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Garden

REVELING IN A GARDEN VICTORY

August 13, 2015

There is something rather momentous going on in my garden right now: Lavender is blooming.

For those of you who successfully grow lavender, this probably doesn’t seem like something worth dedicating a blog post to. With lavender, it seems, you either have it, or you don’t. I’ve struggled with growing lavender for years, which is why my path is lined with nepeta, a hard-working, unneedy plant that estimates the look of a lavender lines path in a slightly less refined manner.
After giving up on lavender, last year I was persuaded to try a new cultivar called ‘Phenomenal,’ which was said to be more hardy than other varieties. Hardiness, when it comes to lavender is a bit of a misnomer I think. Given perfect soil conditions, I think there are a lot of lavenders that would survive our zone 5 winters. Hardiness, when it comes to lavender, has a lot more to do with drainage; they absolutely will not tolerate sitting in cold, wet soil. ‘Phenomenal’ seems to deal with this situation better than others.
Lavender also likes rather poor soil and when I planted ‘Phenomenal’ last year, I planted it in a mix of bark mulch and gravel. That’s it. 
A new ‘Phenomenal’ lavender added this spring.
The three plants I planted last year didn’t look so great in spring, but thank goodness I was patient with them, as all three have rebounded to some degree. I added another two plants this year and planted them in mostly gravel with a touch of soil. I also mulched the soil around them with chicken grit, which is a stand-in for a fine gravel and what I’ve been adding to most of my container mixes lately.
This year’s plant in the foreground, and a plant from last year blooming in the background.
The difference between last year’s plants and this year’s is interesting to note. Last year’s plants are somewhat sparser and greener but they have shot up gorgeous flowers that last and last. This year’s plants have the blue foliage you envision when you think of lavender and are bushier, but that’s no indication of what they might look like next spring.
There is a certain satisfaction that comes from finding success with a plant that has previously proven to be an expensive addition to the compost pile. We gardeners must revel in these victories.
garden lavender phenomenal
by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener 
12 Comments

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previous post: YET ANOTHER BLUE DOOR
next post: FRIDAY FINDS

Comments

  1. Rachel says: August 13, 2015 at 8:17 pm

    So, I can't remember how I found your blog since I've never been a gardener (I've tried to grow some veggies and herbs on and off, never had much success, and never even attempted any kind of ornamental gardening), but I've enjoyed your writing and your non-gardening DIY projects… and then two months ago I bought my first house, and a lot of plants came with it, and now I'm obsessed with learning how to keep them alive and even make them better and plant new things. But there is soooo much to learn! (and I'm still trying to figure out what all the plants ARE).

    We have a little bed out front around a small tree (no idea what kind) and one of the things in the bed is lavender. It seems to be doing okay… is lavender just finicky in terms of location, and maybe ours just happens to be a good one for it (also our winters are definitely milder than Wisconsin; I'm in northeastern Oklahoma), or does it need any other special kind of care? I really love the smell and I want to keep it alive! 🙂

    Reply
    • Erin Schanen says: August 14, 2015 at 2:27 pm

      Hi Rachel! I'm so happy to hear of your new obsession. There is a lot to learn but no worries, that's the beauty of gardening, you're never finished learning (so therefore you're never behind in learning). I spent most of the first three years of gardening at my house trying to figure out what was a weed and what was a flower.

      If the lavender was growing there when you bought the house it's probably happy and I wouldn't move it. The key thing is drainage and a good amount of sun (part or full). You can cut off spent flowers and dead bits as needed and do a little trimming for shape in spring, but never cut into the old wood or all the way to the ground as it often has a hard time growing back. That said I spoke with someone recently who cuts hers all the way to the ground every year and has a great flush of growth. Sometimes you just don't know, but I like to play it safe. Good luck with your garden. How fun to be learning a new place!

      Reply
  2. Heather - New House New Home says: August 14, 2015 at 12:36 pm

    I'm with you about having trouble growing lavender. When we moved to this house there was a rather large unruly lavender plant stuck in the corner of a small patch by the patio. It was in shade 90% of the time, but still had a few blooms on it. Of course, I wasn't happy with it's location. But when I moved it to the south facing garden (full sun), it just withered away. This year there was nothing on it at all.
    But last summer I planted 3 small ones in the same bed – poor sandy soil, bright full sun, tons of drainage – and they have done really well. I'm even thinking I'll need to move them around a bit because they're taking up so much room (already).
    You just never know with gardening.

    Reply
    • Erin Schanen says: August 18, 2015 at 3:39 am

      Isn't that the truth!

      Reply
  3. Kylee Baumle says: August 14, 2015 at 8:00 pm

    Oh, YAY!!! I'm so glad this has worked for you, Erin! I lost one plant this year (out of six), but you'll have that no matter what plants you grow. It was the second brutal winter in a row, and I'm still very happy for my 'Phenomenal' lavender. I think next spring I'll plant a bigger drift of it.

    Reply
    • Erin Schanen says: August 18, 2015 at 3:39 am

      Thank you again for the recommendation, Kylee!

      Reply
  4. Stephen Andrew says: August 15, 2015 at 12:23 pm

    I am still a lover scorned with lavender. In fact it pains me to recall my love lost. I feel like the old lady in Titanic. Except more painful.
    Here it goes. I had the most exquisite lavender border. It was 56 lavender plants around my patio. How they loved the arid, concretey soil. They bloomed with gay abandon. I had them successfully for six years! I wondered why all these people had issues with lavender?! And then over the course of two years, they all died. I tried to cut them back here, replace a plant there. Maybe I'll try again…

    Reply
    • Erin Schanen says: August 18, 2015 at 3:38 am

      Oh that is a completely tragic story. I'm so sorry. I wonder what in the world happened?

