I've successfully grown spanish lavender..just make sure it has good drainage & it should do fine. :)

What soil do you put in your container ? I've had a couple die on me after they got rained on heavily-I mixed our natural sandy loam with perlite and compost but the soil still seems to retain more moisture than the lavender likes? I'm thinking of trying bark chips in the soil next...

The soil is very loose and the water drains without ever standing. I have a large pile (five truck loads) of leaf and limb clippings from a tree cutting service, and I mixed this in with regular potting soil. I will probably have to repot next year as the chips will decompose rather quickly.

I too tried to grow some in the ground this year. It was a fairly mature plant when I planted it. It died during the hottest part of the season. It still could have been from being too wet though. I kept it watered pretty well. It was really a disappointment because they are so pretty.

No luck here, unfortunately. I tried to grow inground from seeds about two months ago but nothing has sprouted so far (I believe the seeds take 22-25 days to sprout). A big storm hit a couple of days after I planted them, so they probably got washed out. So disappointed! Hope you have better luck.

Thanks so much for your thoughts; doesn't sound very promising, does it? With the crazy weather we have I can see how this would happen. I think I will try the Spanish Lavender, will let you know how it works out!

I'm trying to get a French Garden or Provence garden look, but there are plenty of other plants to work with color-wise. Thanks again!

I bought plants last year and planted inground.
They didn't survive.

I've got mine in a very high raised bed. It doesn't get much water, along with the other herbs that like it hot and dry. And standing water is obviously not a problem in this bed. It has done very well for me.
That being said, I have not had luck in my other beds with lavender. Usually when winter comes, all the excess rain takes its toll.
HTH
Susan

I *may* have spoken too soon. I recently noticed something odd sprouting up in my yard just a couple of feet from where I originally planted my lavender seeds (English Tall and Hidcote Dwarf). It's possible they were moved by the huge storm that hit a few days later.

I've never seen anything like this before, so I'm crossing my fingers it's lavender - Ogrose, maybe all hope is not lost!

Here is a link that might be useful: Lavender?

It looks more like one of the fall blooming bulbs to me such as the ox blood lily. It will be fun to watch to see how it develops. Gardens are full of nice surprises!

I have one that I planted in a pot 3.5 years ago that spent the first winter in the greenhouse and the next two outside because the roots grew out of the bottom of the pot into the ground. Last winter the cold got a good half of the branches and I honestly thought it was dead. I cut it back and left it alone, watering periodically, and it's held its own all summer.

There's a lavender farm nearby somewhere, so there has to be a variety or two that's happy here!

I live right down the road from a lavender farm. I visited them a few weeks ago and they too had lavender troubles this year. I think the torrential rains were just too much for a lot of the lavender plants. I had one I was nurturing from seed (I winter sowed), but alas lost it when it went from super wet to super hot..

I can usually grow the fern leaf variety (love that fragrant foliage!) I planted it like last year near the street, above the curb. It did fine until the July rains came It was gone before the Sept rains. I'm not complaining about rain in the summer, just hat it was too much for some plants. That was one....well, it was 2 plants

now the passiflora varieties I have thought it was plant perfection!

txgarden, you lucky thing, your mystery plant is lycoris radiata, also known as spider lily or hurricane lily. It will come back for you forever if you don't disturb it.

RE lavender, I am its serial killer. I have tried every variety known to mankind and have never had any of them last longer than two years. I don't believe drainage is the secret -- mine dies where blackfoot daisies thrive. I think it's just one of those wonderful plants that hates Dallas summers, along with dahlias, delphiniums, and lilacs. Ah, lilacs! I still miss them!

Random harvest, I have a lilac doing very well here in North Texas. Matter of fact, it is blooming again now......many of my plants think it is Spring.

Carrie, I am as green as your thumb with envy! :-)

I think it has done so well because it is in a spot where I cannot kill it with kindness. When I planted it years ago, I thought it was in the perfect spot, but then we had to widen the entrance to the driveway, the trees grew and gave more shade and I thought since it was too large to move, I would just leave it and let it be on it's own. Well, it is handling it all very nicely, so I will just leave it alone and let it do it's thing.

I grow the Spanish type, that I received from a friend in a west facing bed. I also grow rosemary,marigolds, blue scabiosa and roses in this bed. However, the lavender is toward the front and rarely gets watered. This raised bed was filled with Miracle Gro shrub soil mix and I only fertilize the rose which is toward the back of the bed. I have had this plant for two winters and I love it. Try growing it in a pot facing the west or the South where your sprinklers cannot reach it.

I've had success growing French lavender, but there are a few rules!
First, amend the soil where you'll be planting it. Mix some fresh in-ground potting soil, a handful of gypsum, about 1/2 a cup of Azomite, and a handful of Perlite together, then add that mixture to the existing dark gray Dallas clay. I would buy small plants instead of starting from seed, so after you've amended the soil, simply plant your new plants and water well. Water daily until it takes root. As for choosing a location, it should be planted somewhere shady. I have mine on either side of a bench that sits under a huge tree. The smell...you can't be angry when you sit amongst the lavender!!!

It's only been a year since I've planted them, but I have three Provence lavender plants in raised beds that look lovely. All of them are shooting up flower buds like crazy right now. They went through last summer and this winter (no protection) without issue. Two of them are pretty full sun, though they get some shade from my oak in the late afternoon. The other is mostly shade with a decent stint of morning sun. The full sun plants look more vigorous and attractive but both are doing well. I think the key is to really make sure they have good drainage.

Came back to add some photos of my Provence lavender for reference.

This is the one that is in mostly shade, and you can see that it’s a little wonkier than the others :)