Growing Lavander in a Pot and loving this sight.

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.

I'd keep the lavender in your screened in porch--you're in about the coldest zone where that lavender would be hardy, and when you have something in a pot instead of in the ground that tends to knock about a zone off the hardiness so I'm not sure it would survive a winter outside in a pot. Plus freezing can crack clay pots so because of that I'd recommend indoors as well.

As far as your other plants, if they're really perennials in your zone then they should be fine for the winter, but if you can post here what you have someone will know if one of them needs special treatment in order to have the best chance of surviving.

One more question about my lavendar. If i keep it on the screened in porch, where it will be very cold, cause the screens do not have glass, and there will be moisture from snow. Will i need to water my lavander or do anything to it through the winter months. Should i move it somewhere now since we have had a frost?? I figure its ok where it is at for awhile, cause we wont have extreme cold for another month or hopefully longer. But i am wondering if i need to water it, since i have not done anything with it since it frost the last 3 nights. Actually its been awhile since i have watered it, cause the weather turned so cold. I read they are easily over watered. Do i still need to water in the colder, fall and winter months? Thanks so much. The picture below is what it looked like after a couple weeks of being planted. Tomorrow i am going to take another photo. Now it is double that size, with a few tall straglers. Should i trim it back at all?

How cold does it get on the porch? I was assuming the porch was enclosed and protected from the elements--if that's not the case then you might be better off bringing it completely indoors if you've got a bright window you can put it in. It will still need some water during the winter, but you will have to be careful not to overwater it--best thing to do is stick your finger down a couple inches into the pot and see how wet it feels--if it's still damp then it doesn't need water but if it's dried out then give it a drink. Chances are it won't need to be watered very often, but it will need some water.

It does get very cold on the porch. It is totally screened in, but it does not have glass over the screens. Some rain and snow does get inside. I will enclose a picture. Thanks so much for replying.