I started planting today. Finally! The water in the community garden was turned on a week ago (much later than usual), and we had a Nor’easter a few days ago with the temperatures dropping to the low forties, so I delayed planting until now. This afternoon, I weeded a quarter of my plot and planted lavender, sage (both were seedlings from Neighborhood Farm, all other plants I grew from seed) and parsley, Rainbow Swiss chard, Meadowlark kale, and five types of lettuce: Johnny’s Allstar Gourmet lettuce mix, Johnny’s Salanova green butterhead lettuce, Sandy Hill Preservation Center salad mix, Merlot (leaf) and Black Seeded Simpson (leaf). I then mulched lightly with salt marsh hay and protected the seedlings from the voracious resident rabbits with chicken wire. I plan to put in tomatoes, basil and some flowers later this week. Peppers, cucumbers and squash will go in the week thereafter.
Is there perennial lavender or does it have to be replanted every year? Mine came back a little but it looks unhealthy.
Lavender is a perennial. However, some varieties are better suited to our grow zone than others. I planted Hidcote, an English lavender that comes back every year. Sometimes, there will be some dead parts once it comes back after the winter. Last year, I planted three lavenders in our communal bed, two are coming back (one very healthy, one with some dead parts), but one is dead. Go figure. I would wait with yours and see how much comes back. Lavender is pretty robust. Cut back the dead parts, but do not prune the whole plant until after it has flowered in late summer.