Here's a new thread, since the last one was getting so long .... *thinking of Star and others on Dial-Up *
Here is where we came from ... #18 http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/922371/
Love these piggies... the look in their eyes are like
"What you lookin at? ... we're just hanging out at the water trough ... got a problem with that??"
Thanks so much for the new thread. : ) You was reading my mind.
I want to try and grow bunches of lavender this year too. I see a short one and a taller one. Wonder if they both grow about the same, or if one better than the other?
Also, I picke dup some think it was pink kitty nip seeds. Wonder if kitties gonna like it too?
I have not had luck with Lav either.
I've WS'ed it... got them to germinate, planted out - then poof.
I purchased some [i had a credit with Springhill] got some pink ones... poof, next year gone.
i have some dwarf ones... can't recall the name, but i have it somewhere... they do OK. they have spread a lil bit, and have died back from the original plants. Mine do not stand tall, but more lay on the ground a bit. I planted them with my roses to keep the aphids at bay.
i do think parts of it has succumbed to root rot.
very sad because i love it.
This message was edited Nov 19, 2008 5:17 PM
I'll clean my lavender seeds soon and see if I have enough for more than one, in case either of you want to try it. (Won't say before I clean them, as I've just learned my lesson very well!) It's gotten to be more like a small shrub (and would be bigger if I hadn't given it a good pruning and definitely needs no pampering or special care here.
I've not had luck with lavender either, but people who grow it say I killed it by overwatering it.
It needs a lot less water that regular plants. A friend of mine has had it by her roadside mailbox for year. She never waters it and the plant just loves it.
Last year, I planted several types of lavender in a roadside garden with many other xeric plants at our cottage. It will be interesting which, if any come back next spring.
Oh, and I wanted to mention, I found the Lavenders (which will grow in zone 5), easy to start from seed.
I started Dwarf Munstead and augustifolia 'Providence' from seed
toofew
This message was edited Nov 19, 2008 8:05 PM
Sounds like we may need to do a lavender cutting swap in spring! I don't know the id of these growing here, but I do recall my friend who planted them saying they were mislabeled- they were supposed to be the common purple, but have rosy pinkish blooms. Since they can handle the droughts we've had the last couple of years, I think I need lots.
Toofew, good going on the seed! I've always thought of them as difficult from seed and haven't tried. May have to reconsider that :-)
I tried doing some cuttings and nevr was able to get them to root. Maybe that was my problem too, maybe too much water.
the area where i planted my Lav [not the ones by my roses] is a very dry area, as my hose does not reach that far... so - basically they only get what Mom Nature gives them .. .and they didnt come back.
I may have to look into a different Lavender -- or give up on it all together.
Really wish I had collected seeds of my very hardy lavender before the bitter end when I had only a few reblooms. After the ones promised Tuink, I have only about 20 or 25 seeds left. Can divide into 2 small packs if a few of you want to try just a few.
perenniallyme -- i'm not sure if you are asking me if i want any.... but dont waste your seeds on me... i can't get it to stay alive here. I'd hate to take seeds away from someone else...
I need to find a Lav that will survive in my zone.... errrrr, my back yard.
BUT -- i do have some dwarf 'something' -- so i do have some lav, so i get to 'sniff' it when i'm working in that bed.
ok - just thought mine might have better genes or something, because I don't understand the problems all of you are having with it. Now if we were talking about delphiniums or something else, I'd understand completely.
I've even purchased seeds.... they germinated, but the plant did not survive the winter.
I may have to look into a hardier variety.... but i really appreciate the offer.
I'm in zone 6a - not too different from yours, tcs.
Also thought gemini or starlight or toofew might be interested in trying again.
Hi everyone, I couldn't get online the last couple days and I just want to pop in and say hi. : )
I was reading about the lavendar and I am guessing perennially me bought her lavendar local, the good nursuries usually only offer hybrids that are known to withstand the local conditions. Otherwise it's labeled annual. I've only seen one available around here so there must just be one or two good selections for us in new england, but perhaps it wouldn't like it over in ohio or for Tuink. O maybe it would it doesn't hurt to try right? I am always trying stuff that may or may not pull through winter, I like the surprise of not knowing. : ) Of course I like it much better when something survives rather than not lol.
I notice mail order companies tend to stretch hardiness zones and promises - probably just to bring in the extra dollars - so I always buy stuff that'as iffy local, unless I absolutely can't find it anywhere. : )
I wonder if hers is also planted in a microclimate? I planted 3 black and blue salvias here 2 years ago and one has come back after two winters. It gets down to - 13 F here, so I find it pretty amazing. Although it barely made it to bloom before the cold took it out, it's just cool to see it come back. : )
Ya know, I'm thinking winter moisture may have a lot more to do with winter kill than temperatures. I'm sure there are hardier varieties than others too, but that is the time when the soil is consistently moist around here. Now that I'm living on a hill I'm not having the issues with lavender I did at the last 2 places I've lived.
My big lavender hedge is planted on a steep hill next to the driveway... the drainage is extra good there because the builder put chunky gravel (for under the driveway) halfway across the front yard! I agree... if you can give lavender excellent drainage, it will do well for you.
Critter, I never thought I'd be thanking the sloppy builders, but I've got a bed that's the same way. Torture to dig in, but drains so well everything is happy there!
