Well, I have a robust gardening update planned, but first I need to get this lavender update off the burner.
I tried propagating lavender again this year even though I knew odds were low it would succeed. There are only about 6 steps, but a wide level of variance within those steps. Lavender is also notoriously tricky to propagate anyway. This was more of an exercise of saying that I tried rather than I succeeded and so I cut off several cuttings of Marge Clark lavender from my remaining plants.
I had to mix vermiculite in the potting soil for drainage. And I also stripped leaves from these cuttings as outlined by the instructions. On BBC Gardener's World website. Then I found out later from another BBC Gardener video that I wasn't supposed to use root powder after all. Sigh.
At least I did diligent step of putting the powder in a separate container rather than sticking the cutting directly in the bottle.
Looks promising, but the really trick part is yet to come, creating a mini-greenhouse with sandwich bags or larger ones.
I was supposed to put them outside in a shady place, but those are hard to come by around the house and this was after July 4th when it was really, really hot. So I opted for my own greenhouse type space, the master bathroom.
The cuttings are supposed to make their own humidity, and even create water droplets inside the bag, with is supposed to be okay for a certain amount of time, then you are to cut a corner off the bag to release some of the humidity. They tell you how long, and they show you what it's supposed to look like.
It's supposed to look like this.
But, do I cut the corner off now when it looks like this, or wait until the time prescribed?
Others did not do this well right our of the gate.
This larger bag never got out of the "fine mist" stage.
Then, well before the prescribed time to cut the corners off the bag, they all rotted and molded.
And this is what compost is for friends.If the bucket can be a stylish vintage enamel pail, all the better.
I actually enjoyed puttering around with this, even though I knew it was mostly doomed. I listened to a lovely new audio book that I highly recommend called the Jane Austen Society read by the lovely Richard Armitage. It was too hot to do anything outside and even handling plants can be relaxing, as my latest forays into houseplant adventures (another post later) have taught me.
I wish I could say this is the only lavender related to report. But sadly, no. After the fox dug up 25% of my new plants, of which half survived replanting, and after the mostly doomed propagation experiment, it saddens me to report the lovely new baby plants my green thumb friend game me, all died but one.
So full of promise, and yet one by one, they met the fate of their friend in the back.
Too much water? Not enough? I tried both and talked to my green thumb friend and to no avail. I planted the lone survivor on Sunday August 30th. I feel bad because of the painstaking efforts of my friend to get these fussy seeds to germinate and grow. I watched them everyday. The decline was unstoppable.
Well, are you ready for some cheery lavender news? To pruning!
Yeah, it's pretty bad when the good news is pruning.
This is a nine year old plant, variety Tucker's Early Purple. This is 6 weeks after the pruning I did around June 20th.
I don't have a picture of the original pruning of these plants, but below is an example of the severity of pruning I did about two weeks ago with another variety, the Croxton's wild. I tend to be a conservative pruner to my own detriment. These are also 9 years old, and my hardiest (and sadly least favorite variety.)
For another comparison, here are some regrown hidcotes, doing nicely after their haircut.
I'll have a few more lavender update pictures later this fall.
Below is the total harvest, 56 bundles of lavender. There have been years I've had over 150 bundles. Maybe next year. I have plans. If you live in my neck of the woods, you can purchase some of this lavender at Lily's Garden in Urbana
