Neal, I thought Rosemary was hardy in Z6.

Most say zone 7, but there may be hardier options out there nowadays.

Lavender that I started from seed has stayed around for three years so far. I moved it this fall, though, so we'll see what happens.

chelle -- I got english Lav form the swap one yr. it started small and just kept growing and growing....

I wish I could find a nice mounding Lav... so far all of mine have been gangly willy nilly - all over the place lavender.

Terese, see if you can find some Lavandula 'Mini Blue'. I had some this past summer and they stayed nice and short, topping out at about 10" to tip of bloom... while growing in the middle of heavy traffic.

I just ordered seeds from Swallowtail Garden for Lavandula 'Lavance'. They have 'Mini Blue' and several other selections that look like they'd mound nicely. Plus, they''re doing free shipping (maybe only through today? this "this week" offer was on the site last week but still shows on their website banner) on orders over $40. http://www.swallowtailgardense...

Do any of you trim or shear back Lavender? When is the best time to do that? I always put it off, not sure when to do it, but they end up getting ugly after a few years- lanky and woody.

I used to shear mine. Best early, early spring before they get growing.

Oh good, Rita, that is what I was hoping! How far back to you shear them? I'm thinking about 1/3...?

Hard to say. You want to get it back to the woody part so that those woody stems will put out nice green growth and it will turn into a nice thick clump. But you don't want to sheer them back to stumps as that would be too much and might kill them.

Shape them and see how much you took off. You can always take more if they still don't look cut enough.

If you're in cold zones grow Lavender Augustifolia varieties and they need good drainage and do not over feed.

daisies, roses, angel trumpets, yellow day lilies, marigolds, agapanthus and zinnias. I just am starting my beds. Hoping to add a few more lovely things this spring.

Cajunmeme said:daisies, roses, angel trumpets, yellow day lilies, marigolds, agapanthus and zinnias. I just am starting my beds. Hoping to add a few more lovely things this spring.

Welcome to ATP.

Yes, always seems to be room for just a few more plants.

Not really herb herbs, but I've got some lavenders (L. angustifolia 'alba') that I planted last fall. they're still juveniles, but the warm spring weather definately does them good, see lots of fresh leaves. Bit surprised though that they survived the winter. It was unusually wet and they're in clay, amended with some sharp sand.


Can't really see it, can you...It's the two lower beds. 6 each. I'll go make a better one :p

I see them.

They look good, Lee-Roy.

I'm still not sure if mine made it through winter this year, or not. We're back to freezing at night again now, so they're probably better off waiting anyway.

I might have some Lovage this year. I noticed some plants that look like it, but I need to study them further to be sure.

Anyway, here two more photos :)

Lee Roy, those look great. It looks like the soil amendments with the raised beds kept them happy through winter.

Success with lavender has been hit and miss with me, and when they succeed I'm never sure exactly why.

Chelle, are you seeing Lovage that seeded from last year? Curious how big they've gotten for you.

Here are the pictures I took just this afternoon, Neal. I'd grown weary of trying to start this in a container, so I just scattered seed in certain garden spots last year.

Is it Lovage? I'm on pins and needles with excitement, so I hope it's not just another "weed" that I already have a lot of and just don't recognize!