pruning lavender vs. lavandin

There are two main types of lavender grown here in the high desert. What is most commonly referred to when people say "lavender" is Lavandula angustifolia, also known as "English Lavender" or "True Lavender". I think that the term "English Lavender" is because this is the form that is most commonly grown in the UK, but it isn't actually native to that region. "True Lavender"is a funny name to me, but it is called that because when Lavenders were first named, what is now known as L. angustifolia was also lumped with what is now known L. latifolia, and was called L. spica.  "True Lavender" was renamed L. officinalis denoting it's medicinal use. It was later renamed L. vera, and now is known as L. angustifolia.  I don't really like either of the common names, but I tend to use "English Lavender" since two other lavenders are "Spanish Lavender" (L. stoechas) and "French Lavender" (L. dentata). Spanish Lavender is occasionally to rarely grown here, and French Lavender is not hardy in this area so can only be grown as an annual. The other lavender that is commonly grown here is known as "lavandin".  Lavandin is a hybrid between L. angustifolia and L. latifolia, and is botanically Lavandula x intermedia.

Now the reason I point all this out is because when I started growing lavenders, I didn't know the difference. All I could find is hat the lavandins grow larger, are sterile, have very long stems good for craft work, and that lavandins are described as what is grown in the french perfume fields. I knew I had to have that one. I grew both 'Provence' and 'Grosso', both of which are highly perfumed, although the darker color of 'Grosso' makes it stand out in the landscape more.

'Provence' (left) and 'Grosso' (right). Note the long stems.

I struggled with pruning them those years, because they grow from the branch tips, and while I pruned them back as far as I could see any live growth, the plants became larger and larger each year, until they were five to six feet across, and then tended to die out in sections leaving a very unattractive mess of bare branches and tufts of growth at the ends. The only option was to replace them. Pruning back hard to the base results in dead stumps that do not regrow.

I then moved to this house which has what I believe is 'Hidcote', an English lavender, and learned how differently the English lavenders grow. English lavenders grow at the ends of the branches, but only until they get to a certain predetermined height. Then those branches die back in the winter and the plants grow new branches from the base. Because of this, all the dead branches need to be removed, to allow the new growth to come in. What it also means, and this is the important thing for a garden, is that the plants tend to stay the same size. When pruned back to the basal growths, those growths will achieve about the same size plant as the last year by blooming time.

English lavender 'Vicenza Blue'. Yep, an Italian English lavender. Note the short stems.

Yesterday when I was pruning my lavender, I was noticing not only the the fragrance is indeed sweeter than the more camphorous lavandins, but the way they are pruned are totally different.

Here is my English lavender yesterday before pruning. You can see that the new growth is at the base. For lavandins, the growth would be at the ends. 

After pruning half of it, you can see the the new growth more clearly.

 

The end result.

This 'Provence' lavandin had gotten too large for the spot. I tried cutting it back hard last spring, and you can see the result.

There was a tiny twig on the right that was near the base, and that is the only part that survived. The entire plant to the left did not regrow, and you can see the many dead stumps. (By the way, in a climate any more humid or moist than this one, don't mulch your lavenders or they will rot. Here, the mulch is needed to keep in moisture.)

Closer up, you can see the difference. You can see that the growth is only at the last couple of inches where there are green leaves. Further down, there is no active new growths from the leave nodes, and they won't grow them if you cut back below the new growths. You can also see how the lavandins die back - a large chunk of branch at a time, leaving a bare section in what would be a mound.

So although there are benefits to each, keep in mind the growth habits and care of each, in addition to the floral qualities. English lavender (L. angustifolia): short stems, smaller plants, sweeter fragrance, longer plant life. Lavandin (L. x intermedia): long stems, larger plants (each year larger), shorter plant life.

spring is here!

It's such a joy to have a garden. I've been walking through my garden noticing the little and not-so-little changes that happen as the season changes. Working at home means that my day has been little affected by shelter-in-place, so it's hard to keep up.

The Texas redbuds are finishing up. They are getting so big now, and in full bloom, the color of the light in the courtyard is magenta, as it filters down through the flowers.

Ipheion 'Rolf Fiedler' is also finishing. It's one of the plants that is getting shaded out by the redbuds.

