Lavender

Lavender flowers are spike-like flowers composed of multiple, tiny purple florets on a slender, elegant stem. They are valued for their soothing, herbaceous fragrance, their healing properties, their multitude of uses and their physical beauty. In addition to these characteristics, lavender flowers, like many other types of flowers, possess a unique meaning.

Meaning of Lavender Flowers

Through out history, humans have ascribed specific meanings to flowers and used flowers to convey these meanings. This practice grew especially popular during the Victorian era, when people selected the flowers within a bouquet as carefully as they would choose the words for a letter. Many flowers have distinct meanings. For example, red roses are associated with romance and passion, while daisies denote innocence. In the language of flowers, lavender flowers symbolizes magic, love, protection, healing, vision, purity, silence, devotion and caution

Types of Lavender Flowers

There are at least 28 species of lavender plants that produce flowers having slightly different appearances and smells. One of the most common types of lavender is Lavandula angustifolia, which is known as English lavender and has narrow leaves. Lavandula dentate, which is sometimes referred to as Spanish or French lavender, is a favorite within the perfume industry and has toothed leaves. Lavandula spica, also known as spike lavender, has tufted leaves. The genus name "lavandula" derives from the Latin word "lavare," which means to wash; the ancient Romans liked to used lavender as a bath scent.

Uses of Lavender Flowers

You can cut and air dry lavender flowers and use them for a multitude of purposes, including the following: alone or combined with other herbs to make herbal tea, as a fragrant, flavor-enhancing addition to all types of recipes, especially desserts; to make sachets with which to scent dresser drawers, closets and other spaces, to stuff pillows that will promote a good night's sleep, as an addition to handmade grooming products such as soaps, bath salts and scrubs, as potpourri to fragrance a room, or to make scented wreaths, swags or other dried floral arrangements.