Beginner Gardening: Growing Lavander in a Pot and loving this sight., 1 by twohassles43

twohassles43 wrote:
Hello, i am very happy to have found this forum and i even see some people from my area. I am pretty much a beginner at planting flowers. I planted all kinds of stuff this past Spring, and i was so proud everything. I found myself finally figuring out what everyone means when they talk about finding serenity in there gardens. I never dreamed that i would so enjoy planting flowers and learning as i go. As i said i did lots of planting, so everything was experimental. I have tons of great ideas for next Spring and lots more knowledge, but always learning. I think its great to learn from each other. I posted a reply to another thread to someone asking about planting Lavander. In seeing her question about Lavander, i ended up replying to her with a question. Sorry if i should have just started a new topic with my question instead of putting it into a reply. Anyway, i am reposting my question as a new topic, hoping it will be seen better this way. Sorry it is repeated, but so happy to be talking with all of you, and learning from u. Looking forward to browsing this sight more. This is my question:
I planted province lavander in a pot this past spring. It has done very well and i am wondering what should i do with it for the winter since it is in a clay pot? We have had our first freeze about 4 days ago. It can get very cold here in the winter, as we live in Galesburg Illinois. Temps can get to below 15-30 degree windchills. I have a screened in back porch, and i am considering setting the pot of Lavander in the East area where it would get sunlight through a screen until midday. Would it be better to keep my lavander on the screened in porch in the pot or put it against the house outside where it would get more sunlight? I am new gardner and i am trying to figure out what to do with my perennials i planted for the winter. All are in the ground except the Lavander which i started in a pot and will put in the ground in the Spring. Also is there anything i need to do with my Perennials that are in the ground for the winter. Everything i planted did great, and i so enjoyed my first year of flower gardening. I am sad to see the way things look since we got our first frost and not quite sure what to do with all the things i planted during to prepare them for winter. Some being annuals and some being perennials. I am assuming i need to pull the annuals up or cut them back since they will all die off. My concern is does the perennials need any kind of care to survive our winters? I am doing my homework to learn about my flowers and caring for them for winter, but any tips would also be appreciated. You can see the pot of Lavander in the picture below and get a glimpse of some of my flowers. I was very proud of how well my first attempt at gardening went. I learned so much. Thanks so much. This looks like a great forum.