Re: speaking of Lavenders

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David,

Lavandula spicata is not a valid botanical name.  The English common name "Spike Lavender" is usually applied to L. latifolia, but that certainly is not a perpetual bloomer.  One of the few lavenders that flower all year in our climate is L. dentata, the "toothed lavender", with crenated leaf edges.  I am guessing this is what you meant, since I cannot think of another lavender that really fits your description.  Most people in the U.S. know this as "French lavender" and it comes in both green- and gray-leafed forms. 

Unless you might mean one of the fern-leafed lavenders from North Africa like L. multifida.  That blooms all year in southern California if one periodically cuts off the faded blossom stalks individually.  But I'm not sure how hardy it might be in the Bay Area.  In a warm spot we can carry it through most winters down here, but it froze dead for us winter before last.  The other fern-leafed lavenders  like L, canariensis, its hybrid L. x cristiana, L. pinnata, L. buchii, and L. minutolii all bloom more or less perpetually during warm weather, but they seem to die out when the temperature falls much below 40 degrees F.  If the soil is bare and exposed, they usually send up seedlings when the weather gets good and warm again.

We have had extensive discussions about pruning lavenders recently on the Yahoo! Lavandula group.  Some of you might like to check it out.  This is a very active group with approximately 650 members, many of them lavender farmers.  The archives are a treasure trove of information on growing, processing, and using lavenders.