Just a quick word about the timeliness of this post. I had originally planned it in late May, even took pruning photos  and jotted notes, then promptly forgot bout it. Today  fellow Blogger, Matt Mattus,  (from whom I have learned volumes of things and am hoping to return even the slightest of favors to )over at  Growing With Plants jogged my memory when he mentioned trying lavender in his gardens. Like many people who live where it is cold and wet, he has found success elusive.,, , but have faith , it is possible and the result of any effort given to grow it right will be a fragrant delight!

My love of English gardens and fragrant plants  led to my love of lavender. I have heard many a gardener in these parts lament the fact that we can not have gorgeous lavender “hedges” and enjoy loads of this wonderfully scented herb to cut , but really with a few steps of preparation and a annual pruning we can grow lavender quite easily in the Northeast US.

The first thing you need to do is prepare the area. Lavender wants, above all else, good drainage. Perfect drainage in fact. No moisture retentive soils , no bog or standing water. Ever.

If you have rich or heavy soil, work in quite a bit of sand and gravel, and as extra insurance, even build the planting level up above the existing ground level. Here,in The Burrow, we have a base of pure sand under everything and I still work in some gravel and raise the lavender plants up because  in the winter time we have snow cover for a long time and  that  snow melting  in spring is a danger to the rotting base of the plants if it sits too long.  That site prep of gravel and sand and raising the planting level will make all the difference in  long term survival.

As to water, I will tell you that a.) it is humid here and b.) my lavender are all planted in areas that are irrigated with the rest of the gardens throughout the season and  although they like it dry they are fine because their drainage is so good. Some are planted open areas, others nestled in tight corners. which  goes against  most advice you will hear ;again it is all in the drainage. It must be PERFECT!

The second key to long term success is an annual pruning. In the late spring, AFTER you start to see  the green growth emerging on the lavender  ( which could be as late as the last week of May), it is important to trim the whole plant back to as close to the ground as you can WITHOUT cutting past the green and live growth. If you cut below where you see green, ( or greenish-gray to be precise)  you will be cutting into unproductive wood that will not regenerate .

I get many questions when I am out and about regarding lavender that was previously happy but now  is woody and not blooming I have even heard it told that every two to three years you must replace lavender in order to have lots of flowers. Untrue! .Almost always the issue is that it has not been pruned annually and the wood has gotten old and therefore unproductive. Even missing one or two years will mean woody shrubs that bloom little and look like a craggy shaggy mess.

The third path to success is choosing the right lavender to begin with. There are over 30 species of lavender but  the one I have had the most success with is lavandula angustifolia. There are many varieties of this species to choose from, but the bulk of my hedges are ‘the very floriferous’ Hidcote Blue ‘ and “Munstead’ ( both named after English gardens)., and I also grow a smaller shrub called ‘Lavenite Petite’ These original plants of these varieties have been happily living in my gardens for over 12 years, which is a long time for lavender to remain productive, but I never miss a pruning and the were planted right to begin with.Below you can see a part of the lavender hedge  that lines the fence out front right after pruning., and below that what it looked like today.

I have tried many others ,with mixed success. For a few years some of the varieties of lavandula x intermedia  did well including the white variety of  ‘Grosso’ and the super fragrant  ‘Provence’. But after particularly wet winters they did not survive.

Last year I heard of a newer introduction called lavandula x intermedia ‘Phenomenal’ that shows great hardiness and gets good garden reviews but alas, I had to relocate the plants that make up the lavender hedges in the pool area for construction ,so will have to wait until they are all back until I have  some space to add new ones.

Having loads of lavender is just , as Martha says, a wonderful thing. I used youtube to teach me how to make lavender wands,  which I give as gifts to the hosts when I visit open gardens . I fill sachets for the drawers, and I was still cutting the foliage for arrangements in February.

So remember…sand and gravel, raised planting  and annual pruning are the down and dirty keys to success for growing lavender in the Northeast.

Contact me if you need more info………………Hope to see you !

