we’ve included a brief Glossary in case you need a deeper explanation of any key terms. Be sure to let us know if there’s something else you need explained.

I’m off to make some Lavender Shortbread Cookies for dessert right now, but I hope you’re ready to dive in and become a master lavender grower!