Well,I suppose it could have been much, much worse, considering this winter. At least, that's what I keep telling myself as I prune away the dead parts of each plant. Because each plant has winter die back. It ranges from 30 percent to, well, 90 percent.
So, here are some pictures. These were taken a couple of weeks ago.
Here is a row of the Croxton's Wild. The entire east side greened up, about another quarter on the western side greened up in the last week, but the Croxton's are also budding where it is green so last night I cut away the remaining gray stems, to make room for the new growth coming on underneath.
When I am completely done pruning, I will take a picture of the giant pile of gray lavender fluff on the compost
so you get an idea how much I've had to cut away. I'm not sure if the western half of the plants didn't come back from wind burn or what. I'm still not as aggressive of a pruner as I should be, and this will force me into a corner.
Of course it is the Croxton's that are doing the best. My least favorite variety. My Marge Clarks, my favorite variety are among those doing the worst. But, at least they are not dead. Like the Lavandins.
Every single one.
The Abriallis, the Dilly-Dillys, the Seals, all bought on a 6 hour round trip to Hartford City, are all dead. I don't think it was the winter that killed them but the long cold, wet spring. They just couldn't outlast it. neither could my remaining surviving lavenders from Asheville. Kaput.
All plants are gray and dead looking in the spring but the difference is the leaves. See how this Lavandin's leaves are all turned down? Like a miniature maudlin weeping willow? Dead. As compared to this plant that has some greening up to do.
But that plant is not a good example, because it never greened up and after removing all the winter dieback, it looked like this.
This is a drastic example. The only other ones this bad are the hidcote giants, and I'll post about them later.
Here is a better example of the type of pruning I'm doing. Before:
And after:
As pruning and blooming progresses, I'll post more.
When I am completely done pruning, I will take a picture of the giant pile of gray lavender fluff on the compost
so you get an idea how much I've had to cut away. I'm not sure if the western half of the plants didn't come back from wind burn or what. I'm still not as aggressive of a pruner as I should be, and this will force me into a corner.
Of course it is the Croxton's that are doing the best. My least favorite variety. My Marge Clarks, my favorite variety are among those doing the worst. But, at least they are not dead. Like the Lavandins.
Every single one.
The Abriallis, the Dilly-Dillys, the Seals, all bought on a 6 hour round trip to Hartford City, are all dead. I don't think it was the winter that killed them but the long cold, wet spring. They just couldn't outlast it. neither could my remaining surviving lavenders from Asheville. Kaput.
All plants are gray and dead looking in the spring but the difference is the leaves. See how this Lavandin's leaves are all turned down? Like a miniature maudlin weeping willow? Dead. As compared to this plant that has some greening up to do.
But that plant is not a good example, because it never greened up and after removing all the winter dieback, it looked like this.
This is a drastic example. The only other ones this bad are the hidcote giants, and I'll post about them later.
Here is a better example of the type of pruning I'm doing. Before:
And after:
As pruning and blooming progresses, I'll post more.
This is great info, thanks for sharing. I replaced my front yard with about 300 lavender plants and am going into my first year of winter.
ReplyDeleteAs of today all mine are still green, but some of my Hidcote blue look pretty rough, not sure if its typical winter dieback or not. The leaves are still upright just very gray now.
I will follow your blog as I found it to be helpful. I have Provence, Grosso, Otto Quast, Hidcoite and Dark Eyes spanish lavender variety. I'm in Zone 7A
Hi, sorry I have just seen you comments now. Since you are further south, you should be fine. It's windburn and wet springs that hurt my lavender the most. As long as the leaves, gray they may be, are upright, you know the roots are still active. It's when they are drooping that you are in trouble. I've never heard of Otto Quast. You may enjoy the book The Genus Lavundula by Susan Upton, she works for Kew Gardens in England and you can get it off Amazon.
DeleteTo add, I started all mine as 3.5 inch potted plants, and had some of the otto quest 2.5 inch plugs. I planted them in late august and they have really grown. Am a bit concerned about my Hidcote. What did you do when yours died over winter? Just replace them next spring?
ReplyDeleteI would include a picture but am unsure how to do so.
I have a green thumb friend who starts most of my lavender these days. Last summer was the first summer I found little starts of lavender growing 6 inches to 12 inches away from an established plant. I pulled out the completely dead ones and replanted. Those that greened up on one side I kept and pruned but in some cases I pruned too hard and that half of the plant never came back. I'm still learning too. Keep up on the blog or sign up for emails I'll be updating later in June. My parents went on vacation in Michigan and visited Harbor View Lavender farm. Because of what they learned, we are taking a radical approach to the lavender this year. I will be planting upwards of 40 plants in an entirely new way. Stay in touch. J
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