Different lavender varieties can and do cross-pollinate, and this is highly relevant if you're growing lavender for baking. The primary impact is on the flavor profile of the lavender you're using.
Here's why cross-pollination matters for baking with lavender:
1. Cross-Pollination is a Natural Process: Regardless of whether you're growing for baking, essential oil, or just garden aesthetics, if you have different types of lavender (different species like English, French, or Spanish, or different cultivars within a species) blooming at the same time in your garden, local pollinators (especially bees) will carry pollen between them.
2. Impact on Flavor Profile of Offspring (from seeds): The crucial point for baking is that different lavender varieties have vastly different chemical compositions, which directly translates to their flavor and aroma.
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Culinary Preference: For baking and culinary use, English Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) varieties are overwhelmingly preferred. This is because they have a sweeter, more floral, and less camphorous (piney/medicinal) flavor. Key compounds like linalool and linalyl acetate are high, while compounds like camphor are low.
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Less Preferred Varieties:
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Lavandin (Lavandula x intermedia) hybrids (like 'Grosso', 'Provence') produce a lot of flowers but are typically higher in camphor and cineole. This gives their essential oil and, consequently, their fresh or dried flowers, a much stronger, more herbaceous, and often medicinal or bitter taste that is generally undesirable in delicate baked goods.
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French (Lavandula dentata) and Spanish (Lavandula stoechas) lavenders also tend to have a higher camphor content or other strong, resinous notes that are not typically sought after for sweet baking.
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Unpredictable Results from Cross-Pollinated Seeds: If an English lavender plant (which is ideal for baking) is cross-pollinated by a Lavandin growing nearby, and you plant its seeds, the new plant might have a higher camphor content from the Lavandin parent, making their flowers less palatable for baking. You'd lose the sweet, floral notes you desire.
3. Maintaining Consistency for Baking:
To ensure consistent and delicious results when baking with lavender, follow these guidelines:
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Choose Known Culinary Varieties: Always start with specific cultivars of Lavandula angustifolia known for their low camphor content and sweet flavor. Excellent choices for baking include:
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'Munstead'
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'Hidcote'
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'Provence Blue' (often sold as a culinary variety, not to be confused with Lavandin 'Provence')
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'Maillette'
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'Folgate'
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Propagate by Cuttings, Not Seeds (for new plants): If you want to expand your culinary lavender patch or replace old plants, always use cuttings from your existing, well-flavored culinary lavender plants. Cuttings are genetic clones and will have the exact same flavor profile as the parent. Do not rely on seeds collected from open-pollinated plants if flavor consistency is paramount for your baking.
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Taste Before You Bake: Even with the "right" variety, always do a small taste test before adding a significant amount of lavender to your baking. Snip a tiny piece of a fresh flower bud and chew it. It should taste pleasantly floral, not like menthol, turpentine, or bitter soap.
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Harvesting: Use only the fresh flower buds (unopened or just barely open) or carefully dried buds. The leaves contain more camphor and are generally not used for baking. Harvest on a dry, sunny day, preferably in the morning after the dew has dried, when the oils are most concentrated.
In summary, while cross-pollination will happen between different lavender varieties in your garden, it only affects the characteristics of new plants grown from those cross-pollinated seeds. If you are using existing, established lavender plants for baking, and you've selected a known culinary variety, cross-pollination from nearby plants won't affect the flavor of the flowers on the existing plant that season. However, if you plan to save seeds for future planting, be aware that you might not get the same culinary quality from the resulting hybrid offspring.
