I have had good luck with "fred bolton" I think lavender and it was bought from Ricters herbal catalog that stated was good through zone 9.

I live on the coastal bend in south Texas and grow lots of herbs on my one-acre of land.

Regarding lemon grass which does very, very well for me, you need full sun with good drainage. Mine grows about 5' tall and puts out flower stalks every fall. I planted it about 5 years ago, and to date it has made it through the winter, even the Christmas 2004 snow. I just pull out the dead leaves every spring. Make sure you always go up on the leaf and not down since they are very sharp.

Regarding lavender, well it is a little harder to grow for me, but I do get it to survive but not profusely. I would suggest staying away from the English lavender, French maybe OK, but the Spanish does best for me. Some varieties of lavender that I have found to be successful are fernleaf, Goodwin, Spanish Grey, and Grosso. My lavender is grown in dapple sunlight in well drained beds. Direct sunlight here in south Texas is way too strong for lavender although it is grown in fields in central Texas where the sun isn't quite as strong.

Lemon grass also does excellent for me just a few blocks from the Gulf. Never any luck with lavendar. But rosemary does wonderful and smells great. Most basils do well but I've had the best luck with African blue basil, made it through winter & is in bloom now.
What about some of the clerodendrums? One smells like peanut butter, small tree with blue flowers. Or rootbeer plant? Both tolerate full sun, dry spells, salt spray and humidity. The root beer plant is a member of the same family as black pepper, piper something or other. And it's edible!
Tally HO!

I'm nowhere near your zone 9 area, but was looking for lemongrass info. and found this post. I have grown a bunch of Lavender over the years, and though Spanish Lavender performs very well...always the first in bloom and survived where others haven't over the last 8-9 years, it is not very fragrant. The English lavender is more difficult to keep LOOKING great, but has the sweetest fragraces. Grosso, which was mentioned, is spectacular in growth habit and AWESOME in frangrance...more spicy pungent than the sweet English variety. Grosso is really my favorite. My advice is grow at least some of them in TERRA COTTA POTS (because they "breathe" and don't hold in too much moisture), so if you're having particularly rainy seasons, you can bring them out from getting soaked too much...they do not love the humidity and wet roots for long periods of time. (I'm in upstate SC...sometimes drought, sometimes too much rain...) Also, if you love frangrance, be careful, but get a sprig of lemon balm...it's my "weed of choice" b/c I could smell it all day long!
I could send you a sprig! I have plenty!

I just got a Spanish lavender. Would it be ok in morning sun/afternoon shade. Shade comes around noon where I plan to put it.

I got Spanish lavender start in a trade specifically because it does well in humidity. It is 2 years old now and really taking off....it is in sandy soil, planted on the high side because I was concerned about drainage. At present its been in bloom since the beginning of March. Performs well here in Pensacola,FL
Mine gets full sun till 1pm and then light shade and has thrived. I never water that bed, whatever it gets comes from the sky....

I've also had great success with Rosemary, I never water it, when it gets overgrown ever few years I take cuttings, root them and then whack the plant to the ground and start over.

It didnt occur to me to put lavender in a clay pot...what a good idea I have a clay pot garden too.....I will have to add the other varieties of lavender there.... thanks "mom"!