Are you looking for a tiny and lovely plant to add to your plant collection? Look no further than the Sea Lavender plants!
Limonium, commonly known as Sea Lavender, is a genus that comprises 120 different flowering plants. Despite its popular name, this genus is not actually related to the lavender plant. The name only comes from the flowers’ resemblance to the lavender plant. The best part about Sea Lavenders is that they are really easy to grow!
Sea Lavender plants are very popular among florists. They are grown primarily for their beautiful floral display. The blooms, especially dried, look fabulous in floral arrangements like wedding bouquets. Yet, these plants’ large green paddle-shaped basal rosette leaves also make a fantastic ground cover from the early spring to the summer when the plant produces blooms.
A unique feature of the Sea Lavender plants is the fact that the leaves are located close to the ground, and the long flower stems develop from the grouping foliage. For this reason, Sea Lavender plants work perfectly as companion plants for other similar perennials that produce stunning blooms. By attracting pollinators such as butterflies and bees to the outdoor spaces they grow in, Sea Lavenders are also good news for all the other neighbouring garden plants that will also benefit from the presence of the pollinators.
Ready to learn more about how to grow and care for Sea Lavender plants? Keep reading below!
About Sea Lavender
- Limonium is a genus of 120 flowering plant species, part of the Plumbaginaceae family.
- The Limonium genus is native to the Canary Islands, growing in salt marshes and along coastal sand dunes. It is distributed all across the world, including in Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, Australia, and is widely found in southeast and central Europe.
- The Limonium name comes from the Greek word “leimon,” which means “meadow,” representing the natural meadow habitat of the plant. Sea Lavenders are also known as Statice, Caspia, or Marsh-Rosemary.
- As mentioned before, Sea Lavender plants are typically grown for floral arrangements. But, they also make lovely additions in cottage gardens, perfect for coastal gardens, and also work well in rock gardens.
- Sea Lavenders attract plenty of pollinators to the outdoor spaces they grow in, including bees and butterflies.
- Limonium plants are sun-loving. They thrive when they grow in full sun as enough sun exposure encourages the most considerable amount of densely grown flowers. So, make sure to plant your Sea Lavender in a spot of your garden where it receives enough sunlight daily.
- Sea Lavenders are drought-tolerant plants. They only require regular watering until they are established. The plants are susceptible to root rot, so overwatering can kill them.
- In terms of soil preferences, Sea Lavender plants prefer to grow in sandy, moist, but well-draining soil.
- Being coastal-native plants, Sea Lavenders don’t survive freezing temperatures. The lowest temperatures Limonium can resist are 10° to 20°F (-12° to -7°C).
- Sea Lavenders are typically pest- and disease-free. The only problems you can experience with these plants include root rot, rust, leaf and flower spots, grey mould, or crown rot.
- Sea Lavender plants have no toxic effects reported. They are generally considered safe and non-toxic to humans and pets. So, you don’t have to worry about keeping the plant in a hidden area, out of the reach of your pets or kids.
Sea Lavender Features: An Overview
- Sea Lavender plants are deciduous or evergreen perennials, featuring dark green, spoon-shaped leaves, and tiny lavender-coloured and funnel-shaped flowers formed in clumps on long stems.
- Sea Lavenders can grow up to 18-18 inches (30-45 cm) tall and 9-12 inches (18-30) wide.
- The blooming season of Limonium is from summer to early fall. When they grow, the flowers produced by these perennials rise from a rosette of sinuate lobe basal leaves.
- After becoming dry, the blooms maintain their colour well, which makes them an excellent choice for dried floral arrangements and fresh-cut flowers.
Growing Sea Lavender
Growing and caring for Sea Lavender plants is really easy. There are a few ideal growing conditions that you need to keep in mind when caring for Limonium. If you consider the plants’ basic needs, they will thrive and make excellent additions to your garden or home if you grow them in pots.
First of all, you need to consider this plant’s lighting requirements. As mentioned before, Sea Lavenders are sun-loving and need to grow in full sun to thrive. They need to get enough sunlight for two good reasons: it encourages the largest amount of densely grown flowers, and it helps prevent root rot by keeping the soil dry. So, make sure that you find the sunniest spot in your garden to keep your Sea Lavenders.
Another thing you can do to help your Sea Lavenders thrive is to feed them with some fertilizer. Yet, make sure that you don’t fertilize these plants too much because this can lead to excessive growth of the foliage, preventing the plants from blooming. Too much fertilizer may even kill the plant. We recommend using fertilizers that are low in nitrogen. You can use a granulated starter fertilizer or all-purpose feed that encourages blooming instead of foliage growth.
Sea Lavender plants don’t require a great deal of pruning. But, some light pruning will keep the plants healthy and happy. It is recommended to cut the plant back after flowering. Also, make sure to remove dead leaves to make room for new growth in the spring months.
Planting Sea Lavender
Planting Sea Lavenders is as easy as it is to care for them. As long as you consider the plants’ preferences in terms of soil, light, and temperature, you should achieve successful planting.
The first thing you need to consider when planting Sea Lavender plants is to choose a sunny area. We’ve already shared that these plants need to grow in full sun to develop and thrive. So, select sunny areas of your garden to plant them. If you live in a very hot climate, it would be best to choose a spot where the plants get some partial shade in the afternoon.
