Ah, lavender. You fickle beast. I’ve tried growing lavender so many times and failed. It’s a finicky plant sensitive to overwatering, prefers to live on a mound (tough cookies if you have a planter), and likes sandy soil. I’ve given up on lavender but never the search for a dupe. Luckily, I’ve found 2 dupes to share with people like me who just can’t grow lavender, but are obsessed with the look. Sit tight, friend; I’ve got ya covered.
I see you, fellow lavender killer, and I want to help you out. We also deserve beautiful gardens (it’s good for the soul) and the look of a lavender plant is just so special. So we’re going to hack it. While lavender is so high maintenance and finicky, these dupes are the opposite. I pinky promise; I’ve grown both dupes for years.
Just some background on what I’m working with in my garden: I live in NYC, which means I live in a tiny box. I also have a garden, which means that too is a tiny box. We’re talking 7×7, but it’s my JOY. You can see my garden tour here.
If you follow me on instagram, you know that this year I tried something different in my garden…I tried to grow an English garden. Now, I’ll spare you the details but the Cliff Notes version is: the “wildness” of the English garden that I deeply admire just doesn’t suit such a small space. And bees. So many bees. All the bees.
Lavender is a significant part of getting the English garden look and a brilliant feature in one of my absolute favorite instagram accounts featuring only breathtakingly beautiful English gardens.
Marcus Barnett Studio is a landscape designer in the UK. Enjoy the hours long worm hole of beauty you’re about to go on—but maybe read this post first before you begin your virtual English Countryside expedition;-) Side note: why don’t we all just pack up and move to the Cotswolds? Let’s chat about this later.
Can't Grow Lavender? Try These 2 Dupes!
Let’s call Will’s beautiful lavender our example. See how he has his lavender flanking a pea gravel pathway? It’s perfect for lavender. Will lives on Long Island and I recently found out that Long Island has lavender fields! YES! They grow French lavender so if you’re a New Yorker looking to escape the city and have an amazing day, go there.
Will was one of my first ever IG follows, so his account always brings me joy. Fun fact: I randomly passed him in my neighborhood last year. I didn’t say hi, I just scurried away. Very on brand.
I digress. Ok, so now you know the look we are going for. Those elegant, yet, casual wispy purple buds of glory. Let’s do this.
Dupe #1: Salvia
Look at those beautiful spires! Is that not a beautiful lavender dupe? Seriously, if you can’t grow lavender, try salvia. It’s in the sage family and is very easy to grow. Salvia produces these gorgeous buds that look exactly like lavender. It also comes in many varieties from blue to even pick! But if you’re wanting a lavender dupe, purple is your pick. Duh.
Flower Mag | photo: Mark Fonville
Salvia is at home by itself, in an English style wild garden, or in a manicured garden with a white picket fence and roses. It also does well in containers and window boxes (I know from experience–this year my salvia is in a window box). It’s a beautiful plant that if you didn’t know, wouldn’t think it wasn’t lavender.
Pro tip: salvia really pops when paired with yellow. Think daisies, marigolds, etc.
Dupe #2: Veronica (Speedwell)
Veronica is another lavender dupe. Its foliage is a darker green than salvia and its spires are hefty. You can’t see the individual buds as well as on salvia, which makes it more “lavender-like”, thus ranking Veronica as my #2 dupe.
Veronica can get BIG. It’s a perennial and mine lasted years before this last winter in NYC. Can I even call it winter? It was more like a cold fall. Anyway, my Veronica didn’t bounce back–I assume it’s because winter was too warm for it to be fully dormant. To be fair, I might not have given it enough time to bounce back. I was knee deep in dealing with long covid and just wanted some happiness in the garden ASAP. Veronica didn’t act fast enough.
Are you inspired to grow one of these? Honestly, for people who can’t grow lavender, this is a wonderful hack. You get the same look without the hassle and if you go the salvia route, you can find the plants at Trader Joe’s!
The only downside is you do miss out on that sweet sweet lavender fragrance. So, whenever that bums you out and reminds you that you cannot grow lavender, just pick up a dried lavender bundle at your local farmer’s market and keep it indoors in a vase (out of the reach of pets as lavender is toxic). However, if you’re a follower of feng shui, you know dried plants are dead energy that block the free flow of chi. So I stay just stick with pet friendly, non-toxic salvia and Veronica. Happy gardening!
–Kristen