Lavandula angustifolia.

The aristocrat of the aromatic garden. Although its common name evokes the walled gardens of Victorian England, where it became a landscape icon, lavender is in fact native to the arid hills of the Mediterranean rim — Provence, Andalusia, Tuscany — where it still grows wild in great mauve sheets atop the limestone plateaus. Its Latin name betrays its immemorial use: Lavandula comes from lavare, "to wash" in Latin, because the Romans perfumed the water of their public baths with it and washed their linen in flower infusions. The Egyptians stuffed it into mummy wrappings (some was found in Tutankhamun's tomb), medieval monasteries cultivated it for the pharmacy and floral waters, and Provence has, since the 19th century, made it one of the foundations of its entire production of perfumes, soaps and essential oils.

A small woody perennial shrub 30 to 60 cm tall, compact and rounded in habit, with fine narrow silver-grey highly aromatic leaves, crowned from June to August with upright spikes of small violet-mauve flowers that literally make the garden hum — honeybees produce from it one of the most prized honeys on the planet. The angustifolia ("narrow-leaved") variety is the most cold-hardy of the lavenders, also the least camphorous, and therefore the only one truly interesting for culinary use — a few dried flowers in baker's sugar to perfume shortbread cookies, crèmes brûlées and madeleines; in infusion with a slice of lemon for a summer lemonade that smells of the south; in a marinade for grilling meat (especially lamb), or simply sprinkled flower by flower on a salad for a surprising aromatic touch. Good drying behaviour — bouquets cut at full bloom keep their perfume for months, hung upside down in a dark spot.

Grower's tip: Lavender begins its garden life with two demanding particularities. First, germination is slow and capricious — 14 to 21 days — strongly helped by a one-month cold stratification in the fridge before spring sowing (the seeds evolved in a Mediterranean climate with cold winters). Second, it's perfect drainage that determines whether it will survive our winters or not — lavender tolerates extreme drought and cold, but it does not forgive soaked roots in frozen soil. In Québec it is hardy in zone 5 (the Montréal region and warmer), sometimes in zone 4 with a well-drained raised spot against a south wall and a light winter mulch. For zone 3 gardens, growing in a pot brought indoors for the winter remains the safest solution.

• Open-pollinated. Hardy woody perennial (zone 5, sometimes 4 with perfect drainage). Bee-pollinated; generally doesn't cross with home-garden varieties.
• Height: 30 to 60 cm.
• Flowering: June to August.
• Exposure: full sun.
• Poor, dry, perfectly drained soil, calcareous to neutral (pH 6.5-7.5). Hates standing moisture. Space plants 40 to 50 cm apart.
• Indoor start after a 4-week cold stratification in the fridge, 8 to 10 weeks before planting out. Cuttings of semi-woody stems in spring remain the most reliable method for propagating the plant.