- Offering 20+ SEA LAVENDER seeds, packaged in a paper seed envelope.
- Germination and growing instructions are clearly displayed on each package for successful gardening every time.
- Grow plants for food or try gardening as new hobby
- Seeds make great gifts for all ages
- 100+ Mix Statice Sea Lavender Seeds Limonium Cut Dried Flowers Planting Outdoor Annual
- An annual dried flowers, with powerful erect stems, 20-30" (50-70 cm) high. The flowers are small, 2-4" (6-9 mm) in diameter, collected in dense spike-shaped inflorescences of various colors. Used for decoration of flower beds, and cutting into dry bouquets.
- This perennial is a great addition to the flower bed or border. It grows easily from Statice seeds, and once established, it is low-maintenance and very rewarding. In late spring, the plant sends up 12 - 24 inch stems that branch out and produce lovely clouds of tiny 1/8 inch violet-blue flowers that resemble baby's breath. Statice Sea Lavender is a great plant for bouquets with its long-lasting airy cloud of blooms.
- To dry the blooms, cut the flowers when the blooms are three-quarters open and hang upside down in a dark area. Sea Lavender retains its color when dried and is often used as a fabric dye. Indians used this as a tonic to control diarrhea. A synonymous botanical name is Limonium platyphyllum. The Sea Lavender herb is used medicinally as a powerful astringent.
- Sow Statice seeds indoors 8 - 10 weeks before the last frost date and the seeds will germinate in 14 - 21 days. Transplant the Statice seedling when it has at least two sets of true leaves and the danger of frost has passed. Space seedlings 20 inches apart in full sun and in a light, well-drained, sandy soil. Directly sowing Sea Lavender herb seeds outdoors in early spring will work as well. Germination will take a few days longer. Sea Lavender is very tolerant of drought, heat, and salt spray.
- Limonium sinuatum is commonly known as Statice. It is a prized annual for not only its color in the flower border but it makes an excellent cut flower adding wonderful color to bouquets. It dries well for dried arrangements as well and is considered to be an everlasting.
- Statice are 32 annual plants growing in USDA zones 3 - 10 all across the U.S.
- This variety, Purple Attraction, has blooms in shades of purple. It’s a great addition to the summer garden!
- Sowing Rate: 3 - 4 seeds per plant. Sow Statice seed indoors 6 – 8 weeks before the last expected frost. For areas with a long growing season, Statice seed can be sown directly outdoors in a prepared seed bed. Cover the seed lightly with peat moss. Keep seed moist until germination. With a temperature of 68 - 75F, germination is usually within 21 days.
- Space the plants 16 - 20 inches apart. Grow this annual in full sun and in moist, well-draining soil. Statice is usually resistant to deer.
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The next thing you need to consider is the soil preferences of these plants. Sea Lavenders need sandy soil that is moist but not soggy. As we mentioned before, these plants are prone to root rot. So, you need to make sure that you provide them with well-draining soil. To make sure that the soil provides good drainage, mix it with clay, coarse sand, and crusher fines. Do not use fine sand because this will create concrete and will no longer allow the excess water to pass by.
Another essential thing to consider when planting Sea Lavenders is the temperatures it can survive. These plants are coastal-native, meaning that they can’t survive very low temperatures. The lowest temperature Sea Lavenders can survive to is 10°F (-12° C). So, if the temperatures in the cold season in your area get colder than that, plant the Sea Lavenders in containers that you can bring indoors until springtime.
Watering Sea Lavender
Sea Lavender plants have minimal watering needs. More precisely, these plants only need regular watering until as newly planted perennials. Once they are established, they require less frequent watering.
Sea Lavenders are drought-tolerant plants, meaning that they can survive periods of drought. In contrast, they can’t survive overwatering because they are prone to root rot if watered excessively.
To make sure that you don’t overwater your Sea Lavenders, use the “soak and dry” watering method. This means that you should only water the plants when you notice that the first few inches of the soil are completely dry.
If, by accident, you pour too much water into your Sea Lavender plants that grow in containers, make sure that you don’t allow the water to sit there for too long. Leave it for a few minutes for the plants to get enough water and then get rid of it.
Propagating Sea Lavender
If you want to propagate your Sea Lavenders, you can easily do so by seed in pots both indoors and outdoors. The ideal season for division is spring if you prefer this propagation method. However, with the plants from the Limonium genus, propagation by seed is the easiest form. The challenge with propagation by division is the fact that the roots of the plant are long. Keep in mind that new plants started with seeds typically take up to 3-4 years to become mature.
In Conclusion
Sea Lavenders are amazing plants to have in your outdoor space. They look incredibly attractive and are easy to grow. They also attract pollinators to gardens, making your outdoor area a place filled with colours and life. And another great thing about Sea Lavender plants is the fact that they are excellent for dried and fresh floral arrangements.
To help these plants grow and ensure that they are healthy and happy, you need to keep in mind a few important things. You need to provide them with enough sunlight and well-draining soil, avoid overwatering them, and fertilize them once in a while to give them enough nutrients to have the energy to produce those beautiful blooms.
Are you growing Limonium a.k.a. Sea Lavender in your garden? Let us know in the comment section!
