What a task that is... is it necessary?
It just seemed like some of my Spanish lavender was getting kind of junky looking and wasn't putting out new flower heads.
I thought maybe it needed deadheading. I finally ended up shearing the top off to whole plant.
So what do you do with your lavender?
Do you deadhead lavender?
LOL, usually, I end up thorwing it away because, like this year, it has gone way past useable before I get to it. I do sheer it back, when I get to it, and it fluffs up nicely in very little time.
Hi Kathleen,
I have several in my garden and use very little in the house.
I usually leave it on the bush because it's pretty and smells nice.
So I guess that was what I meant, if you leave it on the shrub are you suppose to deadhead it at some point.
Or do you wait and just cut the whole thing back in the fall, winter...spring?
I deadhead my English (L. angustifolia) and get a second round of flowers. Don't know if the same is true of L. stoechas.
You really don't need to cut it back unless it gets straggly or you want to prune it. It will grow into quite a good sized shrub.
Mine has also rebloomed, when I get to it soon enough. L. stoechas isn't hardy here, and so I look at it as annual and keep it pretty well sheered. When I remember to plant it!
OK.. Thanks a lot, I appreciate your responses.
I guess deadheading should have been obvious, I just never gave it any thought until my Spanish Lavender started looking kind of yucky. The English Lavender wears the old blooms better than the Spanish.
Holy Cow - Between the Roses, Lavender and Dianthus deadheading consumes a huge chunks of my time *s*
I just yell at mine...no flowers, no lovely stems, it kind of just sits in the pot and pouts (sigh). I just bought a new one to keep them company (Florence). It is a nice size, maybe they'll compete to be the tallest? I can dream on...
~Sunny
p.s. Dovey your garden is lovely. Maybe one day for me...!
Thank you Sunny...
I wonder if the reason your lavender doesn't bloom could be lack of sun?
The old bloom stalks on mine are looking a little tattered, but they're still putting out a few little blossoms that the bees & butterflies are enjoying, and they smell wonderful... so they'll probably stay for a while yet. LOL, I think I deadheaded the lavender hedge last year between Thanksgiving & Christmas! I bundled up the dried stalks so I could toss them into the fireplace... nice!
That's a great idea critter.
I kinda hate to admit this, LOL, but I think I got the idea of lavender bundles from.... *dum dee dah dum* Martha Stewart. Ha!
*LOL* OK that's funny
Martha used to be the bomb... now we are embarrassed to admit we watch her.
As long as you're confessing, I will too.
I watched her show recently and she demonstrated how to properly fold bed sheets... I now fold like Martha
Although I draw the line at ironing my sheets
Nor will I tie my sheets and towels with scented ribbons so my linen closet looks attractive!
In a conversation shortly before our wedding, my soon-to-be-MIL turned to me and said, in her elegant Southern accent, "Maatha Stewart is mah ihdol" That goes on record as the scariest thing ever said to a new bride!
Some friends of mine admired the lavender hedge only this afternoon, and the bees are still enjoying it, so I guess it's not time to clip it back yet!
*LOL*
You poor thing you...
I'm sure your MIL has other more redeeming qualities
Oh, indeed she does! I just love her!! We've gotten on well together since we first met, when Jim & I were college sweethearts.
And just to bring this back O/T... I think I've finally convinced her to plant some lavender around the edge of her rose garden next spring. She goes out every day to tend to her beautiful tea roses and clip some blooms for the house.... I am betting that she will deadhead her lavender, LOL!
Actually, I usually clip about half my lavender blooms to dry for bouquets, but this year it was just too rainy the week that they were at their peak, and I didn't feel like dealing with sopping wet flower stalks.
critter - does she cook? does she cook? can she adopt me? or at least recomend a good cook book. I am pining for Georgia, even 20 years after leaving... (hehehe, think I found me a magnolia that will survive our desert living...jasmin is doing well...but no kudzu here in the desert...) My daughter has taken it upon herself to teach me to cook... (I am not at all like MS, but maybe I could have a midlife crisis and move in that direction) ... no lavender in my yard this year, but I may have to buy some at the farmer's market this week - fireplace season is coming up quick!
LOL... she makes a mean fried chicken... actually, she's a splendid southern cook, and I think she stopped considering me a Yankee when she found out I loved grits, collard greens, etc. She's also a fabulous baker, everything from scratch... not me, I'm a big fan of The Cake Mix Doctor cookbooks! We enjoy our similar interests and are amused by our differences.
I can recommend a wonderful cookbook that she gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago.... _Mama Dip's Kitchen_ by Mildred Council, one of NC's most famous cooks. Her pecan pie recipe is outstanding... she puts chopped pecans into the filling rather than just on top (actually, when I make it now I put them into the filling and also on top because I don't think there's any such thing as too many pecans).
Well, now we're not only O/T for this thread, we've left the topic of the entire forum! LOL Sorry, Dovey.
She sounds like a lovely lady critter.
The great thing about lavender is how well it winters here.
I grow over a hundred roses and in the winter the garden looks barren.
Except for my lavender plants, they are about the only thing that looks alive.
Critter
I don't get fussy about things like that - Topic is just a starting off point.
Making friends in the garden, is a real prize
:-)
I agree with dovey. everything is connected. the topic will be discussed amidst the connections.
Hey Dovey,
I took your advice and moved my lavender slowly into the sun. I also started giving it more water (well, G-d helped with that this week...) and Voila! I have new green growth. I'm so tickled. I also gave them new, bigger pot homes - merciful heavens they were rootbound something fierce. I'm actually surprised they are still alive.
I think I was doing it all wrong - water when they are young and new, less water when they get older. Anyway, for the moment, they seem to be much happier!
Thanks for the advice.
(keeps mum about MIL's) But I love to cook! :)
~Sunny
Sunny,
I'm thrilled for you. I hope you have nice plump flower heads soon.
One of my favorite things to do with lavender is to gather a bouquet for the guest bath.
It smells the place up real purdy.
Actually that's about the only place I've used my lavender flowers.
Its best to cut Lavender back to keep it bushy. Deadheading is easy...just shear them off.