Who needs another lavender, when there are so many already, say the sceptics, but even they will change their minds when they see this new lavender variety. It has been raised by Virginia McNaughton, New Zealand’s foremost lavender authority. Flowering in spring and again in autumn, ‘Provocatif’ looks superb among pink marguerite daisies, such as the new ‘Summit Pink’, with pansies and violas in deep pink, blue and plum colours, with other lavenders, with roses, and with the almost year-round flowering ground cover Bacopa ‘Blue Showers’, to suggest just a few possibilities. As with any lavender, ‘Provocatif’ benefits from cutting by up to two thirds immediately after flowering - this will make it more vigorous and shapely. Nipping off old flowers as they fade prolongs the flowering.