Over the years  there have been many plants that I have tried unsuccessfully to grow. Failure comes with the territory. Weather, soil conditions, critter; they all  conspire against me in  many of my great plans and I have come ultimately come to accept those failures,

except for the lupines.

Winston Churchill said ‘Never give up on something that you can’t go a day without thinking about”, and while that may be a slight exaggeration in this case, each and every time I see lupines growing , flourishing even, in other gardens I get a little flash of sadness mixed with envy because try as I might, I haven’t been able to grow them.

I planted lupines in my very first garden here. They died immediately . They never even tried to make it, they just looked around at all the sand, blazing hot sun, and inhospitable conditions and promptly gave up the ghost.

Not to be thwarted in my efforts I set about starting seeds ( both directly in the soil and in seed trays) and buying more plants to try in other locations. Misery and death followed quickly and each seedling and plant succumbed to the harsh  conditions here. No amount of soil augmentation or watering would appease them and I was at the end of my rope. Some plants I could live without, but not lupines. They are an English Cottage Garden stalwart, expected and demanded to show themselves in any garden calling itself such. I HAD to have them.

Well, last summer i seeded again into trays and watched with great anticipation as many germinated and took hold. By mid-season it was clear I had grown a batch of happy healthy plants, and the were planted out in several garden  locations later in the summer. I started with about 15 plants, 5 went into the caged off blueberry bed for rabbit protection, 5 into the Pink Garden, and the others out back.

Ladies and Gentlemen I give you my very first overwintered and blooming lupine

TA-DA!!!!!!! I couldn’t be happier. three survived in the Pink Garden and two in the blueberry bed.   Five out of fifteen  , but five  is really the important number here.

Five lupines.

Five.

i am so happy I am even skipping outside to mulch , a chore I usually dread. 🙂

I usually don’t plant specific things just to make an arrangement, I plan color families, lots of bloom for certain times of year, and foliage to match the colors I use, but not ,say, specifically two different tulips to place with one certain lilac, except for this one teeny eeny instance…and it didn’t work out as perfectly as I wanted, but it was close.

The lilac is a bi-colored one called ‘Sensation’, and if you could be in love with a flower, than this would be the one. It is perfect….intense color, long lasting, and fragrant…be still my heart. At its feet I planted the dreamy white tulip ‘Purissima’ and its deep dark counterpart ‘Queen of Night’ .  Problem was, the white tulip bloomed and passed before the lilac was fully opened.  Just an FYI , lilacs do much better as cut flowers if you follow a few simple steps

1.) cut them when all florets are fully opened

2.) strip ALL the leaves

3.) make a vertical cut in the stem where it goes in the vase for better water uptake. If they are being really fussy , you can hold the stems in just barely boiling water for a count of 10, but that usually is not necessary.

Anyway, the lilac was just starting to color up as the white tulip was shedding its petals, so I had to change the plan a little.

Instead I cut a few just emerging stems of gray artemesia , which is a great filler, some of the arching branches of a white spirea ( name unknown) and the “Queen of Night’ tulip and one single stem of the lilac. Really, if I could preserve this little arrangement forever I would. The tulip looks and feels like soft velvet, and the airy blossoms on the spirea which I adore every year outside, are making their debut in a flower vase here and I could look at them all day. The lilac is scented just enough that it is not overpowering, just perfect for sticking your nose in as you pass by.   Somedays  being a flower gardener is simply everything.

it is FINALLY raining here today, the overcast skies and drizzle are a  great relief  for the parched gardens I  needed a break from the computer so I headed to the gardens and ended up snapping lots of pictures of the great foliage that is now coloring all the grounds. I have been adding  more and more plants with yellow or yellowish variegation and color to their leaves. It does not work everywhere, for instance the yellow edged  chamacyparis in the pink garden ( that has all pink, and white flowers looks horrible and I threaten to move it all the time) , but in the darker areas of the garden, the yellow can’t be beat for enlivening the space.

Break is over!!Back to work !