GARDENING AND  HERBALISM
I have had some experience growing herbs. My parents have always had gardens, both vegetable and flower, and my sister and I always helped with every aspect of gardening, from soil preparation to harvesting. My mother always loved growing herbs and I think it rubbed off on me. At the present time I have very limited space for gardens as I currently rent my abode and the landlord wouldn't like me tearing up the little yard! I am mainly stuck with lots and lots of pots and a small strip of yard along the carport. Nonetheless, I have my herbs, mostly for cooking, but when I get my own yard, I think there wont be much room for grass! I am not a professional gardner, most of what I know is self-taught. I hope to feature an herb a month on this page. I will put whatever I have learned about them on this page; if you, dear reader, have anything to add, please feel free to email me!
Lavender  Labiatae
Lavandula angustifolia (L. officinalis or L. spica)
Tranquility and purity are inherent in the unique fragrance of lavender, as reflected by the seventeenth-century angling author Izaak Walton, "I long to be in a house where the sheets smell of lavendar." Its fresh clean scent was the favorite bathwater additive of the Greeks and Romans, and its name derives from the Latin lavare, "to wash."
A strewing herb popular both for its insect-repellent properties and its long-lasting fragrance, lavender was also distilled for liberal use in masking household smalls and stinking streets. Stories that the glovers of Grasse, who used lavender oil to scent their fashionable leather, were remarkably free of plague, encouraged other people to carry lavender to ward off the pestilence. Lavender has long been used medicinally. The herbalist Gerard, for example, prescribed it to bathe the temples of those with a "light migram or swimming of the braine." one Sir James Smith also told of an alcoholic tincture created "for those who wished to indulge in a dram under the appearance of elegant medicine.
Seed: Four smooth, dark brown nutlets in each fruit.

Flower: Small, highly scented, lavender-blue flowers borne in spikes 2-6 inches long in Summer.

Stem: Square and green, becoming woody in second season..

Leaf: Narrow, fragrant and grey-green, 3/4-2 inches long.

Dried flowers: These produce a sweet, clean, long-lasting scent.
CULTIVATION
Site:  Sunny and open, to discourage fungus disease.

Soil:  Well drained, sandy with lime content.

Propagating: Take 4-8 inch stem cuttings during Autumn or Spring, or divide or layer plant. (Species only) Sow from fresh seed in late Summer and Autumn.

Growing: Thin or transplant to 18 inches- 2 feet apart, or 12 inches apart for hedges. Remove faded flower stems; prune hedges and straggly plants in late Autumn or Spring. (L.a. 'Grappenhall') Plant 4 feet apart.

Harvesting: Gather flowering stems just as flowers open. Pick leaves anytime.

Preserving: Dry flowering stems by laying on open trays or hanging in small bunches.
USES
Decorative
Whole plant:  Good for hedging.

Flower:  Hang dried bunches on its own or with other tiny flowers. Add sprigs to wreaths and nosegays.
Culinary
Flower:  Use to flavor jams and to make lavender vinegar. Mix small amounts with savory herbs for fragrant stews. Crystallize flowers.

Leaf:  Bitter; used in Southern European cooking.
Household
Flower: Put dried flowers in sachets and bundles to scent drawers and to protect linen from moths. Rub fresh flowers on skin, or pin on clothes, to discourage flies.

Stem:  Use dried as incense or scented firelighters.
Cosmetic
Flower:  Make tonic water for delicate and sensitive skins to speed cell replacement and for an antiseptic against acne. Add to soap. Use oil in massage for muscular aches, fluid retention, and cellulite.
Medicinal
Flower:  Infuse as a tea to soothe headaches, calm nerves, ease flatulence, fainting, dizziness, and halitosis. Use neat essential oil as an antiseptic, mild sedative and painkiller, particularly on insect bites, stings, and small (cooled) burns. Add six drops to bathwater to calm irritable children, and place one drop on the temple for headache relief. Blend for use as a massage oil in aromatherapy for throat infections, skin sores, inflammation, rheumatic aches, anxiety, insomnia, and depression.
Lifespan:  Evergreen shrub.         Height: 18 inches- 3 feet.
All information was taken from The Complete Book of Herbs: A practical guide to growing & using herbs by Lesley Bremness.
Its healing powers are now mainly obtained from the essential oil. This is distilled from shining oil glands embedded among the tiny star-shaped hairs which cover the flowers, leaves, and stems. The best-quality oil is extracted from L. angustifolia and L. stoechas. L. latifolia yields "spike" oil, used to perfume cheaper goods, while L. intermedia yields "lavandin," a medium-quality oil.
Aromatic
Flower:  Use in potpourri, herb pillows, linen sachets. Add a few drops of essential oil to final rinse water for scented linen or hair.