Our drying lavenders (and lavandins)

Not all varieties of lavender, or lavandin, are useful for essential oil production. This is less to do with essential oil chemistry than with the fact that low yields make them unviable for commercial purposes. In the early stages of our farm when exploring different cultivars on which to build our essential oil production we planted a number of cultivars which did not meet our yield criteria. These plants have become the centre of our dried lavender production, and a number of them have special qualities which make them ideal for this purpose. Our special drying lavenders are the Lavandula angustifolias’, ‘Twickle Purple’ and ‘Hidecote Blue’. Both these lavenders have florets or calyxes which maintain their dark purple colour in the drying process when most other lavenders grey as they dry. The delicate fragrance of these plants makes them ideal culinary lavenders. Our special drying lavandin is Lavandula x intermedia Alba, a cultivar which produces white flowers with a subtle lemony fragrance. We also dry a selection of our essential oil plants, which needless to say have a far more intense aroma but unfortunately do grey when dry. These oil plants are great for pot pourri or any other application where a strong fragrance is needed. The oil cultivars we dry are the lavender; ‘Bee’ and lavandins’; ‘Grosso’, ‘Abriallis’ and ‘Margaret’.

 

The drying process

To produce dry lavender, fresh flower is sickle harvested and bunched together with rubber bands.  The bunched lavender is hung on wires in the drying shed for a number of weeks until fully dry.  Dry lavender is then stored in cardboard boxes until stripped for loose lavender or sold on as bouquets.

Snowy River Lavender’s drying cultivars

Lavandula x intermedia ‘Alba’

Lavandula x intermedia, Alba is a cultivar which produces white flowers with a subtle lemony fragrance. Alba’s long stems and unusual colouring makes it ideal as a, bunching lavender for floral displays.

Lavandula x intermedia ‘Grosso’

Lavandula x intermedia Grosso produces large compact conical spikes which while dark purple when fresh dry to a steely silver mauve.  As a premiere essential oil producer Grosso’s dry florets have an intensely refreshing and stimulating aroma. As with all our oil plants Grosso florets are great for pot pourri or any other application where a strong fragrance is needed. The camphor and cineole content of lavandin plants make their florets stimulating inclusions in body scrubs and as a botanical inclusion in hand crafted soaps.  Grosso’s sculptural spikes also make them wonderful when used in floral arrangements.

Lavandula x intermedia ‘Margaret’

Lavandula x intermedia Margaret produces large lacy spikes which dry to a silvery mauve grey. Margaret is a plant which produces high quality essential oil and this means its dry florets have a strong but refreshingly floral aroma with hints of camphor. As with all our oil plants, Margaret as loose lavender is great for pot pourri or any other application where a stronger fragrance is needed. The long lacy spikes are wonderful when used in floral arrangements and for interior decoration.

Lavandula angustifolia ‘Hidcote Blue’

Lavandula angustifolia, Hidecote Blue has florets that maintain their vivid purple colour in the drying process. The delicate floral fragrance, which hints peppermint, also makes it ideal as culinary lavender. Hidcote Blue is a small plant and makes pretty posies of dry lavender for floral decorating.

Lavandula angustifolia ‘Twickle Purple’

Lavandula angustifolia, Twickle Purple has florets that maintain their dark purple colour in the drying process. The refined lavender aroma also makes Twickle ideal for culinary purposes and its long lacy flower spikes, makes this lavender an elegant inclusion in floral displays.

The ‘Sponnee’ Story

The propagation of lavender cultivars by way of vegetative cutting is predicated on the desire to standardise plants for an increasingly industrialised culture of essential oil production. Seed propagation develops out of an opposing impulse and seeks to maintain the biodiversity of lavender as a species. Seed developed lavender is also known as population lavender and characteristically enables the genetic complexity and individual potentials of plants for alternative chemistries, and expressions of beauty, to be reflected in the essential oil product. These qualities are appealing for those sensitive to the fact that botanical diversity is nature’s own way. A bountiful event in 2005 initiated new plant development programs at Snowy River Lavender. It was noticed that numerous self seeded lavenders were growing between the rows of our established lavender. After many hours of walking up and down rows we collected in excess of 3500 plants and each year since we collect more. We named these plants ‘Sponnees’ in celebration of their willingness to spontaneously grow on our farm. The Sponnee’s have been planted in patches and are now distilled as a form of seed population lavender.

