Lavender Sidonie

Intense irredescent violet-blue flowers from late in winter
Aromatic, with a touch of eucalytus & mint
Striking patio and garden plant
Quick growing with elegant tall stems, which sway in the breeze - great en masse
Excellent on dry banks, and as a new garden plant, where its rapid growth quickly fills open spaces
Does well in hot and dry areas, with a high tolerance of humidity
A great addition for pot-pourii
Lovely when picked fresh for indoor display

The Sizzle

A few years ago a striking new lavender bred in Australia made a big impression on New Zealand gardeners, and it still does. Lavenders are an extremely popular and important garden plant. And Sidonie has different features which make it a huge hit with gardeners — especially in humid areas where other lavenders often struggle in summer.

Lavenders of all varieties play a major role in the cottage-gardening style and make a strong statement in Mediterranean planting schemes. Interesting variations in foliage, flower, form and fragrance ensure lavenders are an important part of the dramatic use of foliage and rich colour in garden design.

Sidonie was first discovered at Kenthurst, Sidonie Barton's gracious garden in New South Wales. With one of its parents having origins in the Canary Islands, it is ideally suited to hot and humid climates and positively thrives where other lavender varieties sulk or even turn up their toes.

Sidonie's intense violet-blue flowers are a triple-treat, an unusual formation of a main upright flower with two branching bonus blooms beneath. They make a stunning contrast over a mound of shining silver-grey pinnate foliage. The elegant long flower stems rise up to a metre over the clumps of delicately-divided growth. In all it'll grow to around 1.3m tall (including flower stems) and spread up to 1.5m.

It has a long flowering season, virtually year-round flowers in warmer areas — with a peak in late winter. Couple this with its rapid growth — at about the same rate as a marguerite daisy — and Sidonie’s a considerable asset.

The abundance of blooms and compact, yet spreading, habit make Sidonie the ideal choice for mass planting in borders, on banks and in containers.

And the long stems are an asset for floral work, fresh or dried.

In Sidonie, the traditional lavender fragrance is overlaid with a strong fresh hint redolent of eucalyptus and mint — an aromatic addition for the pot-pourri mix.

Sidonie has all the easy-care attributes of its popular relatives, thriving in full sun with good drainage and resistant to most pests and diseases. It requires protection from frost in cold areas and responds well to regular pruning and fertiliser.

It's a very exciting part of our range. Popular with gardeners looking for an attractive, reliable plant that's just that little bit different.
Using Sidonie

Excellent "trail-blazer" for new gardens quickly filling empty spaces.
Borders and banks where they look great en masse - the long stems swaying in the breeze.
A lovely feature in and around a herb garden.
Great as an attractive shrub border. Try it as a low unclipped hedge along side a garden path or drive way.
Ideal for patio pots and tubs for a year or two. Use a good quality pot mix, water saving crystals and rewetting agent. Don't let the pots dry out.
A wonderful accent plant with its striking violet blue flower and textured foliage to add colour and interest in any garden.
In cottage gardens, plant it where its all-year-round appeal will supplement seasonal colour.
As with most lavenders, it's well-suited as a cut flower and in pot pourii.

Growing Sidonie

Thrives in full sun and an open position.
Needs good drainage, especially fussy over wet feet - it does not like them. Once established, Sidonie's quite tolerant of dry spells.
Once established it'll handle light frosts for a short period. Our experience sees Sidonie doing OK through 2-3°C frost, but any more than that and growing tips will be burnt. Protect when young.
Sidonie was selected for its ability to handle humidity, so it'll do well in our northern areas.
Clipping off spent flower heads will prolong flower - and they're great for indoor display and pot-pourii.
Pruning can be a delicate job. Two styles of pruning are helpful. At any time a clip just above the foliage to remove flower heads will encourage renewed vigour. A heavier clip, cutting off at most the outer third of the bush can be undertaken from mid-spring to late summer. Be sure to do it at a time that the bush is actively growing, it needs to re-establish itself before it gets cold. So not too late in autumn.
Soil fertility is not really an issue, but a feed at the end of summer, a handful or two of a complete fertiliser around the base of the plant, will be helpful.
We don't know of any threats from comon pests or diseases.

Julian Matthews says ... In Liddle Wonder's Schemes & Themes

Lavender Sidonie - a tall stemmed, tender charmer. The tall stems of Lavender ‘Sidonie’ are useful for contrasting with more rounded plant forms, creating a romantic wildflower look, of stems of slender flowers swaying in the breeze. It’s good with poppies, with white flowered cistus, among coleonemas or old fashioned roses, as a foreground to spring blossom trees, or with yellow leucospermums, marguerite daisies, agapanthus or Echium fastuosum in beach gardens. It’s a frost-tender lavender, though, so watch where you plant it - perhaps a sheltered sun-trap against a house wall would be a good place, where it’s inky-blue tall and slender stemmed flowers could pop up among the golden fruits of a Meyer lemon. One point to bear in mind about ‘Sidonie’, however, is that the flowers and foliage don’t have the expected lavender scent. It really is a lavender with a difference.