It took me a couple of days to dig out a hole for an azalea bush next to that driveway... I got lucky with the lavender hedge, because I caught one of the construction guys working on the house going up down the block, and he dug out a trench for me along the driveway and even topped it up with some good dirt!
My very first gardening project, around the mailbox, was almost my last! Probably never would have dug another hole in my yard, if a neighbor hadn't come along and explained that all the rocks were courtesy of the construction crew, and not likely to exist elsewhere in the yard. We just have solid clay everywhere else :)
On one of my first flowerbeds, I hit an area where the construction crew had poured their excess concrete. I had to tell the kids to stand way back while I let the pick axe fly and the cement chips fly! It was interesting to wee the other trash they dumped there, too, underneath the 2" of topsoil. Ahhh the memories!
I had to pay someone to break up and haul away the 10 inch thick concrete patio and then found another foot or two of bricks, rubble, coal ash, etc that I had to dig up myself to get a bit more gardening space. Yes, the memories.
My lavender IS at the edge of a raised bed, but definitely no microclimate. Think my house and yard are in the bottom of what used to be a quarry, and the lavender is right by the front sidewalk, so has heaps of snow piled on it in the winter.
I guess I should be happy the area I found on the side of the house is about 8 inches deep. I just planted my garden over it. Some plants do ok, others, not so nice.
Hubby has offered to dig it up, but then I would have to re-do that garden after. Hmmmm, might be interesting.
toofew
I'd take him up on it! If I had someone to do it for me, I'd get rid of the concrete on the side of my house, even though it would only give me a few feet of planting space. May have to do it anyway. I have a small section where I used cobblestones and did do a small bed right on top of the concrete. My irises don't seem to mind. I think it's fine for shallow-rooted plants.
Last call on this thread among you lavender buffs for 2 small (12 or so seeds) packs of my hardy silver-blue leaved bushy lavender seeds. If no takers, will post on other thread later today.
perenniallyme:
May I have a package of your hardy silver blue leaved bushy lavender seeds, please.
Maxine
Absolutely, Maxine. They were beginning to feel unwanted.
Sharon
Hi Sharon,
I think I'd like to try those lavender seeds also. Thanks!
Tonya
The're yours, Tonya. That's the last of them.
ops... i guess i should have put my "Dreaming of Blooms" images over here and not in the Piggy Swap thread... hogging space.
but -- here is the 'wildest' flower bed.... all i did was toss seeds and attempt to pull weeds.
There are marigolds, Plains Coreopsis , Scarlet Flax, Brazilian Bachelor Buttons, Blue Boy Bachelor Buttons, Cosmos Sensation Mix... and probably a few others.
OH... here's to a quick winter and early Spring....
OH heck... one more... can't pass up a good photo of Heavenly Blue
**sniff sniff** and this was only take 5 weeks ago....
How gorgeous!
I second that. : )
Yes tcs it's hard to believe we had 70 degree weather just three weeks ago it's so hard to adjust to this unforgiving weather lol I want summer back! Thanks to you all it'll lbe spring pretty soon in the basement lol
I didn't grow heavenly blue last year I usually do, they don't reseed for me like a lot of the others apparently, I didn't get any to come back this year, they are just beautiful aren't they! I did have milkway and it even crowded out the Hyacith Bean so you know I had a lot of them lol
Heavenly Blue has never reseeded for us either. I replant it every year. I've always had it climbing up a trellis but, I see, it looks really pretty on the ground too (referring to the above photo by tcs :)
that one HB in the photo, i stuck a seed in the ground. I had another area where they came back from fallen seed.
This year i hardly got any... last year, a handful.... but i did figure between the 2 rys, i had like 52 seeds. But when you compare that to a heavy re-seeder.... it's a pittance.
My heavenly blue reseeded with a vengeance. For 2 years I've tried to remove it, it's growing among the grasses and asters on a strip of land between the side walk and street so it's not a good choice for that area. I removed all the plants and dug down 3 ft. and still couldn't get rid of it. The roots are deeper then 3 feet. The first year I let it bloom so I know it's Heavenly Blue, now I just cut it off and pull vines all season never letting it bloom. I heard they could be invasive but I'd been growing Morning Glories for years until this happened. Yikes!
I guess up here in the colder climates... i dont have to worry as much on the invasiveness. Just where seeds have fallen, if i dont want it back there again... i'll have to pull or move the seedlings.... which i probably have to do in the 'south' bed. If i can locate a photo... i'll post that too. The MG's just swallow everything up.... including the 4-O'Clocks, which is saying something.
I want to try the Chocolate MG, it is supposed to get nice large dusty rose blooms. Has anyone tried that one?
My v.caracalla didn't grow long enough to bloom this year. I noticed Tuink has seeds, but I'm going to give up on growing it, and resist the temptation to request more seed. I'm thinking of growing the Chocolate MG where I've been planting the v.caracalla.
here is the HB that swallowed up everything in the south bed....
there were a few 4-O'clocks, yellow and Broken Colors, a Spirea, Micro Chip Dianthus, some day lilies and a sunflower that is barely hanging on [the squirrels planted that one]
there is a metal 5' trellis under all of that too... the MG pulls that down every year because it's just too heavy.
I need to find something that will fit nicely in that corner... i used to have a real pretty Rose of Sharon, but it got Root Rot and died years ago
