Hi everyone,
I need advice to select the best variety lavender seeds for a 8'X16' raised garden patch. Can I plant two or more varieties of lavender plants in the same patch?
I am from USDA climate zone 5B. Thank everyone.
Lavender does not grow well from seed. There is one dwarf called 'Lavender Lady' which seems to do well from seed, but not hardy where you are. I'm not sure any lavender will be hardy for you and they need perfect drainage and lean soil, preferably alkaline and rocky...and very dry. Buying plants will give much greater success.
Need a good, cheap, knowledge expanding present for yourself or a friend?
Macy,
Lavender will be mostly to completely failure as a perennial in your climate, and the seed is fussy ( VERY FUSSY) about germination. It may be a case of "BUT THE CATALOGS SAY I CAN" but I've BTDT and lost the bet a few times.
I'd encourage you to scale back your expectations for an 8'x16' lavender bed and look to a container situation for lavender, maybe 6-8 plants nursery grown to transplant stage.
I'm in the very same USDA Zone 5B, adjacent to the Androscoggin River in Western Maine
If its lavender you want, for scent, for packaging, or for sale in any way, you ( and I) just don't live in the right part of this world to have it as a perennial.
Sorry for the bad news, hate to hex your plans, just hope you can revise and rethink to a workable compromise.
Sue Western maine
Not so, but you need to understand how it is done. I've used Burpee (true) Lavender seeds with great success when following the directions on the packet. Lavender seeds are very slow to germinate--I know it can take 6 weeks. The seeds are covered with a layer of 1/4" fine soil in a pot, protected with a piece of glass, and in a sunny window. Strange, but without sun, they probably won't germinate. The seedlings are transplanted to individual pots or to the outdoors after the last frost. It takes a year or two before producing flowers.
I agree. Lavender is not that hard to grow from seed. Mine came from an Herb nursery in Canada, the name escapes me now. I'm sure I had at least a 75% germination rate with two different kinds. Maybe because I started mine in the dead of winter, and use grow lights, I did have bloom the first year. There is a type that is not cold hardy. It might be called Spanish lavender.
Jean zone 5 Ohio Go Tribe!
We are from the Midwest, Thank you for your advice and really appreciate it.
We sew knitting needle covers, tote bags, knitting needles and other craft, sell it in Ebay. We buy lavender commercially and place them inside these craft items for scents. Every spring my husband plant tomatoes and other vegetables in three raises plot in our big backyard. Planting our own lavender in one of the plot would be ideal, if possible.
We have not give up hope yet, this morning I called the County Extension, they refer me to the City's Master Gardener (the City has a herbal garden). She will call me back tomorrow and advice me how to go about planting Lavender.
Thanks everyone.
Yes, I do understand how it's done. I worked at a greenhouse operation which great tens of thousands of lavender plants each year. We have heating and cooling chambers, perfect conditions and about a million square feet under glass. We had PhD's working there, botanists, horticulturists and professional growers. We bought plugs.
Lavender needs light to germinate. At best, I've seen them germinate, but the plants are spindly and this person does not live in a climate where there is a second year for lavender. I still recommend buying 4" containers of plants. To fill the space the original poster wants to fill would take about 20 plants, give or take and a beautiful stand in one season.
Need a good, cheap, knowledge expanding present for yourself or a friend?
Macy, I sincerely wish you well in your endeavor. I do understand that if you can GROW your own lavendar, you MAY come out ahead in transactions by eliminating a cash expense where you once bought supplies to add value to your product.
I do urge you to think carefully about all the expenses you might incur in attempting your own crop... not just the cost of seeds.
Soil testing and amendments, possible need for row covers and hardware, replacement costs for same if you have heavy snow/ice load or high winds during winter. ....
Germination supplies, such as trays, lights, shelving, heat mats or cables, thermostats, and the added energy costs of supplying additional heat if necessary.
Your time and labor in the " production" aspect... picking, drying, packaging, storing.
Your possible risk of loss of all the money/time/energy you spend to make the crop happen if you have crop failure, then you'll have to still buy the product after losing investment.
Look very carefully at those estimated expenses and see if they really work to your advantage against what you are doing now. If Lavendar is a marginal crop in your area, you may lead yourself into a situation where you spend more money, time and energy in producing your own crop than you spend on buying it in bulk from a location where it grows freely and without need of Intensive Care.
I fully respect that you may have personal issues with overseas products and a deep desire to be totally hands on with every aspect of what you do.
Best wishes!
Sue
directions
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Well, I live in zone 5 and have some lovely Lavender Munstead that I started from seed and is still going strong 3-4 years later, so don't give up! It did take a couple of years to get a decent show, but they've been successful enough that this year I'm planning to divide them. They are on the east, sheltered side of the house, so that could be a factor in my success. I forget where I got the seeds - probably either Johnny's or Pinetree. I did start them inside and transplant them, fwiw.
Irene
I'm surprised to read this, as I'm in zone 5 (a or b I'm not really sure - sort of on the cusp, so far as I can tell) and the lavender plant my great uncle from Olean, NY (zone 4b or 5a by the map I see) gave me from my garden in the early 1970s throve for years. When I did notice it dying back after 15-20 years, I grew a new plant by rooting a cutting, and that plant is now doing pretty well itself. Maybe I've just been lucky?
To the original poster: how about buying a few plants and growing more from cuttings, if seeds turn out to be a pain?
Yes you did get "lucky" but only in terms of scoring a cold-hardy cultivar. Not all but a great many spike lavender cultivars (Lavendula angustifolia & Lavandula x intermedia) do just fine in zone 5. The well-known & enormous 'Grosso' grows in zone 5, as do varieties of 'Hidcote' & so-called 'Munsteads' & many of the varieties developed in England. Munstead has even been reported to overwinter with relative ease in Zone 3 or 4 if heavily mulched (though much that is sold as 'Munstead' isn't). I don't think Lavandula stoechas, the rabbit-ear lavenders, ever thrives in zone 5.
Most of the more famously cold-hardy varieties tend to be cutting-grown, but I'd think a percentage of seed-grown would retain the parent's hardiness if it had been a cold-hardy parent to start with. Even if half or more of seed-grown plants were wiped out by a good long freeze, what survived would last for years.
Myself gardening in Zone 8 I don't have to worry about it. They all do fine just so long as theyr'e never too wet.
-paghat the ratgirl
I will be planting (from seeding) in mid-Feb.. in my basement and also buying plants (if I can find them locally). We tried to buy them last year and could not find any in Home center. Last evening our City's master gardener called, she gave me the following:
Grosso Twickle Pupler Jean Davis Provence
She advice me to plant a few varieties to be safe. Thanks everyone. Appreciate all suggestion and advice.
Wasn't it planted right up by the foundation of the study? All that nice cement to cozy up to, on the south side?
are you here to keep me honest or something?
yes, the south wall, which is also exposed to the cold west winds. this year i finally decided to mulch it.
You must be used to having your little sister trailing around after you by *now* darling
Thanks
brat.
Thumb-sucker!
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