I'm in Love With Lavender
Posted: Tuesday, October 07, 2008
by Arlene Wright-Correll
http://www.learn-america.com
This summer a friend of mine who owns a small goat herd has decided to add making goat soap to her incredibly busy schedule and she was telling me of her plans. She has the goat milk and was making a list of several other things she said she needed.
With my herb gardens going strong, though weedy, I told her I could supply her with many herbs and herbal essential oils and I had a great supply of lavender blossoms from the 2007 pickings. Thus I was able to give her several things on her list and I was able to get them out of my pantry.
These lavender bushes get a great deal of intense sun and though the soil in that area was heavy with clay, I amended it with lots of gravel and some sand to loosen up the soil and give it the ability to drain a lot better than the clay soil of our zone 6 in Kentucky does.
Out in the Mediterranean herb beds which are in the South part of our gardens the story is different. In the year of 2000 I planted about 1,000 lavender seeds in our greenhouse which included English, Hidcote, Hidcote Pink and Munstead. Of the 1,000 lavender seeds only about 100 ever became about four inches high. After I was able to harden these plants they went out in the late spring to the herb beds and though these lavenders are hardy to zone 5, we have very mild winters and since the others were hale and hearty I figured these would also. Well, think again, Correll, because for whatever reason only about ten or twelve of these have survived and they are exotically fragrant and I rarely pay any attention to them.
I found there were drawbacks to starting lavender from seed as they have a short shelf life and the germination rate was pretty low as I stated. Plus it seemed to take a long time for the seeds to sprout and I learned that this invites fungus to the seed trays and I know that is probably what happened to my seeds because they probably rotted before they could sprout. Then I think I put the sprouted plants out too soon as they should have had upwards of three months for root growth in order for them to have a successful transplanting. Since then I have learned that Hidcote is not as drought or heat tolerant as the other lavenders and that may have been the cause of them not surviving. Lavender does not tolerate wet or humid conditions.
"Tread the Earth Lightly" and in the meantime May your day be filled with Peace, Light and Love,
Author's note: This article was originally written for GreenThumbArticles.com
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)Good article. Well written and interesting. Thanks, Arlene, for sharing your expertise in herbs with us.SandraThank you so much for reading my article and for your kind words.
mmmm.... Arlene, as I read this the delightful scent of lavender filled the room! Very informative and thanks so much for sharing it with us!Thank you so much for reading my article and for your kind words. My gardening info usually comes from the "trail and terror" method of gardening and it is good to share the failures and perhaps the reasons why as well as sharing the successes.
The organization of your article wandered, used technical terms (zone six, for example), and left me as a laymen, confused. From goats to pantry to lavender to different sections of the garden to growing and "amending" (added?) the soil give me a roll coaster ride! You obviously have deep passion and expert knowledge of gardening--that comes through. Prune, pull, trim, nourish--until your words express their beauty as does your lavender!I am not making excuses, but it was a wandering day and a wandering mind that comes more often than not from a 73 year old cancer and stroke survivor and I regret that the article may not have made sense for you, but it did for me because Ibasically was telling a story about a friend who was able to use some of my herbs, especially the lavender which we grow.Regardless, I am glad you took the time to read my article and to take the time to make your fine comment. I truly appreciate your input and I hope my report on what went wrong when I planted some lavender from seed will help someone else from making the same costly mistakes.“Tread the Earth Lightly” and in the meantime… May your day be filled with…
Peace, Light and Love,
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