The number of blooms increases as healthy plants mature. If you plan to keep the plant in a container, it would prefer that the container was outside in full sun whenever temperatures allow (above freezing). The size/age of the plant and how much energy it has to devote to reproduction (blooms) ultimately determines bloom profusion. Since any energy the plant makes comes from sunshine, you should be giving your plant LOTS of it - and not through a window. Also, root maintenance, if the plant is to be left in the pot, is essential. You should let the plant go dormant over winter, lift it from the pot in spring, bare root/root prune it, and put it back in a/the pot to continue growing. If you don't maintain the roots, you can count on a plant limited in growth/vitality/bloom numbers. The plant doesn't tolerate wet feet, so count on using a very fast draining soil. The gritty mix would be perfect for this plant, and would make repotting chores easy. A 3:1:2 ratio fertilizer (examples: 24-8-16, 12-4-8, 9-3-6) used regularly is a very good choice. Al

What kind of lavender do you have? If you have one of the English lavender varieties (Munstead, Hidcote, etc...) then it will be fine outside. They don't like to be too wet but there isn't much you can do about that right now. The grapevine should be hardy but you might need to fence it during the winter to keep rabbits from eating it. Some varieties are hardier than others. Do you know what kind you have? I don't believe rosemary is perennial here, but I've never grown any.

Grows really easily from cuttings, even in Winter. Just snip off some tips about 10 cms long, remove botton half of leaves, dip in honey and stick in a small pot. Will strike more quickly and reliably if you cover the pot with plastic - a cut-off soft-drink bottle is good, and you probably won't have to water it if the soil is damp to start with.

hi Liatris, no, it's not weird at all! :) Im in a mediterranean climate zone so it's a very different climate to the east coast. In their natural climate mediterranean plants will do this to cope with the long hot dry summer, they will go into a summer dormancy and it helps them conserve energy. Once the rain returns in autumn/winter they spring back into life and grow very quickly over those months. When the weather starts getting hot and dry again in spring my lavender flowers finish and produce seed and after that they shut down until the following autumn. You can keep them active by watering quite a bit but with our water restrictions it's much easier to let them follow their natural growth pattern. One year I neglected to prune and when the following winter came along they were growing way too big so I sacrificed the flowers and cut them back, but they very quickly produced more flowers which is why I think it wont be a problem even if they are continually flowering because if theyre active they seem just repeat flower soon afterwards anyway.