# Common sea lavender: how to recognise and grow it

> Common sea lavender (Limonium vulgare) is a native perennial 10 to 50 cm tall with blue-violet flowers from July to October. Where it fits and what it costs.

Canonical: https://tuinontwerp.app/en/blog/common-sea-lavender
Last updated: 2026-09-28

*Limonium vulgare*

![One group of common sea lavender alone in a gravel bed in front of a wooden fence in August, with grey-green leaf rosettes and flat sprays of blue-violet flowers](https://tuinontwerp.app/images/blog/lamsoor-8481324d.webp)

Published: 2026-09-28

Common sea lavender (Limonium vulgare) is a wild perennial of the Dutch salt marshes. The plant grows 10 to 50 centimetres tall. Grey-green, spoon-shaped leaves sit in rosettes at ground level. From July to October, blue-violet flowers open in flat sprays. A garden spot needs full sun and free-draining soil. Common sea lavender is originally native to the Netherlands.

## Common sea lavender at a glance

| Feature | Common sea lavender |
| --- | --- |
| Height | 0.1 to 0.5 m |
| Spread | 0.1 to 0.5 m per clump |
| Full grown after | 2 to 5 years |
| Sun | Full sun |
| Soil | Free-draining, preferably sandy |
| Water | Little: copes with dry, stony soil |
| Maintenance | Low: remove the stems after flowering |
| Flowers | July to October, blue-violet |
| For bees | Yes: plenty of nectar and pollen, July to October |
| Hay fever | Unknown |
| Leaves | Drop in autumn |
| Hardy | Yes |
| Native | Yes |
| Poisonous | No, as far as is known |
| Pricks or stings | No |
| Price, young | About €2.50 to €4.99 per plant, in a small pot |
| Price, grown | Not for sale |

- **Leaf**: April to October
- **Flower**: July to October
- **Fruit**: no noticeable fruit

![A rosette of common sea lavender with upright, grey-green, spoon-shaped leaves, each with a smooth edge and a long stalk](https://tuinontwerp.app/images/blog/lamsoor-leaf-d722b8c4.webp)
*Leaf*

![A flowering spray of common sea lavender with short side branches full of lilac buds and open blue-violet flowers with yellow anthers](https://tuinontwerp.app/images/blog/lamsoor-bloom-0278b1cc.webp)
*Flower*

## How do you recognise common sea lavender?

Start with the leaves. All of them sit in rosettes just above the ground, and the flower stem carries none. Each leaf is grey-green, leathery and hairless, 1.5 to 3 centimetres wide. The edge is smooth. At the tip the leaf is blunt, with a very small point, and at the base it narrows into a long stalk.

The flower stem is round or slightly angular and branches only above the middle. There, short side branches grow close together. Those branches carry flowers of 6 to 8 millimetres, all turned to one side. From above, this gives a flat roof of blue-violet, sometimes with a reddish tinge. After flowering, the calyx stays around the seed like a small umbrella. With it, the seed floats a short way through the air.

Statice, the well-known dried flower, is a relative of common sea lavender. To tell the two apart, look at the leaves. Statice has hairy leaves with a wavy, deeply cut edge. Common sea lavender has hairless leaves with a smooth edge.

> **Did you know?**
>
> The *lamsoor* sold by Dutch greengrocers is not this plant. Those are young leaves of sea aster, another salt-marsh plant. Sea aster leaves look similar but lack the small point at the tip.

## Where does common sea lavender grow best?

Give common sea lavender full sun: more than six hours of direct sun a day around midsummer. In the wild the plant grows on salt marshes outside the dikes, just above the usual waterline. A garden plant needs no salt water. Any soil that drains well will do, preferably sand. A gravel garden or a stony border suits it too.

Heavy clay that stays wet in winter is a poor fit. Common sea lavender wants a spot where rainwater sinks away quickly.

By the sea, common sea lavender is a strong choice: sea wind and salt do the plant no harm. In winter most of the leaves die back. By January, often only a few withered leaf remains lie on the ground.

![A gravel border in front of a wooden fence in two halves: on the left in August a flowering group of common sea lavender, on the right the same spot in January with only withered leaf remains on the gravel, with a box ball at each end](https://tuinontwerp.app/images/blog/lamsoor-1-56fd0540.webp)
*The same border in August and in January. This is a generated image, not a photograph.*

A to-scale plan of your own plot also shows the houses around it. On that plan you can measure for yourself whether a group of common sea lavender fits in the gravel strip beside your terrace.

## Planting and caring for common sea lavender

Common sea lavender comes as a young plant in a small pot, labelled *lamsoor* in Dutch nurseries. Such a plant can go into the ground all year round, unless the soil is frozen or waterlogged. Dividing an old clump to get more plants rarely works. Dig the planting hole just deep enough to bury the roots. The rosette stays above the soil.

