Lavender Garden at Welkinweir

 

In 2010 the Philadelphia Unit's Botany and Horticulture Study Group began an intensive Lavandula study, using the text, The Genus Lavandula by Tim Upson and Susyn Andrews as our primary reference. 

 

In the Spring of 2011, the Philadelphia Unit and Welkinweir, a 197-acre non-profit arboretum, garden, and conservation area near Pottstown, Pennsylvania agreed to create a Lavender Bed. This garden was to chronicle how an assortment of lavender species and cultivars perform in our geographical area.

 

Study group members cultivated the ground in a sunny, protected area on Welkinweir grounds. Thirty-four (34) lavenders including
21 Lavandula angustifolia, nine Lavandula x intermedia, and four Lavandula stoechas were planted and "granny grit" was placed around each plant, then we mulched between the rows.

 

Our members continue to trim, mulch, and add granny grit as needed and to monitor the status of each plant.

 

As of June 2014, twenty-four original Lavenders survived. Between June, 2012 and June, 2014 twelve new Lavenders were planted and the lavender bed continues to be monitored.