Anyone got vaguely green fingers?

[P45]

I´d like to grow lavendar in pots on my balcony, dark in the morning and up to really warm and sunny from mid-afternoon on. Will this work? Do you have any views on growing from seed (is it too late in the year) or buying the plants? I think lavendar grows quickly (does it?!)

I don't know much about lavender other than it will do well in stoney soil and doesn't like too much water.
Try posting in the gardening section - I always get loads of pointers there.

If you're growing in a pot then try and get a short, bushy lavender as the tall ones can look quite tatty and bare at the bottom. It's fairly cheap to buy plants so I wouldn't bother growing from seed if you want to have a good display this summer. They will enjoy the afternoon sun, but make sure they don't dry out too much as they won't flower as much (although they don't like to be soggy either).

I find Crocus usually have a good range, I think there's a link on the MN homepage.

Off to find the gardening section.... Thanks!

Thanks Bran! See u there?!

Oh, and like most flowering plants they will flower more profusely if you removed the deadheads.

What are deadheads? I´m making notes here by the way (blush)

Once the flower has started to die it's called a deadhead. If you cut the stem with the deadhead off the plant then it won't be able to put energy into making seeds and will produce more flowers instead.

Thanks; btw, Crocus is brilliant!