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

"Macy" wrote in message
...

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.

On Tue, 25 Jan 2005 21:03:01 GMT, escape
wrote:

On Mon, 24 Jan 2005 21:25:43 -0600, Macy opined:


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.


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.

Phisherman wrote:

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!

"sue and dave" writes:

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.

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?

In article , Ann Burlingham wrote:

"sue and dave" writes:

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.

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

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com

Ann Burlingham wrote:
"sue and dave" writes:

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.

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?

Wasn't it planted right up by the foundation of the study? All that nice
cement to cozy up to, on the south side?

Kathryn Burlingham writes:
Ann Burlingham wrote:

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.

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.

Ann Burlingham wrote:

are you here to keep me honest or something?

You must be used to having your little sister trailing around after you
by *now* darling

Kathryn Burlingham writes:

You must be used to having your little sister trailing around after
you by *now* darling

brat.