re trimming Lavender - I will take Martha's experience and do it, but don't do the same with Sage. I cut my Sage way down, and then learned that Sage grows on old growth [sage officialus - the common sage], so now I will have a very little Sage. I would have done better to leave it. Re Lavender sprouts: Mine are growing, not so tiny any more. :) Re: random thot - boy I go away for 2 days from you guys and there is so much reading to catch up on! ell

I've been tending the garden for 5 years and I think the garden was unattended for 3 so it's over 8 years. I did have to replace several of the lavender after the first year because of my ignorance, but have learned. I pruned them back too much in the lte fall and the ones I replaced would have made it but I thought because it was a public garden I should replace them. No, I use the same pruning techniques on all of the plants. Because each year they get older they still keep producing new growth and I want to make room for that growth so I continue to cut out the old growth. I don't think the zone matters with regard to the pruning technique. I live in the mtns of PA so though my zone is 6 I go by zone 5 because of the altitude...though it is only 1500 ft above sea level there frequently is a significant difference in temperatures during the winter sometimes a 10 degrees (F) colder difference from the valley. Need to clarify my instructions "cut out oldest woody stems and dead growth to the ground then cut back the rest of the plant no more than a third." cut out the dead growth to the base of the plant not the ground and only prune off 1/3 of the plant leaving 2/3's. A rule of thumb when pruning anything...never remove more than a 1/3 of plant at one time. A good guide to determine what is a 1/3 is to lay the cuttings near the plant you are pruning and when the pile is 1/3 of the original size stop pruning. There is always next year to prune back more if necessary. That is why you should always prune out the dead and old growth first. Dead heading is not included in the one third rule, because you are removing spent flowers not branches/stems. When pruning lavender remember it is pretty forgiving so if you aren't sure either do or don't.

Nope, that looks like Cymbalaria muralis, also known as Kenilworth ivy, which is a charming little plant and most likely to have been planted by some previous gardener. It's distantly related to snapdragons, which you can see a resemblance to in the little flowers even though the plant is otherwise entirely different. Stefan

I believe that one was from Target. I checked their website and do not see it soooooooooo, either I am mistaken or they just do not carry it anymore. Target does have some other styles very similar to that one but not in that color. You may try checking eBay for the one you want. eBay is a great source to use to find discontinued merchandise.