Population lavender

Some essential oil users prefer seed grown lavender believing that the process of propagation by vegetative cuttings over time weakens the vigour of the plant and effects a diminishing also in the subtle healing energy of the essential oil. At Snowy River Lavender we are seeking to establish boutique commercial scale plantings of seed population lavender. Along with collecting self seeded plants from amongst the rows, each autumn we also collect seed from our established plants and, raising these seeds has become a key activity in the farm’s nursery operation.

Our model of population production is not purist in the sense that we only collect seed from well established oil plants, thus limiting the genotype of our population to productive types. This model, however, is also used by other commercial population lavender producers’, such as Le Chateau Du Bois in Provence, who call this type of lavender, ‘lavande fine’. Random seed collecting would be too low in yield to be commercially viable and in Australia we do not have a wild grown gene pool such as that in Haute Provence. In this regard, French wild alpine lavender (lavande sauvage) is the ultimate population lavender but it is also very rare. This said, at Snowy River Lavender we never the less are always looking to establish new seed stock which will increase the biodiversity of our gene pool without compromising our farm’s productivity.

Developing new lavender cultivars

Snowy River Lavender has also initiated a cultivar development program from our seed grown plants. This is a process of trialling promising plants selected from our mature ‘Sponnee’ plants as cultivars. Plants are chosen in a rigorous selection process, based on criteria such as plant size and shape, flower density, stem and spike length, oil yield potential and aroma. Interestingly many of the more promising plants are showing signs of being the products of cross pollination between our established cultivar populations, thanks to our bees. An example of this cross pollination is a Sponnee we have named L. a. Pacific Monster. This plant was found among the Bee cultivars (seeded by the Bee plant) but shows many characteristics, bush shape and size, flower colour and shape of the Pacific Blue cultivar. Interestingly, a GC/MS profile performed on this cultivar (2011) also shows a leaning towards the linalool chemotype of Pacific Blue. This is only one of over 100 Sponnee plants we have chosen to trial. Only time will tell how these plants will develop as field cultivars, but we are all excited by the prospects of this program and think it can only add depth and individuality to our essential oil production.

LAVANDULA X. INTERMEDIA ‘TIGER ALLEY’ – ‘FARM LEGEND’

The farm’s entrance is hedges of alternately planted Grosso and Margaret lavandins. At the height of summer, when these plants are in full flower, the deep purple of Grosso against the silvery mauve of Margaret creates a striped effect of dark and light purple tones which has entered the farm’s folklore as ‘tiger alley’. When we were hand harvesting, these plants were taken off separately to be distilled as single cultivars, however since we have largely mechanized our harvest, these hedges are taken off together and distilled as a dual cultivar blend.

ESSENTIAL OIL

From the GC/MS analysis of the ‘tiger alley’ blend, it is obvious this combination of plants has produced a lavandin essential oil very balanced in all the key compounds, with also an interesting equality of presence of the minor level compounds. In other words, all these compounds are there at fairly significant levels but none dominate. The Grosso influence has softened the fresh green camphor and cineole aroma typical in most lavandin essential oils except its own and Margaret has added her own special floral refinement. We are very happy with the quality of this distilled blend. Supply is limited.

HYDROSOL

The hydrosol derived from the Tiger Alley distillation is fresh and herbaceous in the front notes with hints of floral honey on the skin in its finishing notes. As with all our lavandin hydrosols Tiger Alley comes off the still with a pH level well below 4.5

