From fat round flowerheads, delicate, upright flags emerge like butterfly wings and flutter in the breeze among grey-green aromatic leaves. This French lavender has dark purple flowers and looks wonderful planted en masse in a protected, sunny border where its heady fragrance can be enjoyed. Like most French lavenders, it is earlier flowering than its English cousins, but associates well with them if you want to prolong the season of lavender in your garden. The flower-spikes are also a magnet for bees and other nectar-loving insects.

As it's borderline hardy it is best grown in a container in colder areas of the country and should be over-wintered in a cool greenhouse or conservatory.