Re: speaking of Lavenders

All Lavenders are extremely easy here by the bay in the San Francisco area, and I have all these growing and more in various gardens I have planted.  I think the key cultivation trick with any lavender that gets woody and falls apart is to give it regular light shearings at least twice a year, and particularly after it finishes blooming.  They tend to grow too rampant if well watered, and thus fall apart, so it may help to also grow it harder, with less water in summer.  One shearing is no good, especially if it receives irrigation, as it can still flop apart.  I like to shear them at least every 3 to 4 months.  One species that doesn't have the characteristic fragrance to foliage or blooms is L. spicata, which I particularly like because it never stops blooming, is always showy in bloom, and the deer don't eat it.  I have L. angustifolia, L. intermedia and L. stoechas all in full bloom, combining beautifully with a yellow form of Kniphofia uvaria with
 hundreds of bloom spikes, as well as Calandrinia grandiflora, in a garden that only receives monthly irrigation.  It is also all mixed with Alstroemeria 'Litgu Hybrids' which has just finished blooming, and Elymus condensatus 'Canyon Prince'.  These combined plants all look full and lush here in Berkeley all year round, with minimal watering but once a month in summer. 


--- On Sat, 7/26/08, maria guzman <mirror@3rivers.net> wrote:

> From: maria guzman <mirror@3rivers.net>
> Subject: Re: speaking of Lavenders
> To: "medit-plants Plants" <medit-plants@ucdavis.edu>
> Date: Saturday, July 26, 2008, 3:45 PM
> I grew 'Goodwin Creek Gray', a beautiful powder-grey
> plant.  It's not  
> especially grown for the flowers ( though nice enough) but
> I looked  
> for year-round effect, not just seasonal blooms.
> 
> Maria
>   formerly of California, currently Montana Front Range
> where  
> Lavender is an exotic dream
> 
> 
> 
> On Jul 26, 2008, at 2:10 PM, Catherine Ratner wrote:
> 
> > We certainly all have different gardens!  L. stoechas
> in all its  
> > forms hates my garden.  They become chlorotic.  The
> English  
> > lavenders that were hybridized in England (Hidcote,
> for example) do  
> > not like the soil or the heat here.  L.
> 'Provence' is very happy,  
> > grows too big, and gets woody, as you have mentioned. 
> My favorite  
> > is L. intermedia 'Grosso' which stays
> relatively small and compact  
> > and seems to thrive without water on my slope in heavy
> clay soil.   
> > L. 'Goodwin Creek Gray' gets big but does not
> develop bare legs.   
> > It can be cut back hard with no problems.  It's a
> useful, very  
> > drought resistant shrub, but does not provide the
> floral color of  
> > some of the others.
> >
> > Cathy
> >
> > On Jul 26, 2008, at 12:12 PM, N Sterman wrote:
> >
> >> Speaking of lavenders, I've nearly given up on
> planting  
> >> lavenders.  They grow for a while, then get really
> woody and split  
> >> down the middle.  The ones that do best for me are
> the L. stoechas  
> >> (spanish lavenders).
> >>
> >> How does everyone else do with lavenders?  Which
> species/varieties  
> >> do you find do best in your garden?  How do you
> keep the English  
> >> and French lavenders from growing overly woody and
> splitting?
> >>
> >> Nan
> >>
> >
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