TYPICAL PHYTOCHEMICAL PROFILE RANGE, L.X. TIGER ALLEY 2010 – 2014

linalool 32.50 – 37.91• linalyl acetate 24.87- 27.65 • lavandulol 0.22 – 0.30 • lavandulyl acetate 0.97- 1.21 •limonene/ ß-phellandrene 0.84-0.87 • octen -3-ol 0.52- 0.58 • 1,8-cineole 8.29 – 8.60 • cis-ß-ocimene 1.44 -2.81 • trans-ß-ocimene 0.54 -1.00 • 3-octanone 0.11–0.15 • octen-3-yl acetate 0.53- 0.61• geranyl acetate 0.27 – 0.37 • neryl acetate 0.20- 0.26 • camphor 7.91 – 8.06 •borneol 2.56 – 3.07• terpinen-4-ol 1.62 – 1.71 • α- terpineol 0.80 – 0.82 • ß – caryophyllene 0.63 – 0.91• (E)-beta-farsenene 0.67 – 0.77 • α –santalene 0.26 -0.30 • α –pinene 0.65 – 0-68• ß – pinene 0.57 -0.60 •myrcene 0.87 – 1.07 • camphene 0.52- 0.64

LAVANDULA X. INTERMEDIA ‘SUPER’ – ‘’BREATHE EASY’

Super is one of those cultivars with an identity crisis. There are as many as 3 cultivars assuming the name in the Australasian region (McNaughton 2000). The cultivar we name ‘Super’ at Snowy River Lavender is a large upright bush of summer abundance, in full flower about 1.2m round. A truly impressive visual bounty of pale violet spikes 7 – 10 cm long.

ESSENTIAL OIL

Aromatically the lavandin Super is a linalool chemotype (28-35%) and has the highest ratio of camphor and 1, 8 cineole, of all the lavandins we grow (together they can be as high as 30% of the oil). These compounds give our Super essential oil a fresh green effervescent aromatic front note, reminiscent of the Australian bush in which our farm is situated. There is also a refined sweetness to this oil we attribute to the significant amounts of the spicy floral ocimene compounds (5-7%) and some interesting citrus and rose leaf tones ( probably limonene and farsenene). Together these fragrant notes make up the sweet lasting finish of this oil. Super is a good essential oil to choose if you would like the benefits of camphor and 1, 8 cineole in a very aromatically attractive oil.

HYDROSOL

 

TYPICAL PHYTOCHEMICAL PROFILE RANGE, L.X. SUPER 2005 – 2014

LAVANDULA X. INTERMEDIA ‘SUMIAN’ – EARTHY & REFRESHING

The French lavandin Sumian as a summer display is a profusion of conical mauve flower spikes swirling on long stems like a snake haired medusa – a daunting plant to approach with sickle in hand at harvest time.

ESSENTIAL OIL

The essential oil from the Sumian cultivar is a linalool chemotype with the purity of the lavender top notes freshened further by the invigorating green aromas of the Australian bush through the significant presence of camphor and 1, 8 cineole. Together they account for around 20% of the total chemistry of the Sumian oil. Further to this a limonene content of up to 5% hints at green citrus leaf and reinforces this essential oil’s refreshing character. These fresh notes slowly give way to the earthy pepper of borneol (3.19 – 4.16%) and the subtle honey sweetness of 3-octanone (up to 1.8%). Together the significant levels of these compounds give the Sumian essential oil a long earthy sweet finish.

HYDROSOL

TYPICAL PHYTOCHEMICAL PROFILE RANGE, L.X. SUMIAN 2005 – 2014

 

LAVANDULA X. INTERMEDIA ‘MARGARET’ – AN ‘AUSSIE’ BEAUTY

L. x Margaret is an Australian lavandin discovered in the mid 1970s, by Joan Townsend while visiting her daughter who was living at the time in an ashram. While Joan is not sure of its exact origins it is thanks to her propagating from this plant that we can now all enjoy its beauty and essential oil. It must be said, that there is nothing more beautiful than the silvery mauve shimmer of this plant in full flower when touched by a summer breeze. It literally sparkles. Margaret is a statuesque plant reaching about 1 meter round when in full flower with an abundance of large lacy pale mauve flower spikes

ESSENTIAL OIL

Margaret is surprisingly floral oil for a lavandin. This sweetness is most apparent in the mid and back notes and it is a feature of the oil which is not completely explicable by looking at its MS/GC data. It is an essential oil which needs to be used to for its sophistication and beauty to be fully appreciated. Having said this the chemistry of the essential oil from the Margaret plant fits closest to the ISO standard for Abriallis, having similar significant levels of both camphor (9.5 -12.8 %) and 1, 8 cineole (13.01 – 15.50%). These compounds along with significant levels of limonene (1.23 – 3.14%) give a fresh green and stimulating citrus note to the traditional sweet lavender aroma contributed by the fairly balanced representation in this oil of both linalool (22.84 – 30.21%) and linalyl acetate (21.49 – 26.34%), a total of around 50%. Grounding this oil and giving aromatic longevity is the earthy herbaceous tow of borneol (2.73 -3.51%) and the tenacious sweetness of ß – caryophyllene and cis ß –ocimene together between (2.5 -4%).

