[JTh]

I have several times read that Lavandula stoechas 'always grows in acid soil in the wild' and Olivier Filippi wrote that Lavandula stoechas doesn't tolerate alcalic soil. Maybe that's true in other parts of the Mediterranean region, but it is certainly not so here in Halkidiki, where they grow abundantly in many places; the soil is definitely alcalic. Today I saw this rocky hill covered with lavender not far from the road. Neither these nor the lavenders growing in my garden seem to have had any problem because of the cold winter this year.


P4216083.jpg Lavandula stoechas by Jorun Tharaldsen, on Flickr


P4216076.jpg Lavandula stoechas by Jorun Tharaldsen, on Flickr

[Umbrian]

Beautiful photographs Jorun - I always love to see plants growing in their natural habitats.
Every year I am tempted to buy a Lavandula stoechas when they arrive in the spring despite the fact I know it will not survive for long. I do have one that soldiers on although it hardly looks happy - it is in a pot and 'survives' would probably be the best way to describe it. After our coldest winter for some years it is again in flower but hardly recognisable as the same plant in your photograph. I put its survival down to neglect as it receives no water during the winter months - standing outside but under cover of the loggia roof.