Be Patient!
Our first lavender plants went into the ground in 1999. I tested 100 plants of over a dozen varieties, including lavandins and they all did well. Combining book research, farm consultations and experience, I was sure that growing lavender in mid-Michigan would prove to be hard work, with a most rewarding harvest. The first three seasons went fairly well, although I discovered micro-climates that were either more or less conducive to certain varieties. I moved plants around and true to the "books" they would start to bloom as promised. The angustifolias always bloomed first, starting in mid-May and staggering by variety. The lavandins would start to bloom in July and some continued to throw out stems, with others having a rebloom in the fall.
Spring of 2002. We had sustained cold and wet weather. The angustifolias didn't bloom on schedule. But the plants were all healthy and green. We had a heat wave in June and by the first week in July, every plant on the farm decided to bloom at once! I spent a frantic week or so cutting stems for six hours a day to get the harvest in. It was our best harvest, with our oldest plants having reached full maturity finally at three years. I harvested over 700 bundles of lavender, with the bulk of them being Grosso.
Then came winter of 2002/2003. We had no snow cover here that winter and then in mid-March it hit minus 16 degrees one night. I remember feeling sickened over this as I looked out over the lavender - this would be the real test of hardiness, I knew. I was most worried about the lavandins, as they are not as hardy as the angustifolias, and without any protection, I wouldn't know for many months whether or not they would survive this weather. (Note that in seasons past, I had actually been out pruning lavender in March). Because the temperatures were fluctuating all spring and going as low as minus 10 at night even in April, I did not do the normal spring pruning. It can damage the plant to prune it if the temperatures go below freezing immediately afterwards. We continued to have sustained cool and wet weather. The lavender was weeks and weeks behind, barely coming out of dormancy. BE PATIENT I kept telling myself and others. When people would call to report their lavender was dead, I explained that we had not had enough warm weather or sun yet.The Folgate, as well as all of the rest of the 1500 plants here on our farm, were still completely grey up until the 3rd week in May (in nicer springs I have harvested the Folgate by mid-May!) With a couple of days of sunshine in late May, I was able to finally see some little bits of green emerging from the bottom of some of the angustifolias. Whereas many people had impatiently thrown out those dead looking plants, I knew from experience to let them alone. I had one season where I had pruned the Fred Boutins and we got a hard frost that night. It shocked the plants and they looked dead. I was too impatient and dug out many of them, saving only three or four of the largest plants. Those that I left alone did not get green until August of that summer. The next year they were beautiful. So I learned a lesson in patience. Give your lavender plants time when the weather is not conducive to lavender's needs..
By mid-July (2003), I had harvested only 22 bundles of lavender and those were Folgate. I was still seeing green emerging and had vowed to leave the rest alone and prune as they greened up, and harvest what I could. This was the year that I found out which lavenders are the hardiest.
By fall of 2003 I realized that the winter of 2002 with its unusual weather pattern had devestated most of my lavandins. I was heartsick to admit defeat and had to pull out over 800 mature Grosso, White Spike, Fred Boutin, Old English and other lavandins. These plants were at their height of production size-wise, some over 48" across in width and 48" high. We could go another 10 years growing lavandins without a problem, but then, should we realize another winter like that one, we would risk losing the plants again. At this point, I've decided to concentrate primarily on the hardy angustifolias for our display gardens, knowing I can't fight Mother Nature.
This is what lavender looks like at the end of winter, beginning of spring. The Grosso lavender above looks dead, but if you look closely at the bottom of the plants, you will see how they green up gradually from the bottom. Remember that lavender is a semi-shrub, and if you treat it more like a shrub, than your standard perennial flowers, you will have better success growing lavender.
One of the things gained from disaster is usually knowledge. The winter of 2002 taught me which of the plants are the very hardiest, and they are not the ones spoken of in the literature. Traditionally Wyckoff has purported to be the hardiest, good to minus 25 degrees and Hidcote and Munstead are touted as also hardy lavenders. Well, in my weather weary garden, the following proved to be the best lavenders for cold climates:
Folgate
Ashdown Forest
Betty's Blue
Nana Alba
Martha Roderick
Melissa
Royal Velvet
Royal Purple
Jean Davis
Hidcote Pink
Grey Lady
Croxton's Wild
Graves
