Field Update! - Lainey's Cottage Garden

So much worry about the lavender this season. We are experience problems in our fields and delays like so many other growers around the Midwest and the South. Many farms are experiencing massive losses of plants due to the very wet spring. I am unsure of what our losses are, but know there are some. It’s too early to tell on the intermediate lavender. I had some time with God about it and realized I am going to just leave them alone for a few weeks to see if they recover. Most of them have been pruned back to get the dead off and expose the tender new growth to sunshine – when we get it. Most of the Augustifolia or English lavender is greening up nicely but we have also lost some plants. Most notably a large plant I transplanted in 2017 from the old house. There is a bit of green on it, but assuming it will have to go. The Grosso and Phenomenal are way behind and some I have already been pulled out a few. The combo of polar vortex in winter and unusually wet spring have done double duty on them. Many are trying to rally. I am guesstimating a loss of possibly half of them. Only time will tell. I did purchase some replacements. but I am hesitant to put plants in just yet. I would like to see if this raining stops in a week or two.

In the end, I am thinking of starting to replace the Lavadins with augustifolia. While it’s not as long-stemmed as the intermediates it’s much hardier for both cold and wet. I use the Lavadins more extensively in floral design, but I may start incorporating more English and doing a mix of the lavenders. We could go many years without a winter/spring such as the one we just experienced or we could experience another next year. Last year we also had an unusually wet spring although not as bad as this year.

I did go out and seed the Monarch field today on a happier note. I decided to fill it in with perennial wildflower mixed with a little zinnia and cosmos and more yarrow. We shall see how it does. Doing the perennial mix last year gave us good results on the test plot. This year it’s twice the size of plants and different plants have emerged – including daisies which I love and didn’t see last year. The instructions say it takes 2 to 3 years to fully fill in. My goal is to just let it go to wildflowers and stay that way. I do have some butterfly weed to also add to the mix.

I have decided to concentrate on our raised bed area this year instead of expanding the fields. Since we are getting such a late start to the seeding process this year I feel it’s the smartest way to go. My husband is making some huge 6′ x 4′ beds. So far we have four of them and two more to complete. Two will be used for herbs and veggies and the rest I am going to seed or plant cutting flowers rather than in the fields.

As with anything with Mother Nature, we just sometimes have to go with it and revise.

Here are some photos of the WF fields.