My tree peony, too, is getting too much shade. Only two flowers this year. I'm not sure if I should drastically thin out the redbuds, or to just accept that the understory is going to change. Even the hellebores this year are less prolific than usual.

In a tough spot under the maple tree, I transplanted some of the Anemone nemerosa from another part of the garden. The heucheras failed in this spot. But these Anemones seem to be doing well. Yay! Success! Finally! Some people describe these as invasive since they can spread, but I hope they do spread. The original plants that came with the house really have not spread much in the last 7 years.

In the sunnier parts of the garden, the spring crocuses are done. I find these very disappointing, the flowers only lasting about 3 days. But the miniature irises are coming out. I divided most of these last year.

'Riveting'

'Gemstar'

'Alpine Lake'

I planted these Amsonia jonesii in June 2017, and this is the first time they are blooming. Pretty, yes. Contributing much to garden color, no.

I planted this blue flax Linum perenne 'Appar' last year, having appreciated a blue flax it in a friend's garden. This version is a deeper blue, and I must admit I am enchanted. It isn't that impressive in the garden right now, but with the number of buds on it, I expect more drama to come. The impressive thing about the plant is its ability to happily grow in this climate. I think I barely watered it after planting it. The stem ends where the flower buds are, hang dramatically downward like the plant is wilting, but it's not.

Another plant that I put in last year that barely got any water is Oenothera caespitosa, the tufted evening primrose. This native plant didn't shrug by the lack of care, and in fact has grown quite happily. The flowers are as large as tulips, and as impressively sized. They have a sweet fragrance, and grow an attractive rosette of ruffled leaves. Although the flowers will fade in the sun, the wild ones at least have a very long blooming season. We shall see how they perform in the garden, but I think I need a lot more of these.

I also planted a new cherry tree last year. 'Montmorency' has replaced the 'Ashmead's Kernal' apple that grew nicely but produced only a few small dry apples in the years I had it. Since my doctor says I'm not to eat apples any more, I replaced it. I'm getting a few flowers this year, even though the tree is still quite tiny.

I've also removed the plum tree that was being killed by borers. I'm not supposed to eat plums either, so I replaced it with a 'Juliet' sour cherry a few weeks ago. This is a bit of a gamble, since this cherry was developed in Saskatchewan. I don't know how it will tolerate our dry heat. But it's said to be a sweet tart cherry (an oxymoron, yes), that is sweeter than sweet cherries. It is also a natural dwarf, more of a large shrub than a tree really, only growing to 10-12 feet tall. It's a gamble, but I'm hopeful.

two day project

I know this doesn't look like a two day project, but it was. I thought it would be relatively easy to plant a rose, wouldn't you? The area had a dying Caryopteris in  the place, and how hard could it be to remove it, and plant a rose? Well, let me tell you. First I had to scrape off all the gravel around the bed, which of course needed to be sifted to remove the fines and wind-blown sand. This extended to the end of the bed on one side (almost seen in the top right corner) and around the shrub to the left. This was quite a length ordeal, with the decaying landscape fabric underneath, which had degraded to loose synthetic fibers which caught in everything - the shovel, the wheelbarrow, my hands, blew in my face. Try extricating sand and gravel out of that! Sifting gravel is no walk in the park either. Then there was the matter of loosening the soil, which took half a day and a pickaxe to get more than a few inches down. Then I was out of store-bought compost, and I sure wasn't going to the store to get more during this COVID-19 time. My own compost was still a little raw, so I had to use the pickaxe again to chop up the bits and then dig it in. Once the soil was loosened and amended, it was way too much to fit into the spot. So that had to be dealt with. Irrigation needed revision. So a day and a half later, the roses are planted, then watered, to settle all that soil. While that was settling, I turned the compost pile. Then there was mulching, then finishing sifting the gravel, and then spreading the gravel. Whew!
I'm pooped.

tulips

I decided to get back into tulips this year. In my old garden I had a few species tulips that did very well, but in this garden, the colors of those tulips just wasn't working for me. I settled on these white Darwin tulips called 'Hakuun'. I didn't expect them to bloom this early, very shortly after the crocuses have faded. They also aren't as large as I expected them to be. But I do love them and hope they will be with me for a long time. Many of the large flowered tulips fade out year by year, but in this climate they seem to do better and the Darwin types are supposed to be better about staying. Grow, tulips! Be fruitful and multiply!

