I did a little experiment. Since lavender needs a long growing season to produce the flowers, they need to be started now, but also require stratification (cool temps before sowing). Wintersowing is an option, but they probably won't germinate for at least a month.

I put 6 seeds in a DAMP paper-towel and stuck it in the freezer for 24 hours. After they were back up to room temp, I sowed them and put them under lights. The 1st seedling emerged in 3 days and the rest were up within 5 days. How cool is THAT!! The package advised chilling them in the fridge for 1 month, which would have needed to have been done a month ago to sow them now.

I've wintersown them. I don't remember for sure if they bloomed at all in the first year, but I think a few stems did near fall.

I love lavender but it doesn't do real well here. I think our clay soil is just to wet through winter and spring. They last just 2 or 3 years for me.

Karen

I winter sowed mine too, this is my first year starting them from seeds. I wonder if the freezer method would work for any other of perennial seeds that require cold treatment?

I sowed some lavender trying Joanne's method. Hope my results are as good as hers!

Mine must have been pre-statified? I plunked mine in the soil and they germinated in a seed starter dome.

All my little WS'd lavender are coming along great! Even the tiny seedlings have the wonderful scent if you rub a leaf

I followed Joanne's technique, but didn't have quite as good results. My seedlings took way longer to emerge, and they are now only about 1" tall. But you're right, Steven--they small SO good, even at this small size.

I love lavender but it doesn't love me. I have wintersowed it successfully several times, and it's pretty for a few years, but they just don't survive more than a few years. They don't like winter wet, and my clay soil has that to the extreme. This was last summer, but both plants have croaked.



Looking at my pictures, that old fence was so ugly. We got a new one late last summer. Though a chain link fence is never a thing a beauty, the new one is a vast improvement.

Karen

Your beds are so beautiful, Karen that you don't even notice the fence.

My lavender is maybe half an inch tall.....it had really good germination but hopefully it starts growing soon. Everything seems so far behind this year, but I have to say it all looks very lush right now with all this rain.

Your lavender looks great Karen, sorry to hear it didn't come back.

I have one other clump of lavender left, and it doesn't look so hot now either. It's starting to die out in the center.

Karen

I've got flower buds!! I will take a photo when the blooms open

We get to -20 here and Munstead, Hidcote, and Grosso do very well. I like it so much that if my soil stayed wet I would put it in containers.

Another good place for lavender is under the overhang of the house if you have one , less moisture and more heat.