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Real or artificial lavender

Updated: 22 October 2026

You can buy a live shrub or a bunch of plastic spikes from the same amazon.co.uk search, and they are not two versions of one product. Real or artificial lavender is a choice about the place: full sun and a first summer of water, or colour where nothing will grow. Peter F. compared the twelve listings in the [lavender plant comparison](/hub/ornamental-plants/lavender-plant), with prices and review lines stored on 19 October 2026. We did not grow a trial row. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The checklist for pots, counts and shared stars is on the [lavender plant buying guide](/hub/ornamental-plants/lavender-plant/sub/lavender-plant-buying-guide).

You can buy a live shrub or a bunch of plastic spikes from the same amazon.co.uk search, and they are not two versions of one product.

Our top picks

Kinisty Kinisty artificial lavender, 12 bundles

Best overall

Kinisty Kinisty artificial lavender, 12 bundles
7.6/10about £11.99
View offer
Carbeth Plants Lavandula angustifolia, 1 × 14 cm

Rank 2

Carbeth Plants Lavandula angustifolia, 1 × 14 cm
8.0/10about £11.99
View offer
Hollyone Hollyone artificial lavender in a pot

Alternative

Hollyone Hollyone artificial lavender in a pot
6.4/10about £14.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Two different purchases
  2. 2.When the live plant is the one
  3. 3.When plastic is the one
  4. 4.One recommendation

Two different purchases

A live English lavender can flower, carry a scent and feed bees in the right spot. The RHS notes bumblebees, honeybees and butterflies on live flowers. A plastic stem holds a purple shape until the colour or the plastic fails. The 365 Blooming Decor pot is unscented. Nothing here supports a lightly scented faux. Prices overlap, which is why the titles confuse people: a live 14 cm plant at about £11.99, twenty bundles at about £10.99, an indoor pot at about £14.99 or about £24.97. You are buying a different object, not a better lavender. Hollyone mixes spikes with eucalyptus. Kinisty and Mtiscolla are loose bundles.

When the live plant is the one

Buy live lavender when the spot is full sun and someone will water the first summer. The RHS says it will not last in shade, damp or winter wet. The live pages that state a 14 cm pot are the two singles at about £11.99 and the two-pack at about £19.99. The angustifolia reviews are its own, 4.3 from 78. The English single and the two-pack share 4.2 from 1,934 with the six-pack. A 14 cm pot is a starter. Spacing and the trim that stays in green wood are on how to grow lavender. Skip the Lavender Vera title when you need a shrub you can name.
Kinisty Kinisty artificial lavender, 12 bundles

Testsieger

Kinisty Kinisty artificial lavender, 12 bundles
7.6/10about £11.99
View offer

When plastic is the one

Buy plastic for colour you will not water, or for a room too dark for a shrub. Hollyone at about £14.99 is indoor and pre-assembled. UK reviews call it smaller than the 25 cm title and sometimes too plastic up close. The about £24.97 pot is about 46 cm, unscented and indoor, and the written reviews are from the United States. The listing field says indoor. Outdoor bundles already have UK fade notes. Kinisty, 4.5 from 219, has terrible fade after nearly a year and reviews that say the colour held. Mtiscolla has colour loss after about a month in sun. No British Standard sits behind a UV bullet.

One recommendation

If the spot is full sun and someone will water the first summer, buy the angustifolia single when you want the review file that belongs to that page, the English single when one shared-sample plant is enough, or the two-pack when you need two stated 14 cm pots. If the spot is a dark shelf, buy Hollyone when you want UK review text, and the taller pot only if you accept United States reviews, no scent and a higher price for height. If a window box will not be watered, buy bundles and treat fade as already reported. Sun and water, or colour only.

Common questions

When is a live lavender the right buy?
When the place is full sun and you will water through the first summer. The listings that state a 14 cm live plant are the two Carbeth singles at about £11.99 and the two-pack at about £19.99. The angustifolia single has its own 78 reviews. Shade, a wet clay bed, or a box nobody waters is the wrong place for that parcel.
When are plastic stems enough?
When you want purple colour and you will not keep a plant alive. Indoor pots suit a shelf. Outdoor bundles suit a box or a porch if you accept UK reviews that already describe fading. They do not flower, they do not feed bees, and the unscented pot does not smell of lavender.
Will artificial lavender smell or bring bees?
Not on the evidence in this set. The tall indoor pot is listed as unscented. The RHS writes about bees on live lavender flowers, not on plastic. A live plant in full sun is the purchase that can do that job, and only if it survives. Plastic is colour.
Will UV-resistant stems keep their colour outside?
Not as a promise. Kinisty's UK reviews include both a year outdoors and terrible fade after nearly a year. One Mtiscolla review says the colour went within about a month in sun. Titles that say UV resistant or never fade do not name a British Standard. Buy them if you can replace the stems.
Can I put a live plant in a dark hallway?
No. The RHS says lavender will not last in shade and damp. A Carbeth bullet about indoor pots does not cancel the full-sun care line. For a hallway, use an indoor faux pot and keep the live plant for a sunny step or a bed that drains.
Is a potted fake a garden plant?
Hollyone and the 365 Blooming Decor pot are indoor on their listing fields. UK reviews of Hollyone talk about tables and gifts, not a winter outside. The dearer pot's written reviews are from the United States. A cement-style or pebble-filled pot is still plastic foliage. Leave it indoors.
What should I buy if nobody will water the box?
Bundles, not a live shrub. Mtiscolla's 20 at about £10.99 give the most stems per pack in this set, with a fade note attached. Kinisty's 12 at about £11.99 have the larger UK review file, and that file disagrees about fade. Eteamcan is cheaper and mixed colours. Replace what the sun bleaches. Skip the about £8.99 page if you needed a real shrub: its bullets say mixed herbs, not a proven Lavender Vera.

Related pages

Best lavender plant

Lavender plant

Lavender plant buying guide: live, pot and passport

How to grow lavender: plant, space and prune in the UK

Lavender in pots: size, grit, summer water, dry winter

Sources

Public sources from the research digest, last checked on 22 October 2026. Shelf prices and star lines are the amazon.co.uk figures in the display file, captured on 19 October 2026. The price band is this set, not a market average. No listing was trialled in a garden.

  1. RHS: lavender growing guide (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  2. RHS: Lavandula angustifolia (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  3. BBC Gardeners' World: how to grow lavender (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  4. GOV.UK: plant passports to trade plants in Great Britain (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  5. UK Plant Health Portal: Xylella host risk levels (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  6. Which?: Consumer Rights Act (retrieved 22 October 2026)
  7. Amazon.co.uk listing lines in this comparison (retrieved 22 October 2026)