The lilies are coming up! The lilies are coming up!

It's funny how excited I get at the sight of the lilies coming up. After the months of winter, the appearance of that tiny lifting of the mulch is much heralded. I almost do a little dance. I think it is more exciting than the early blooms of the crocuses. Different lilies make their entrances at different times, so there is great anticipation. I may have become somewhat in tune with the cycles of the lily, because just at that time when my brain says "Isn't it time for them to start coming up?" is usually within a day or two of when they first appear.


'Silk Road' is the last to appear, probably because it is planted in the ground instead of in pots. The ground stays cooler than the pots, so this delays their appearance. Do you see it? Do you see it? The first appearance of the tip of the bulb is that subtle lifting of the mulch in the left upper corner, about a quarter of the way in. You can barely see a faint shadow in the tent of the sticks, which is the pale tip of the lily stem making its appearance.

Lilium leucanthum which grew huge last year is just peeking out of the mulch.

I've been calling this lily 'Black Beauty' even though I don't believe it is. I bought it as 'Black Dragon' but it is clearly not even close. 'Black Dragon' is a trumpet lily that is dark burgundy on the outside and white on the inside. This one looks like an oriental lily with open flowers and a red interior. Still, it is fun to grow. 

'White Butterflies was one of my most anticipated bulbs that I planted two years ago. They barely survived their location, so I'm trying to coddle them in pots. I had dug them out in the middle of summer, and strangely, they immediately grew a couple of new leaves in the few weeks before a hard freeze. They may grow this year, but I don't really expect much until maybe next year (I hope). 

 'Red Velvet' also was not particularly happy where it was, so I also dug it up last summer and potted it up. It looks much happier now. I should get a few blooms this year.

'Anastasia' was the first lily to pop up this year. It's already made significant headway. I bought this one to replace the 'Scherezade' that I gave away. I didn't like how 'Scheherezade started out bordered in yellow, and 'Anastasia' looks like it may be just as vigorous with color and flower form I like better. This one also languished in the garden spot where I planted it, and I dug them up and grew them in this pot last year. I got one flower last year, but the plants grew strong and vigorously. It looks like this year will be great. Anticipation!

Spring is on its way

In this time of "Shelter-In-Place" it's especially nice to have a garden, to bring joy to the heart with the coming of spring.

I've had 7 cubic yards of mulch delivered. It took us 3 weeks to move it and spread it where it needs to go in the garden. Of course after it's all done, I realized I missed a spot.

Just starting. I estimate it took 60 trips with the wheelbarrow.

The hellebores are still blooming. I think my best one is still 'Pink Frost'.

Although the NoID is also a favorite.

And although Flower Girl is still getting established, they have quickly charmed me.

The roses are starting to leaf out. I get so excited by this, but I know that my friends, spouse and family would just yawn.

March 7, the pruned back 'Freedom' that I grew from a cutting looked like this.

And now it looks like this.

I'm particularly excited about the new growth on the hard-pruned roses, and all the new basals that are forming.

Bishop's Castle

Pure Perfume

 Winchester Cathedral

There are even a few flower buds forming on 'Winchester Cathedral'.

Lilies bursting out of the soil are such a thrill. I cherish each point comes up.

Anastasia

Iris unguicularis 'Logan Calhoun' didn't bloom at all through the winter, and now is making up for lost time. You can tell it was a harsh winter, because of all the leaf damage.

My best Hippeastrum is 'La Paz' and it is now putting forth it's annual show.

happiness is a freshly made bed

 The bed of Salvia 'May Night' was looking scraggly last year. Since it was one of the first plantings I made in the garden, I knew that the soil wasn't particularly well amended. This was also a low area on the yard. When I first took out the lawn and made these planting areas, I thought it would be nice to have the gentle swales in the garden. I was wrong. The swales went against the flow of the garden, and made for problematic irrigation and maintenance. To try to amend the problem, I dug out all the Salvias, amended the soil with about 5 cubic feet of organics and compost, 3 buckets of "topsoil' from another part of the yard, and dug it all in, deeply. Ah, a nice beautiful bed. Only then did I realize that the problem with the Salvias was probably not the soil. I had never installed drip emitters among the planting! They did surprisingly in retrospect, considering the lack of irrigation. Now to replant and get them some irrigation.