We know that Cleopatra used lavender because this most fragrant of herbs is well documented in hieroglyphics that detail the Egyptian mummification process. The antibacterial properties of lavender oil made it part of the early material medica and it also drives out fleas and other insect pests from hut or castle. Some suggest that Cleopatra wore the fragrance of lavender when she seduced the Roman general, Marc Antony, in that infamous love affair portrayed by Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. This indicates early cultivation in the deserts along the River Nile. These origins are important to knowing what species of lavender will do best in your desert garden.

There are 39 species and over a hundred different hybrids in the genus Lavandula. They originate across the southern Mediterranean, Africa, and deep into Asia Minor. For two millennia, the species have been crossed and recrossed to create a plethora of new plants, many of which are more cold hardy than their predecessors. This is the result of breeding to make a sun loving Mediterranean plant grow in Britain and Germany where conditions are cool, rainy, and with significant winter cold. This is important because breeding focused on English lavender, Lavandula angustifolia, to develop countless progeny for colder climates. These will not perform well in the desert.

We must go to the most desert hardy species of all, Lavandula stoechas, the Spanish lavender, which originated in Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization. From there it was later grown by the Romans in Italy to provide plenty of the coveted fragrance to scent their communal baths. Spanish lavender bears needle-like foliage to limit moisture loss during extreme heat and drought. Its flowers are larger in diameter on shorter stout stems, and their fragrance is more pungent.

Commonly known as French lavender, Lavandula dentata is not native to France but to much hotter northern Africa, Morocco and Algeria. This lavender demonstrates how the species evolved in a desert climate with shorter fuzzy foliage for maximizing drought and heat tolerance. This is the primary species grown commercially in the south of France for lavender oil markets due to its sweet scent, and was likely grown in Cleopatra’s Egypt as well.

Here in the Coachella Valley desert, both the French and Spanish lavenders are the best adapted to our climate. However, even with this adaptability they need special care to make it through the summer. Extreme temperatures both ambient and within our soil can stress plants in the afternoon. At the Palm Springs Wellness Park, designers used hard built elements to protect the roots of French lavender growing there. The plants are on the east side of the stone work, close enough for roots to travel underneath it to keep cool late in the day and prevent overheating.

A neighbor grew her lavender on the north side of a four foot tall block wall that runs east-west. Though the plant did have western exposure, it thrived sandwiched in a narrow bed between the wall a lawn. With sprinklers watering daily and plenty of fertilizer, the runoff feeds thirsty plants and keeps roots moist and shaded much of the time. While the desert would surely kill this plant elsewhere, our sandy soil helped this specimen reach nearly four feet tall and wide.

This shows us that lavender needs masonry, boulders, buildings or other masses to provide shade for the roots during the worst of our summer days.

Once your lavenders are established, use them cut sprigs of foliage or flowers, bind them with a rubber band and toss in your bath water as it fills. Add sprigs to accent gift wrapping. Hang bunches to dry and stuff an aromatherapy pillow for your bed or couch. Then you’ll know what the ancient world smelled like when Cleopatra and her lover took a spa day.

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