HYDROSOL

The hydrosol derived from the L. x Margaret cultivar is minty and floral in the front notes with hints of honey on the skin in its finishing. As with all our lavandin hydrosols Margaret comes off the still with a pH level well below 4.5.

TYPICAL PHYTOCHEMICAL PROFILE RANGE, L.X. MARGARET 2005 – 2014

linalool 22.84 – 30.21 • linalyl acetate 21.49 – 26.34 • lavandulol trace • lavandulyl acetate 0.17 – 0.26 •limonene/ ß-phellandrene 1.23 – 3.14 • octen -3-ol 0.17- 0.26 • 1,8-cineole 13.01 – 15.50 • cis-ß-ocimene 1.59 – 2.71 • trans-ß-ocimene 0.33 – 0.44 • 3-octanone 0.03 – 0.06 • octen-3-yl acetate 0.25 – 0.53 • geranyl acetate 0.22 – 0.40 • neryl acetate 0.11 – 0.20• camphor 9.46 -12.80 • borneol 2. 73 – 3.51 • terpinen-4-ol 0.35 – 0.50 • α- terpineol 0.48 – 1.16 • ß – caryophyllene 1.04 – 1.41 • (E)-beta-farsenene 0.72 – 0.83 • α –santalene 0.41• α – pinene 0.86 • ß – pinene 1.02 •myrcene 0.81 • camphene 0.60

LAVANDULA X. INTERMEDIA ‘GROSSO’ – THE’GRAND’ LAVANDIN

Since 1975, L. x intermedia Grosso has been the premier commercial producer of ‘lavender’ essential oil internationally. In full flower the ever popular lavandin, Grosso, is a billowing mass of dark purple conical spikes presented on a splayed spherical plant to 90cm round. Apart from the plants great beauty it is most revered for its high oil yield (2 -2.5%) and a phyto-chemical profile which approximates the balance of the more highly prized L. angustifolia oils.

Essential Oil

The Grosso cultivar grown at Snowy River Lavender produces an essential oil which fits closely to the ISO Standard for this plant. Significantly Grosso has a well balanced ratio of the two key lavender compounds linalool and linalyl acetate (between 60 and 65% of the oil chemistry) and also has lower levels of the camphor (5.8 – 7.6%) and 1, 8 cineole (3.8 – 6.5%) than other lavandins. This low balance of the sharper compounds is a key factor in why this plant has become renowned and desired. Interestingly, Grosso is the only lavandin oil we distill which is higher in the ester linalyl acetate (up to 38%) than the alcohol linalool (around 30%).

HYDROSOL

TYPICAL PHYTOCHEMICAL PROFILE RANGE, L.X. GROSSO 2005 – 2014

LAVANDULA X. INTERMEDIA ‘ABRIALLIS’ – A FRENCH ORIGINAL

The French lavandin Abrialis has been a significant essential oil plant since the 1930’s. At a commercial level it was surpassed in the 1970’s by the indomitable Grosso but is now gaining a following at a boutique level of production for those who are seeking a lavandin aroma with the significant levels of camphor and 1, 8 cineole which is present in this plant. Abriallis is a smaller lavandin, 70 – 80cm, in full flower.  Despite this smaller statue it bears abundant densely packed flower spikes and it yields oil at similar levels to our other larger lavandins.

