Lavandula, English Lavender 'Munstead'

Germinated well (indoors, end of May, before last frost date) and promptly hardened off outside (container grown) once all danger of fro...Read Morest was over. Grows slowly initially (first month), but takes off in a hurry and branched out without needing any pruning. Flowered after only 2.5 months outside!

Definitely a keeper to have in the garden. Even my cats love to brush against it (and makes the cats smell better!). Don't overwater - lavenders don't like wet feet. Well draining soil mixed with perlite or sand seems to keep them really happy.

Will update on how it overwinters here in zone 3.

i reside in ne/sd where winters are rather brutal. i have successfully grown this silver/gray foliage, woody plant for over 6 years now. ...Read Morein fact, i have a volunteer plant growing right beside it (3yrs?). sure, we have had plenty of snowcover, and most likely figures into the plants survival. such a calming experience to brush up against it. i hope to collect some seed and put them with a shrub rose that i just successfully air-layered.

I am crazy about lavenders, so I've tried to grow Munstead as a bush and started from seeds. As it happened with the French/Spanish laven...Read Moreder (L. Stoechas), both attempts failed in the same catastrophic way - browning of the leaves over a very short period of time.
A few mentions though, from my own experience:
-I started simultaneously Munstead and French. Munstead germinated later (in about 12-14 days) as compared with the French (7 days).
-for most of the life of the seedlings, they were more robust and developed more than the French type.
-French branched voluntarily, while Munstead I had to prune to favor branching
-Munstead died faster (mid-April), so It's more sensitive to the heat-humidity combination of South-Eastern Florida.

This is the oldest lavender I grow, over 10 years and still going strong with neglect. I have it in part-shade, that's the amazing thing...Read More. If I deadhead, it blooms twice for me in a season. Love it.