I have been growing lavendar for years now, and have not had a problem with it wintering over. I learned a trick with fuchsias, that I think works for lavendar also. (at least, it has survived 7 winters now, and even my rosemary and sage did not survive last winter) The flower stems should not be cut back in the fall, so there is a good strong end on each stalk. If you want to harvest flowers, cut them in early to mid summer, when in the bud stage, and then a second smaller bloom will come in late summer that should stay on the plant. In the spring, after no danger of a hard frost, (ok for a light frost,) cut back the dead stems down to the leaves. In my area,8a, I usually do this in late March, early April, about the same time as I would prune roses if I had any. I have experimented both with leaving all the blooms on the plant, and an early harvest and late second bloom, and the one with the second bloom looked more happy and lush. So, since I love looking at the blooms in my yard, I rotate, and one out of three get an early haircut, and the other two keep their blooms so the bumblebees and my eyes are satisfied.
Great advice Karrma. As you do exactly the same as I do with your lavendar it obviously works. Mine survives the -20 degreesC that we had last winter and is in flower now and looking very healthy.
That's a great tip...so often I lose my lavendar plants. I will try this...hope it will work as I only have a few sparse flowers right now.
Thanks for the advice! :-D I planted white & purple lavender last summer and they are doing GREAT! purple & white lavender doing really well ( photo / image / picture from stratsmom's Garden ) I tied them up to keep them out of the gravel. I was wondering about cutting them back but think it's too late now. I'll wait till next year and cut them early. I don't know the name of this variety but I want to get the one that looks kind of like a bumble bee with the little tuft on top Will these spread? Do they re-seed or send out runners???
