My issues are the short life and the deadheading. I went through a phase where I had lots of it. I got over it. Now I enjoy it in other people's gardens!

I'm with Sara on this....short-lived and requires too much attention to remain looking good. I prefer to just admire it in the many lavender farms here :-)

And there is a limit on cold hardiness as well. Below a zone 6 I would only consider those cultivars with exceptional cold tolerance....'Munstead', 'Hidcote' or 'Phenomenal'.

Yes: the shearing must be started early in the life of a planting and must be kept up if an attractive effect is to be maintained. Local lavender farms do it every year anyway, in order to produce a harvest.

B'more high of 67 today, who needs the Virgin Islands LOL.

I've never grown lavender but I especially like its appeal this time of year. THIS grower on youtube says 20 year lifespan is possible. She also gives a great presentation on pruning. WOW just did a search for all the commercial growers in Canada, don't understand why winter hardiness would be a problem for me.

Whatever happened to the herb forum posters? Don't most herbs need pruning? How about ornamental grasses, our local composting facility has a special drop off just for them. The average suburbanite around here has an insatiable desire to shear, I post about it often. Finally here's a plant that benefits from shearing. Here's 'Grosso' last June.

Yes, they can live 20 years....maybe more. But the looks start deteriorating after around 7-10 years even with conscientious shearing twice a year (lightly after the bloom cycle and harder in spring as new growth commences). Without that, 3-5 years is about average until they splay open and develop an unattractive gnarly, woody interior. Here, most commercial growers rotate out their plants after 2-3 years.

Lavender at Stone Gate Farm in West Lynn, Oregon is featured in the youtube link. Seems like gardengal48 should contact them and explain all the things they are doing wrong.

No need to be snarky!! Washington state is well known for being the largest source of commercial lavender production in the US and I am only repeating what commercial growers here do. If you want to rely on a singe, poxy YouTube video to base all your lavender knowledge on, feel free!!

Sonoma County is full of lavender and most of it looks awful. There is a huge commercial operation at a winery in Santa Rosa and it is a sight to behold, but who knows how often they replace the plants. Lavender is something that I find works much better in imagination than in actual practice.

Unlike the Original Poster's photo, most of us just have a plant or two and not a large swath of it. If I had a bevey of gardeners at my command I might try it. Until then I will enjoy my several Lavander plants and replace them them as needed.

sam_md, I too enjoy the scent of Lavander and use it everywhere. Whole Foods EO brand has a really good, true Lavander scent to some of their products. I kinda forgot about Yardleys. I should try to find some.

An argument for planting lavenders in quantity as that their fine foliage texture is not visually effective otherwise. Same as with heather and of course turf grass - the smaller its leaves the more of a plant needs to be included for it to be in balance with other, larger parted plants in a setting.

I took this pic 07-07-23 in Maryland. The only maintenance was to cut it back last year after blooming. I would know since I am the one who maintains this lot. Notice the gravel mulch that I put down. A thick layer of cardboard is under it. Prickly pear is on the other side, also doing great.

7-7-23

Here's a few pictures of a commercial lavender farm we visited in/by Door County Wisc. a couple years ago. I don't know how they do things but was quite interesting and a nice gift shop. ;-)

A friend of DW gave me a lavender plant last winter. <sigh>

I put it in the flower bed and it started blooming. I don't know what I'll do with it yet.

No it doesn't need the rabbit fence, rabbits hate them, the fence is for other flowers.

Bill, when did you plant that little guy? That's a type of Spanish lavender and they are not very hardy at all! Listed to zone 7 but may even suffer winter dieback in my very mild location.

Lavender is to my spouse what Acer palmatum is to me - plant lust followed by disappointment. Or perhaps what Nepeta is to a cat.

Bill, maybe heavy snow cover will be the difference in z3 north-central MN, but I wouldn't bet the house on it. Keep the faith. On the other hand, Door County is likely the most benign garden spot in Wisconsin.

I don't know the exact date it was planted outside but a picture I have of it freshly planted is 5-29-23 so probably the last week of May sometime.