      Reply
  5. Lisa Greenbow says: August 17, 2015 at 1:00 am

    I am happy for you. I haven't any luck with lavender. I might give this one a try with a bit of grit to see what happens.

    Reply
    • Erin Schanen says: August 18, 2015 at 3:38 am

      I think it's worth a try. I really had given up on it.

      Reply
  6. Casa Mariposa says: August 18, 2015 at 1:40 am

    I love this lavender, too. I have three big plants I'm moving to a sunnier spot this fall. It's definitely a keeper. 🙂

    Reply
    • Erin Schanen says: August 18, 2015 at 3:37 am

      I'm glad to hear it's working for you too!

      Reply

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The Impatient Gardener

Do you love gardening? Me too! I'm Erin and I garden in Southeastern Wisconsin, zone 5. The Impatient Gardener is all about real-life gardening: the good parts, the bad bits and even the funny stuff. It's part information, part inspiration and a little bit commiseration. Thanks for visiting.

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Erin Schanen 🌿 The Impatient Gardener
I fell in love with gardening through container de I fell in love with gardening through container design and it’s probably still my favorite type of gardening. My trip to Philadelphia area gardens was full of so many excellent ideas. For several years I’ve been enamored with clustered pots, but in my opinion they work best when they are able to stand alone in a space. And you probably know me well enough by now to know that as far as I’m concerned, the bigger the pot, the better. Feast your eyes on these beauties and use your zooming fingers to really get into those nooks and crannies. 

Don’t forget to save your favorites because you know you’re going to be looking for them come next spring. 😀

Photos 1 & 2: Amazing container cluster at @longwoodgardens  that works particularly well because of the restraint used in the design. Also how many different ways is the universe going to tell me I need to grow agave before I actually listen?

Photo 3: This was probably favorite display I saw the whole time and of course it’s from the masters at @chanticleergarden This is a master class in texture. It’s also probably not attainable for the average home gardener because it relies heavily on tropicals that need proper overwintering in order to reach a good size. But there’s no reason why I (or you) couldn’t use this as inspiration to create a similar feel with other plants. 

Photo 4: Strappy foliage, bright orange and colorful pots create such a good doorway collection at @chanticleergarden 

Photo 5, 6 & 7: Similar colors were used at a patio doorway at Steve and Ann Hutton’s Owl Creek Farm home garden. A pot is perfectly framed by an arbor off a side patio. The front entrance has a pink theme (and an amazing feature pot that I couldn’t show here because all my shots are vertical). 

Photo 8: Back to @chanticleergarden where I could have studied this container planting for an hour just to soak up all the detail. 

Photo 9: And while I love a pot with a lot going on, never underestimate the power of a simply planted, gorgeous pot, like this one at @abunting64 garden Belvidere. 

#gbfling2023
I think every garden probably needs a little bit o I think every garden probably needs a little bit of water, even if it’s just a bird bath. All of the fabulous gardens I saw recently in the Philadelphia area incorporated water into them. Here are just a few examples of how lovely these water features were. 

@paxsonhillfarm @northviewgarden @brandywinecottage @longwoodgardens #gbfling2023
Gardens must have places to relax and enjoy the vi Gardens must have places to relax and enjoy the view even though we all know that most of us rarely take the opportunity to use them. The seating I saw in gardens in the Philadelphia area reflected their gardens and all were special. 

Make sure to share your favorite!

Photo 1:  I adored these perfectly lichen-covered chairs at @brandywinecottage

Photo 2: Great lichen game on this bench at Wayne Guymon’s mind-blowing garden WynEden. 

Photo 3: Perhaps my favorite seating moment of the whole trip was this chair in @jennyrosecarey @northviewgarden . Not only was it perfectly lichen covered (are you sensing a theme here?) but a volunteer cleome was growing right up through the middle of it. Unfortunately this photo of it isn’t grata because by this point in the trip my phone (I didn’t want to use my DSLR in the middle of the tropical storm so I switched to my phone) was getting very grumpy about the rain. 

Photo 4: I’d be happy to hang out on these chairs in @abunting64 ‘s gorgeous garden Belvidere. I loved this space. 

Photo 5: Color was the name of the game on this patio at Steve and Ann Hutton’s Owl Creek Farm. 

Photo 6: The most original table and benches I saw were at @abunting64 garden. This was a portion of the garden that was actually on the neighbors’ property adjacent to Andrew’s. It had been a vegetable garden but is getting a bit too shady so it will soon have a new life. 

Photo 7: We visited Barbara Tiffany’s Mill Fleurs in a deluge, which is a shame, and dotted throughout the property are examples of her husband Tiff’s amazing furniture. This was, called the Centipede was upholstered and quite different from the others. All were amazing works of art. 

Photos 8 and 9: The @scott_arboretum at @swarthmorecollege had some excellent seating, from brand new @deebenarc chairs to more lichen-covered charmers.

#gbfling2023
*** I can already see that some people do not unde *** I can already see that some people do not understand humor so let me just say this: 1. I was fully aware of the escaped convict situation (I’m an avid follower of the news, which is common for us journalists). 2. It’s ok to laugh about the fact that I’ve missed the Longwood meadow twice through weird circumstances while being a rational adult and realizing that I’m not making light of the situation that led to the meadow being mown. ***

I missed seeing @longwoodgardens beautiful meadow the first time I visited so I was excited to see it the second time. Not so fast! Turns out it had to be mown down during the search for an escaped convict who was hiding out there (at least that’s what I was told was the reason for the mowing). He’ll never see goldenrod the same way again! 😀

That whole situation was really unfortunate for @longwoodgardens (not to mention everyone who lives in the area), which had to be closed for about a week while the hunt was on!
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