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In Redlands' warm, dry climate, lavender or lavandula might just be the historic and useful addition your garden has been waiting for.
A member of the Lamiaceae or mint family, lavender is thought to have originated in Asia and to have been domesticated in Arabia and spread by Greek traders through France to Italy and Spain. In the 1600s, lavender was brought to North America with the English Pilgrims.
The word lavender comes from the Latin word lavare, meaning "to wash." Medieval and Renaissance laundry women were known as lavenders, because they washed clothes in lavender water, draped clothes over lavender shrubs to dry and placed lavender in the linens.
But the uses of lavender have a much longer history dating back more than 2,500 years.
The Egyptians used lavender for mummification and for perfumes. Urns from the tomb of Tutankhamun were found with traces of lavender fragrance in them.
The Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans used lavender for bathing, making perfumed oils, cooking and to freshen the air. The Greeks liked to anoint their...