Just over a month ago a friend asked me how my lavender was doing….at that time it was just too early to tell because, quite frankly, it all looked dead. This is why I tell people, when they ask for my advice about pruning lavender, don’t prune lavender too early in the spring because often it’s too early to tell what’s alive and what’s dead.

In the images below are two photos of year-old lavender “Hidcote” that I planted from cuttings last summer. One of the plants looks small and stunted but very healthy and the other with taller shoots does show signs of winter stress…when I rub the plant between my hands the dead leaves fall off quite easily and the green leaves are pliable and the scent of lavender fills the air…it had a bit of winter stress but I’m confident that it’s just fine! Congratulations on surviving your first zone 5a winter little Lavandula Angustifolia Hidcote and welcome to your first spring.

The last photograph is a very old lavender (about 20 years old) “Provence” and while most of it is continuing to green up quite nicely, in the top right hand corner of this photo is a large patch of grey…that area of the plant is most likely dead. I will wait a bit longer for the plant to recover its strength from the winter before I prune any dead sections.

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