Lavender is a bushy, strong-scented perennial plant from the Mediterranean. It’s wonderfully colourful with silvery or grey-green leaves and spikes of colorful, fragrant flowers blooming throughout the summer. The flowers are great for attracting all sorts of wildlife - especially bees and butterflies. Many members of the genus are cultivated extensively in temperate climates as ornamental plants for gardens, for use as culinary herbs, and also for the extraction of essential oils. The most widely cultivated species, Lavandula angustifolia, is often referred to as lavender, and there is a color named for the shade of the flowers of this species.