Lavender, Sensational

Sensational!® Lavender (Lavandula × intermedia 'Tesseract')

Sensational!® Lavender is a robust lavandin cultivar selected for unusually large flower spikes, broad silvery foliage, strong fragrance, and improved performance under challenging garden conditions. A hybrid between English lavender and spike lavender, it forms substantial aromatic mounds topped with deep violet-purple flowers that are heavily visited by bees and butterflies. Its combination of drought tolerance, deer resistance, and long-lived summer bloom makes it particularly useful in herb gardens, pollinator borders, orchard edges, dry perennial plantings, and Mediterranean-style landscapes.

Key Characteristics

Large, intensely fragrant flowers for harvest
Sensational! produces thick violet-purple flower spikes on sturdy stems above highly aromatic silver-green foliage. Flower stems can be harvested as buds begin opening for dried bundles, sachets, wreaths, and other fragrant crafts. The flowers and foliage contain the aromatic essential oils responsible for lavender's distinctive herbal-floral fragrance.

A concentrated summer forage patch for bees
Lavandin flowers are particularly attractive to honey bees, bumble bees, and numerous other flower-visiting insects. The long flower spikes place many individual blossoms close together, allowing bees to forage efficiently without repeatedly flying between plants. Massing several plants creates a substantial midsummer nectar resource while producing a striking band of purple through the landscape.

Traditional lavender uses with a strongly aromatic character
Lavender flowers have a long history of use in European herbal traditions, particularly in aromatic preparations associated with relaxation and restful sleep. Dried flowers are commonly incorporated into sachets, aromatic baths, pillows, and infused preparations. Lavandin cultivars such as Sensational! have a somewhat sharper, more camphoraceous aromatic profile than traditional English lavender and are especially useful where a strong fragrance is desired.

Built for sunny, dry garden systems
Sensational! performs best where many moisture-loving perennials struggle: hot sites with abundant sun and excellent drainage. Use it along pathways, in herb gardens, gravel gardens, sunny pollinator borders, or around the dry outer edges of orchards. Pairing it with other drought-adapted herbs and flowers creates a low-water planting rather than forcing lavender into heavily irrigated vegetable beds.

Product Details

• Native range: Cultivated hybrid; parent lavender species are native to the Mediterranean region
• Plant life cycle: Evergreen to semi-evergreen perennial subshrub
• Sun requirements: Full sun
• Soil requirements: Dry to medium-dry, sharply well-drained
• Mature height: 24–36 inches
• Bloom time: June–August
• Bloom color: Deep violet-purple
• USDA Hardiness zones: 5–9

The most important ingredient for success with Sensational! Lavender is drainage. Plant with the crown slightly elevated in lean, well-drained soil, avoid consistently wet mulch against the stems, and resist overwatering established plants. Prune lightly after flowering while retaining plenty of leafy growth; avoid cutting deeply into old woody stems. Give it sun, airflow, and relatively dry soil, and it can become a substantial aromatic anchor for herb and pollinator plantings.