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Can French lavender grow in pots

Author

Ava Wright

Published Apr 17, 2026

One important tip to grow French lavender in pots: avoid soil moisture at all costs. Double-check that the pot has a hole. Add a drainage layer made with small gravel or clay pebbles.

Does French lavender do well in pots?

Choose a pot that is 12-16 inches across with drainage holes in the base and preferably terracotta, clay or ceramic. French lavender is not cold hardy and does not tolerate frost.

What's the best lavender to grow in pots?

Lavandula angustifolia ‘Lavenite Petite’ (Lavender) Compact and dense, extremely fragrant with intense violet flowers, Lavandula angustifolia ‘Lavenite Petite’ is a top choice for containers thanks to its short stems and tight foliage. Good for drying.

How do you care for potted French lavender?

Place your container grown lavender plants somewhere they receive full sun (at least eight hours per day) and water them sparingly. Allow the soil to dry out between waterings, but don’t let it get so dry that the plant wilts. Lavender likes heat, and many varieties won’t survive a cold winter.

Where does French lavender grow best?

French lavender grows best in full sun, with high temperatures, low rainfall and infrequent watering, in well draining sandy soils, low humidity, low to medium fertility with a soil pH between 6.5-8. The best time for planting is in the Spring and they flower from Spring through to the early Fall.

Can lavender survive winter in pots?

English lavenders are cold hardy and can survive winter in pots up to USDA zone 4 with the right care and preparation. French and Spanish lavender pots will need protection from Winter cold and should be brought indoors in the Fall before the first frost of Winter.

Does French lavender need full sun?

French lavender plants grow to form a mound that can reach 12 to 36 inches tall and 48 to 60 inches wide. It needs full sun and well-drained, alkaline soil to reach its full potential. Prune French lavender plants at the end of the season to keep them attractive and maintain a manageable size.

Is French Lavender Hardy?

French lavender is not cold hardy and will not survive frost and cold temperatures. French lavenders need mild winters to survive. … French lavenders can tolerate mild soil acidity but not as well as English lavenders. The potency of fragrance, number of flowers and longevity will decease in acidic soil.

Does French lavender come back every year?

Preserving French lavender, dried French lavender flowers and branches can keep for months, even years, if kept in a dry place sheltered from the sun’s rays. Best is to hang floral panicles together in small bunches to dry them before keeping them.

How fast does French lavender grow?

Cover “Provence Blue” seeds only lightly with soil when planting. Seeds may take two weeks or more to germinate and several months to reach transplantable size, or about 3 inches tall. Once transplanted into the garden, lavender grows several inches per year, flowering in the second or third year after transplant.

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Does French lavender smell?

The French Lavender plants are bigger plants (producing more lavender per plant). Aroma is sweet with slightly camphorous scent. The French Lavender scent is used more for its aromatic properties and considered good in cleaning products and products designed to freshen your home.

How long do French lavender plants live?

Lavenders are not long-lived plants. Expect tender varieties to live for about five years. If pruned correctly, hardy types can live for about 15 years (as many as 20 years, in some cases).

Can French lavender grow indoors?

Choose smaller lavender varieties for indoors. They adapt better to pot growing and also fit beneath a grow light. French lavender (Lavandula dentata) varieties grow well indoors. They’re not as fragrantly potent as English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), but they adapt better to interior conditions.

How often do I water French lavender?

In the absence of rain, water the plants weekly during the first summer and once every three weeks in subsequent summers. The plants grow best and have the strongest fragrance when the soil is kept dry. Gravel mulch looks natural around lavender plants and helps prevent the soil from retaining too much moisture.

Why is French lavender dying?

Over Watering Lavenders (Drooping Appearance with Brown Foliage) The most likely reason your lavender is dying is because of over watering. … If lavender receives too much water it will develop the disease root rot and show symptoms of stress such as a drooping or wilting appearance and a browning of the foliage.

Should you deadhead French lavender?

Deadhead French lavender regularly throughout the summer. This prolongs the flowering and creates new growth the following April/May.

Does potted lavender come back?

Lavender is a perennial sub shrub the does come back after Winter and lives for many years with the right care, growing in the appropriate climate and conditions. Spanish and French lavenders may not come back after Winter in cold climates as they not as cold hardy as English lavenders.

How do you overwinter French lavender?

Although they are in a dormant state, French lavenders will need to be in as much sun as possible. Place the lavender in the sunniest window in your house and your plant should be okay until its time to return it outdoors when the temperature warms up.

Which is best English or French lavender?

If you’re looking for the characteristic lavender smell, choose English lavender. It produces the strong scent that permeates the air, while French lavender has a much lighter scent, which while nice, is more reminiscent of rosemary.

Is French lavender Evergreen?

Lavender is one of the most popular small garden shrubs. Plants have narrow, oily and aromatic evergreen leaves and bear dense spikes of small tubular flowers in summer. Lavandula stoechas is commonly referred to as French lavender.

Does lavender spread quickly?

As mentioned, the lavender plant grows very quickly, so it’s recommended that you space them around three feet apart. When it comes to selecting a suitable time for planting, you should consider planting it in spring or early summer.

What soil does French lavender like?

It prefers poor, dry or moderately fertile soil, including chalky and alkaline soils. Lavender will not thrive in heavy clay soil or any soil that becomes waterlogged over winter.

Does French lavender repel spiders?

Lavender is a safe, natural way to give spiders the boot without exposing your kids to the dangerous chemicals contained in pesticides. It won’t kill the spiders but they don’t like to walk across areas with strong scents including lavender, citrus and peppermint.

Is French lavender good for sleep?

Sleep and Lavender. Lavender has been suggested as an excellent natural remedy to treat insomnia and improve the sleep quality.

What is French Lavender called?

Lavandula stoechas also called French Lavender, Spanish Lavender or Butterfly Lavender is recognizable by the conspicuous sterile bracts resembling extravagant ears, on top of the short dense inflorescence. Grown for its silvery aromatic leaves, it is used extensively for essential oils or potpourris.

Can lavender be left outside in winter?

English lavender species are hardy, so can survive outdoors throughout winter and tolerate frost. Whereas Spanish, French and Italian lavenders are not frost tolerant and will need to be transferred to pots and taken indoors over winter, if they’re in a climate that receives regular frosts.

Why is my potted lavender dying?

The most common reasons for a Lavender plant dying are improper watering, over-fertilization, acidic soil pH, diseases, pests, or inadequate sunlight. Careful inspection of the plant and growing conditions are essential to help identify and fix the issue.

How do I get my French lavender to bloom?

The most influential factors that encourage lavenders to produce flowers are sunlight, the right watering schedule, and soil that somewhat resembles that of the lavender natural habitat (which is easy to achieve) and twice yearly pruning, so skip the fertilizer in favor of consistent good care.

How long does French lavender bloom?

Lavender SpeciesWhen does it bloom?How long does it bloom for?English lavenderMay/June4 weeksFrench LavenderMay/JuneUp to 3 months until FallHybrid lavenderJune/JulyUp to 2 months until late Summer