ESSENTIAL OIL

Interestingly, Abrialis and Grosso are the only lavandins we distill which show consistently significant levels of the secondary lavender compounds of lavandulol and lavandulyl acetate (as high as 3%) their presence reinforce the distinctive lavender aroma and round out the spicy green vibe of camphor and cineole into a fresh green floral fragrance. Softening and giving lasting effect to this invigorating green floral aroma is the sweet but dry peppery tenacity of the ocimenes and ß – caryophyllene and the earthy borneol

HYDROSOL

The hydrosol derived from the L. x Abrialis cultivar has a peppery herbaceous aroma with a dry spicy honey finish on the skin. As with all our lavandin hydrosols Abriallis comes off the still with a pH level well below 4.5

TYPICAL PHYTOCHEMICAL PROFILE RANGE, L.X. ABRIALLIS 2005 – 2014

linalool 26.34 – 35.92 • linalyl acetate 14.56 – 23.17 • lavandulol 0.29 – 1.05 • lavandulyl acetate 1.24 -2.23 •limonene/ ß-phellandrene 0.86 – 1.37 • octen -3-ol 0.28 – 0.86 • 1,8- cineole 10.95 -12.26 • cis-ß-ocimene 3.20 – 3.92 • trans-ß-ocimene 2.99 – 5.47 • 3-octanone 0.08 – 0.48 • octen-3-yl acetate 0.64 – 0.95 • geranyl acetate 0.31 – 0.44 • neryl acetate 0.17 – 0.22 • camphor 8.42 -10.94• borneol 2.43 -2.70 • terpinen-4-ol 0.31 – 0.49 • α- terpineol 0.97- 1.21• ß – caryophyllene 1.42 – 2.52 • (E)-beta-farsenene 0.25 – 0.36 • α –santalene 0.52 • α –pinene 0.72 • ß – pinene 0.83 •myrcene 1.35 • camphene 0.71

Our foundation lavandins

We do not grow a lot of lavandin at Snowy River Lavender because our high altitude location makes our conditions ideal for the more desired angustifolia species. However, we do value the beauty and the diversity of oils from these magnificent plants. Unfortunately the high yielding nature of lavandins, and in particular the cultivar Grosso (see below), has made them the number one industrially farmed and distilled ‘lavender’ species in the world. This has set this species up as a cheap and vastly underrated essential oil. At Snowy River Lavender, lavandins are grown and distilled with the same level of care and attention given our angustifolia varieties. We produce oils from five lavandin varieties, L.x. Rocky Hall Margaret, L.x.Super, L.x. Abrialis, L.x. Grosso, and L.x. Sumian, all yield well and have useful and interesting oil which we produce as single cultivar distillations or as distilled blends, such as ‘Tiger Alley’, and market them with their GC’s in this way.

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Lavender’s long shadow

The lavandin ( L.x.intermedia) Grosso is the dominant essential oil plant in cultivation of the Lavandula species worldwide. Grosso is a large high yielding plant suited to industrialised farming methods with an oil chemistry, in comparison to other lavandins, low in camphor (G-4 -7%/ Other-9-11%) and 1.8 cineole (G-6 -7%/ Other- 9 – 11%). Because these compounds are negligible in ‘true’ lavender oil, the low levels of these in the Grosso cultivar has cast it an identity as the adequate substitute oil for the more costly L. angustifolia oils. Unfortunately, this substitute mentality portrays the Lavandin as a second rate essential oil plant, simply an attainable approximation of ‘true’ lavender not an essential oil plant in and for itself. Furthermore the commercial focus on Grosso has obfuscated consideration of other lavandin varieties because their viability as angustifolia substitute oil producers does not surpass Grosso either qualitatively or quantitatively. Typically they are higher in camphor and 1.8-cineole and generally have lower yield capacity.

The consequence of this approach to lavandin oil is that these plants are generally downgraded as an approximation of lavender with the upshot being that the oil is relegated to the low end of the market and produced only by highly efficient industrialized means so as to maintain its low end price point. Thus the epitaph ‘soap lavender’. Secondly many lavender varieties are just not farmed at all, turning lavandin production into a Grosso mono-culture. We believe it is time for these plants to be respected away from the ‘angustifolia’ or ‘true lavender’ shadow. When properly produced they have aromatic beauty and individual chemistries with their own values of use. We feel this oil can add diversity to the essential oil repertoire of those interested in the healing chemistry of different oils.

