Silver Spoon Lavender: White English Lavender for the Kitchen

Silver Spoon lavender is a white-flowered English lavender with a bushy, compact, mounding habit, about 24 inches tall and 36 inches wide. Clean white spikes rise over gray-green foliage, and the scent is strong and sweet with soft herbal notes and low camphor, the classic English lavender profile in a lighter color.

The name suits it: this is a white lavender that belongs in the kitchen as much as the garden.

Silver Spoon at a glance

Bloom timing

English lavender as a group blooms in summer, and the listing gives Silver Spoon a start in early June with a peak in mid-July. Cultivar-specific timing records are limited, so use that as a guide and watch your own plants. The Bloom Calendar can help you plan around it.

Designing with a white English lavender

White lavender is a useful design tool. Alternate Silver Spoon with deep purple English lavenders for a striped hedge, plant a drift of it beside a dark fence or stone wall, or use it in an all-white evening garden where pale flowers catch the last light. Its broad, mounding shape fills space well, so it also works as a low, rounded shrub at the corner of a sunny bed.

Planting and care

• Sun: full sun, at least six to eight hours.
• Soil: fast-draining sandy or loamy soil; raise beds in clay.
• Spacing: about three feet apart, to match its spread.
• Water: deeply during the first season, then sparingly.
• Pruning: after the summer flush, cut spent stems and shape the mound, staying above bare wood.
• Winter: drainage first; keep wet mulch and leaves off the crown.

White flowers show browning as they age more than purple ones do, so a prompt trim after bloom keeps the plant looking crisp.

From garden to kitchen

Silver Spoon is rated great for culinary use and excellent for essential oil suitability. White buds are a pretty, unexpected touch in shortbread, sugar cookies, lemonade and light-colored frostings, where purple buds can look gray. Harvest when buds are full but mostly closed, dry them in a shaded, airy place and store them in a sealed jar. Grow and handle any culinary lavender as a food crop, and start with a small amount.

Frequently asked questions

Does white lavender taste different from purple?

Silver Spoon has the same sweet, low-camphor English lavender profile. The difference is mainly visual.

Is Silver Spoon hardy in Michigan?

It is rated for zones 5a to 8b. Good drainage is the key to getting it through wet winters.

Can I grow it in a container?

Yes, in a large pot, 14 inches or more, with gritty mix and full sun. Container plants need a sheltered spot in the coldest months.

Keep exploring

• Silver Spoon Lavender Plants & Plugs
• Lavender Plant Library
• Lavender Bloom Calendar
• Lavender Care Academy