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Growing Lavender in the Coastal South

Growing Lavender in the Coastal South

Escambia County Master Gardener Volunteer Carol Perryman shares information to help choose and grow lavender in the herb garden.

If you want to grow lavender in our hot & humid climate you must follow a few considerations which can be “do or die” rules. Will your lavender be an annual or a perennial? Hybridizers are always busy at work but, in the meantime:
Choose the right variety. (English lavender cannot easily be grown in our climate.)
1.Spanish Lavender- Lavandula stoechas- 18 to 24” tall, lighter scent, early bloomer & long blooming, drought & heat tolerant, good for mild winters, gray/green foliage, magenta-pink flowers with purple bract shaped like a pineapple with bunny ears.
2.’Goodwin Greek Gray’ Lavandula dentata x L. lanata – 2 to 3 feet tall & wide, silvery/gray toothed edged leaves, short spikes of deep purple to blue blooms, heat & humidity tolerant, good to 15 degrees F in winter,
3.French Lavender- Lavandula dentata -3 feet tall, lighter scent, summer bloomer & long blooming, heat tolerant (Protect from frost.), narrow gray & green leaf varieties, “dented” lavender colored flower buds that make up flower head/bract.
4. Sweet Lavender- Lavandula heterophylla – Tolerant of heat & humidity & cold tolerant to 15 degrees F. 1 1/2 to 2 feet tall, gray/green leaves &bright lavender flowers. Allow to dry between watering.
5. ‘Phenomenal’ Lavandula x intermedia – This is a newer evergreen hybrid developed for extreme heat or cold. It is disease resistant, tolerates our humidity, 24” x 32” high & wide with blue to purple blooms and gray/green leaves.

herb garden planting

Lavender in the Escambia County Extension herb garden. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County.

Choose your site well or consider growing in pots.
1. LIGHT – Full sun.
2. DRAINAGE – Focus on drainage. MUST be well-draining site or pot or modified to be so.
3. SOIL – Loose almost neutral soil.
4. AIRFLOW – Focus on air circulation which will help dry off the leaves after rain. Space appropriately.
5. WATER – Focus on water source. Lavender does not like to be watered overhead. A dripline
is best or water by hand around roots, not on leaves. Check water requirements for your chosen variety.
6. MULCH- Whether in the ground or in pots, use light-colored gravel or small rocks as mulch
to help reflect sunlight & heat to help keep foliage dry. Heat & light reflected off a nearby brick, stone, or stucco wall, help keep foliage dry too.
7. ACCESS- Must be able to deadhead & prune. Lavender only blooms on new growth. In our climate it should be pruned back about 1/3 of it’s height & shaped to keep the mound-like shape in early January unless we have an extremely cold winter. If so, then early spring. You can prune lightly after deadheading spent blooms to promote new growth throughout bloom season. Add 1 inch of composted materials around plant each spring or lightly fertilize with slow time-release fertilizer. Do not over fertilize. Lavender doesn’t need much fertilizer.

Lavender may grow best for you in a container.

Lavender may grow best for you in a container. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County.

If you are new at growing lavender, try pots. You could try several varieties in different locations to better understand which conditions & locations will work best in your garden. The beauty of pots is their portability. If one location doesn’t work, you can move the pot.

All lavender is edible. You can use the leaves or flowers, fresh or dried. Fragrant lavender is a wonderful addition to your garden although in our climate, most lavenders are not going to be long lived. If you have found “the spot” in your own little microclimate & your lavender thrives year after year, consider yourself lucky.

Video: Home Grown Cucumbers

Video: Home Grown Cucumbers

Cucumbers are a favorite fruit of many gardeners and with a little routine care, you can harvest fresh fruit from your own home garden. Learn some basic information about starting your own cucumbers In the Backyard Garden with UF IFAS Extension Escambia County.

 

Growing Your Own Bush Beans

Growing Your Own Bush Beans

Bush beans are an easy and enjoyable plant to grow in the home garden.  These particular beans do not require a trellis and will be ready to start harvesting in about 50 days.  Learn more about growing your own bush beans with UF IFAS Escambia County Extension In the Home Garden.

 

Attract Wildlife with Landscape Imperfections

Attract Wildlife with Landscape Imperfections

Landscape activities have already begun in our Panhandle counties with cleanup, mulching, raking, and pruning.  Our mild temperatures and days with sunshine spur us to jump into our landscape preparations for the spring growing season.

This year before you send all your debris to the compost pile or patch up thinning turf areas, consider that some landscape imperfections may actually be good for local wildlife.

We all know how important it is to plant nectar attracting plants for bees but there are other easy practices that can help promote more native bees in local landscapes.  There are some solitary native bee pollinators that will raise young in hollow stems of plants.  Instead of cutting all your old perennial  or small fruit stems back to the ground, let some stay as a home to a native pollinating bee.  This does not have to detract from the look of the landscape but can be on plants in the background of a border garden or even hidden within the regrowth of a multi stemmed plants.  Plants that are especially attractive to native bees have a pithy or hollow stems such as blackberry, elderberry, and winged sumac.

The hollow stems of upright blackberries can be home to solitary bees. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County

Another favorite site for solitary bees is in the ground.  These ground nesting solitary bees should not be compared to yellow jacket wasps.  Solitary bees are not aggressive.  Mining or digger bees need some bare soil surfaces in order to excavate small tunnels for raising a few young.  Maybe you have an area that does not need a complete cover of turf but is fine with a mixture of turf and ‘wildflowers’.  A few open spaces, especially in late winter and early spring will be very attractive to solitary bees.

Beneficial solitary bee mounds in the ground of a winter centipedegrass lawn area. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County

One of our fastest disappearing homes for wildlife are natural cavities.  In residential sites, we often prune or remove limbs or trees that are declining or have died.  If the plant or tree is not a hazard, why not leave it to be a home for cavity nesting birds and mammals.  If the dying tree is large, have a professional remove hazard pieces but leave a trunk about 10-15 feet tall for the animals to make a home.  You may then get to enjoy the sites and/or sounds of woodpeckers, bluebirds, owls, flying squirrels, and chickadees.