Lavender (French & Munstead) *not* blooming

[Brock Meeks]

Hi guys!

I'm Brock. A first year gardener (zone 7b) who was very glad to find your site.

The week of Good Friday this year I did nearly all of my planting. This included (10) L. munstead, (2) French and (2) English.

Due to heat I lost a few (mostly ones I had planted up the driveway in the hopes of them coming back for years to come) so what remains is (8) munstead, (1) French and (1) Engilsh.

Since its July I am really having to watch them. They thrive in the heat, humidity, but watering them is a fine line. I have noticed that if it starts to turn brown, there is little you can do.

All that are potted are done so in well-drained containers. I'll attach a few photos.

I know that lavender doesn't do as well potted, but I want to bring them in over the winter and they just look so nice that I wouldn't even want to plant them. And the one English Lavender I did plant took off like a rocket, only to dry out in a matter of days. The English I have potted is probably the doing the best, along with the French.

After nearly four months of care, I have no blooms. Well, one pitiful bloom on the French.... I like plants so its ok, but I really would like for them to fully take off.

[imafan26]

Those types of lavenders you have French, Munstead and most of the augustifolia and lavendins only bloom for a short time in summer. A few weeks at most. If you want a lavender that blooms most of the time, lavender mutifida is the one that you want. It is not edible and it smells rather musty, but it does bloom most of the year. Multifida is hardy in zones 7-11 and will bloom year round in zones 9-11. I live in zone 12a so it bloom year round except maybe for a short time in December and January. It really hates rain.

You have a lot of small plants in a container. I have one plant in a container and I have to have it in full sun or it will get woodier. In the ground, it becomes a mound so it wants a large deep container. It likes slightly alkaline soil so a little dolomite doesn't hurt it. It does not like a lot of fertilizer and the leaves do not like to stay wet. Lavender when it gets big needs to be pruned regularly. It only blooms on new wood and it is set back or dies if you have to cut back into old wood. I've killed a few that way. It needs very good drainage and likes to be almost dry before it is watered again. It doesn't need much in the way of fertilizer. I only fertilize my potted lavender with slow release fertilizer very sparingly. They do need to be in full sun to get big and produce a lot of leaves. If you are overwintering indoors you still need a good light source.

[rainbowgardener]

The English and munstead lavenders do not need to come in for the winter. They are hardy to zone 5, so even in containers they will be fine in zone 7 winters. The French lavender is not cold hardy and does need to come in.

They can be grown in containers, but will do better and get bigger grown in the ground.

Imafan's garden experiences and mine are often very different, because the climates we garden in are so different. I only grow the English lavender. For me, it does repeat bloom all summer and well into fall as long as I keep clipping the flowers off. Often the lavender is one of the last things still blooming in my garden in late fall.

But otherwise I agree with everything imafan said. Well drained, sandy soil (cactus mix works), slightly alkaline, don't over-water or over-fertilize, clip it back often. In fact, I never fertilize my lavender. The ones in the ground get enough nutrients from the soil. The ones in containers, I just repot and redo the containers once a year with fresh potting soil. That has enough nutrients to last it.

But yours are very small, like seedlings. Most lavender does not bloom the first year from seed.

[Brock Meeks]

.....

[rainbowgardener]

[GardeningCook]

Hi guys!



They thrive in the heat, humidity, but watering them is a fine line. I have noticed that if it starts to turn brown, there is little you can do.

I'm really surprised to hear that you feel that your plants "thrive" in the "humidity", because here in Virginia that's what kills a lot of lavender - whether in containers or in-ground. Lavender is more of a Mediterranean plant - loves the heat, but "dry" heat rather than the moisture-riddled heat we tend to have here in the Mid-Atlantic & more southern regions. This is also why too much water (& poor air circulation on still, humid days) is also the bane of lavenders' existence here.

[Susan W]

Welcome Brock from a W TN neighbor. We can grow lots of things here in the midsouth, but lavender not high on the list! As I have mentioned several times elsewhere here, have several lavenders in containers, one in the ground some starts and barely started seedlings. I've done best with munstead and hidcote, and the ones I do from seed are munstead. We have 2 strikes against us, warm humid nights and plenty of rain.

In short, I don't follow all the rules in the books. My plants in containers are in the same soil mix as the other herbs and flowers. This soil gets freshened in the spring (just the top few inches), and plants sometimes get a dose of fish emulsion when I am doing the other umpteen herbs. I have one in ground that is OK, not sure how as it never really dries! My plants bloom for about 6 weeks May-June. A few blooms will show in July which is a treat!

Sadly the French lavender doesn't winter here, and you can try bringing them in. I suggest you separate the plants you have together, and give each a pot of its own, and I prefer going right to 12". There's still plenty of time for it to get itself together before winter.

Hope this helps.

[Brock Meeks]

Hi guys!



They thrive in the heat, humidity, but watering them is a fine line. I have noticed that if it starts to turn brown, there is little you can do.

I'm really surprised to hear that you feel that your plants "thrive" in the "humidity", because here in Virginia that's what kills a lot of lavender - whether in containers or in-ground. Lavender is more of a Mediterranean plant - loves the heat, but "dry" heat rather than the moisture-riddled heat we tend to have here in the Mid-Atlantic & more southern regions. This is also why too much water (& poor air circulation on still, humid days) is also the bane of lavenders' existence here.

I was told that the dryness is a bigger factor once the plants are established. I guess they thrive in heat and tolerate this humidity. Like I say, I have lost a few, but that was due to too much direct sunlight on 90+ degree days.

[Brock Meeks]

Welcome Brock from a W TN neighbor. We can grow lots of things here in the midsouth, but lavender not high on the list! As I have mentioned several times elsewhere here, have several lavenders in containers, one in the ground some starts and barely started seedlings. I've done best with munstead and hidcote, and the ones I do from seed are munstead. We have 2 strikes against us, warm humid nights and plenty of rain.

In short, I don't follow all the rules in the books. My plants in containers are in the same soil mix as the other herbs and flowers. This soil gets freshened in the spring (just the top few inches), and plants sometimes get a dose of fish emulsion when I am doing the other umpteen herbs. I have one in ground that is OK, not sure how as it never really dries! My plants bloom for about 6 weeks May-June. A few blooms will show in July which is a treat!

Sadly the French lavender doesn't winter here, and you can try bringing them in. I suggest you separate the plants you have together, and give each a pot of its own, and I prefer going right to 12". There's still plenty of time for it to get itself together before winter.

Hope this helps.

Thank you Susan. Nice to see a fellow gardener so close here. A lot of my plants have completely taken off, sadly the lavender wasn't any of them. I had high hopes.

I see now that its suited to a different climate. I'm still going to try.

[rainbowgardener]

Here in my rainy, humid zone 6 climate, lavender doesn't thrive and it doesn't get real big, because it dies back every winter, but it does grow and bloom.