French lavandin Abriallis has been a significant essential oil plant since the 1930’s.

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In full flower the ever popular lavandin, Grosso, is a billowing mass of dark purple conical spikes presented on a splayed spherical plant to 90cm round.

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Australian cultivar, Margaret, is a statuesque plant, reaching in full flower about 1 meter round, with an abundance of large lacy pale mauve flower spikes.

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French lavandin Sumian as a summer display is a profusion of conical mauve flower spikes.

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Super is a good essential oil to choose if you would like the benefits of camphor and 1, 8 cineole in a very aromatically attractive oil.

Read more

The entrance to our farm is hedges of alternately planted Grosso and Margaret lavandins.  At the height of summer, when these plants are in full flower, the deep purple of Grosso against the silvery mauve of Margaret creates a striped effect of dark and light purple tones which has entered the farm’s folklore as ‘tiger alley’.

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LAVANDULA ANGUSTIFOLIA ‘PACIFIC BLUE’ – FRESH & PEPPERY

In full flower and full grown Pacific Blue is a generous splayed bush to 75cm round, of compact cylindrical flower spikes about 7 – 8cm long. We regard Pacific Blue’s startling deep violet floral display our very special Christmas present as it reaches full flower usually around this auspicious day here in the Australian Alps and yes, while not making a habit of it, we have done a celebratory harvest on that day to mark the beginning of our flower season. While French in origin this cultivar was named and developed in New Zealand by Peter Smale of Crop and Food Research (V. McNaughton – Lavender the Growers Guide, 2000, Bloomings Books, Aust.) and has earned its place as one of our farm’s foundation cultivars both for its statue and beauty but also for its consistent yields of a very interesting lavender oil.

ESSENTIAL OIL

Interestingly our two New Zealand cultivars, Avice Hill and Pacific Blue, reverse each other’s balance in the key lavender compounds linalool and linalyl acetate. Pacific Blue is definitely a linalool chemotype consistently registering percentages between 36% and 41% of this compound with linalyl acetate in the low range between 18.67 – 27.55%. In fact the whole chemistry of this oil is skewed towards the alcohol compounds, linalool, lavandulol, borneol, octen-3-ol, α- terpineol, terpineol–4 –ol all together registering as high as 56% of the total oil chemistry. Unusually, for lavender oil, Pacific Blue is consistently very high in terpinen–4 –ol (between 9 and 10%) the key compound of Tea Tree Oil (Melaleuca alternifolia). All this works to intensify the monoterpenol character of the oil and at an aromatic level gives it a green and peppery herbaceous fragrance with undertones of rose leaf freshness thanks to higher than normal levels of b(E)-beta-farsenene (1.8 – 2.3%) and limonene/ ß-phellandrene (1.5 – 2.5%).

HYDROSOL

The hydrosol derived from the Pacific Blue cultivar has herbaceous peppery front notes and a green freshness which pushes the piquant honey notes typical of most angustifolia cultivars into a secondary role as a sweet undertow and finishing note. As with all our lavender hydrosols Pacific Blue comes off the still with a pH level well below 4.5.

TYPICAL PHYTOCHEMICAL PROFILE RANGE, L.A. PACIFIC BLUE 2005 – 2014

linalool 36.06 – 41.61 • linalyl acetate 18.67 – 27.55 • lavandulol 0.71 – 0. 93 • lavandulyl acetate 2.52 – 3.56• limonene/ ß-phellandrene 1.53 – 2.46 • octen -3-ol 0.28 – 0.54 • 1,8-cineole 0.27– 0.42 • cis-ß-ocimene 3.24 – 4.01• trans-ß-ocimene 1.40 – 2.18 • 3-octanone 1.08 – 2.60 • octen-3-yl acetate 0.42 – 0. 72 • geranyl acetate 0.27 – 0.49 • neryl acetate 0.14 -0. 25 • camphor 0.08 – 0.47 • borneol 0.38 – 1.19 • terpinen-4-ol 8.45 – 10.68 • α- terpineol 0.19 – 0.78 • ß – caryophyllene 1.11 – 1.67 • (E)-beta-farsenene 1.76 – 2.29 • α –santalene 0.96 – 1.17