Melissa

Melissa is a distinctive English lavender grown for its very pale pink to soft lilac-pink flowers and unusually large, plump flower buds. It forms a compact, rounded plant around eighteen to twenty-four inches tall with silvery-green foliage, and its fat, soft-pink flower spikes give it a lush, romantic appearance different from the typical purple lavenders. Sweetly fragrant and attractive to bees, Melissa is prized as a cut and dried flower and for pastel-themed borders and hedging. It is hardy and drought tolerant in full sun and well-drained soil like other English lavenders. Its combination of large buds and delicate pink coloring makes Melissa a favorite ornamental cultivar for cottage-style and permaculture gardens seeking a softer palette.