Keep about 50 centimetres between two plants, the width of a large grown clump. On planting day this looks bare. The rosettes only grow towards each other later, through their runners. Water well after planting, even when rain is on the way. In the first year the plant needs extra water in dry weeks.

| When | What to do |
| --- | --- |
| October, after flowering | Cut the faded flower stems back to the rosette |

Many birds nest from March through July. This cut comes well after that, so it disturbs no nesting birds.

## What goes wrong with common sea lavender?

**Hardly any flowers appear.** Check the light first. Common sea lavender avoids shade and belongs in full sun. When you plant again, choose an open, sunny spot.

**A white powder covers the leaves.** That is powdery mildew, a fungus. Mildew mainly attacks plants that keep going short of water. Cut off affected stems and leaves promptly. In dry weeks, water regularly, in the morning and over the leaves.

**A new plant droops in a dry week.** Water until the soil around the roots is moist.

Pests hardly ever trouble common sea lavender.

## Which insects and birds use common sea lavender?

The caterpillars of two moths feed on common sea lavender: the dog's tooth (Lacanobia suasa) and the rosy rustic (Hydraecia micacea). The dog's tooth is a common species. This moth lives mainly in damp places, such as salt marshes and wet grassland. Its caterpillars also eat sorrel, orache, plantain and goosefoot.

No bird that uses common sea lavender has been described by name.

## Is common sea lavender poisonous or edible?

Common sea lavender is not known as a poisonous plant. No harmful substances have been described for it. That does not make the plant edible: nothing is known about it as food.

The photos on this page were made with AI, based on real photos and descriptions of this plant.

## Frequently asked questions

### How tall does common sea lavender grow?

Common sea lavender grows 10 to 50 centimetres tall, and one clump grows about as wide. Through its runners, the plant spreads into a group after a few years.

### Does common sea lavender need salt in the garden?

No. Common sea lavender grows in any soil that drains well, preferably sand, as long as the spot gets full sun. The plant does cope with sea wind and salt, so a garden on the coast suits it too.

### Is common sea lavender good for bees?

Yes. Common sea lavender gives plenty of nectar and pollen from July to October. The caterpillars of the dog's tooth, a moth, also feed on the plant.

### Is common sea lavender poisonous?

No, common sea lavender is not known to be poisonous. That does not make the plant edible: nothing has been described about it as food.

### When do you cut back common sea lavender?

After flowering, in October. Cut the faded flower stems back to the rosette.

## Sources

- [Duistermaat, Sparrius & Denters, Standaardlijst van de Nederlandse flora 2020 (Gorteria 43)](https://natuurtijdschriften.nl/pub/1019223)
- [NDFF Verspreidingsatlas — Limonium vulgare](https://www.verspreidingsatlas.nl/0738)
- [Flora van Nederland — Lamsoor](https://www.floravannederland.nl/planten/lamsoor)
- [Wilde planten in Nederland en België — Lamsoor](https://www.wilde-planten.nl/lamsoor.htm)
- [RHS — Limonium vulgare](https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/54161/limonium-vulgare/details)
- [RHS — Shade gardening (definities zon en schaduw)](https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=934)
- [RHS — Perennials: planting](https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/types/perennials/planting)
- [RHS — Powdery mildews](https://www.rhs.org.uk/disease/powdery-mildews)
- [PFAF — Limonium vulgare](https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Limonium+vulgare)
- [NC State Extension — Statice (Limonium sinuatum)](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/limonium-sinuatum/common-name/statice)
- [Imkerpedia — Drachtplanten](https://www.imkerpedia.nl/wiki/index.php/Drachtplanten)
- [De Vlinderstichting — Lamsoor (waardplant)](https://www.vlinderstichting.nl/vlinders/planten2/plant/?plant=636)
- [De Vlinderstichting — Variabele w-uil](https://vlinderstichting.nl/vlinder/variabele-w-uil/)
- [Vogelbescherming — Snoeien in het broedseizoen, mag dat?](https://www.vogelbescherming.nl/actueel/bericht/snoeien-in-het-broedseizoen-mag-dat)
- [Natuurlijk Sterker — Lamsoor (prijs)](https://natuurlijksterker.nl/webshop/limonium-vulgare-p9-bio-lamsoor-biologisch-geteeld-inheems/)
- [Tuinplantenloods — Limonium vulgare (prijs)](https://www.tuinplantenloods.nl/products/limonium-vulgare-zeelavandel-p9-pot)
- [Wikimedia Commons — Leaf: photo by Robert Flogaus-Faust (CC BY 4.0)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Limonium_vulgare_RF.jpg)
- [Wikimedia Commons — Flower: photo by Stephan Sprinz (CC BY 4.0)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blüte_des_gewöhnlichen_Strandflieder_%28Limonium_vulgare%29.jpg)

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