The plant tag only said 'Lavender' so I went to bonnieplants.com and they say it's Lavandula angustifolia 'Elegance'.

L. angustifolia is listed as zone 5-8 at some universities and Missouri botanical garden.

The plant made itself right to home in a few days. New buds coming on almost all the stalks. ;-)

:o)

Definitely worth running your hand through it daily. Consider it medicinal.

' Bill, maybe heavy snow cover will be the difference in z3 north-central MN, '

Maackia,

I've thought of that and even adding an initial layer of leaves before the snow greatly enhances the protection. But unless my enthusiasum increases for this plant by Fall. I may quietly look the other way as I pass by and let the chips fall where they may. :-)

Whatever Bonnie plants may have to say about it, it is NOT Lavandula angustifolia!! The 'rabbit ear' flowers are a distinct characteristic of Lavandula stoechas or Spanish lavender, one of the least hardy species. I don't believe for a second it will be winter hardy in your climate. It is at the very minimum a zone 7 plant.

Lavandula stoechas

Lavandula angustifolia 'Ellagance'

Lordie, Sam, are you related to the Coales of Walter G. Coale? I just bought a chain for my Stihl there!

Interesting argument about Lavender. Agree they usually look like hell after 5 or so years, although, now watching the video Sam shared, I wonder if I could somewhat forestall it by pruning when they are smaller. Other than deadheading I've never thought to shape them. Still they are very cheap when "new" if you purchase them locally and if they provide flowers for 5-8 years, fine. I don't mind replacing them.

Bill, GG, in my middle-of-the-road zone 7, even I haven't been able to keep ANY winged lavender alive! I think I've tried them all at this point! 'Anouk' was the hardiest, and at least survived one winter. Most of them have died their first winter no matter how mild. There might be a somewhat counterintuitive "trick" to dealing with those sort of plants in this sort of climate, but I'll post about that in a few years when I've confirmed it works. It is interesting to know there's a lavender farm all the up in WI! I've heard of Door county because I know there are a lot of orchards there, it's a peninsula and therefore maybe a bit more temperate than the rest of the state?

Wow GG, Thanks for that correction.

I would've never figured that out.

Yes, Lavandula stoechas z7-9. The flowers match mine exactly!

Looks like I'll have a 'Taste of the Mediterranean' in my borderline z4a garden this summer. :-)

Thanks!

davidrt,

There is a Lavender farm in the northern part of lower Michigan, z5b at best but they and other L. farms in MI are near the water.

I have no idea what types of lavender they grow but that one (Lavender Hill) says they grow all the types that they sell, so there must be a variety.

Yes, it doesn't look like there will be any attempts to nursing this one, through the winter here. ;-)

Just depends what part of the hood you come from. :^)

Lavandula stoechas: Common names:

Bract Lavender

Butterfly Lavender

French Lavender

Spanish Lavender

Topped Lavender

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/lavandula-stoechas

7-24-2023:

So far, Lavandula stoechas likes my dry summer.

The blooms on the upper left are the originals from 3 weeks ago, petals still on them.

The Miditerranean comes to the upper Midwest. Well, at least for a month or two. There’s no harm in enjoying it while you have it. Looks good.

9-16-2023:

Well, definitely not a showstopper but it did increase in area quite a bit and produced many flowers.

Without another season to manicure and care for it, I can't really make a judgement. Probably in the right location they'd have a purpose in the garden.

Lavandula Stoechas: C'ya 😘😢 lol.

:-)

Just adding a quick comment for those finding they need to replace their lavender often. They are about as easy as it gets from cutting. Just clip a short section(2') and stick it in the dirt and you will generally have 100% root. Super cheap to replace if need be.

I quite enjoy my lavendar but plant it only where nothing else grows, that seems to be the conditions it likes, airid, well draining, sunny.

lavender season again, this is about as carefree as you can get. Give it a sunny, well-drained spot and you've got it made. Seen here outside an educational bldg on a campus, it gets no TLC whatsoever.