Anyone know whats wrong with my lavender stoecha? Been like this for 2 months now (even before the drought) was looking so green and healthy before. Bought it last year.
Did you leave it outside in Winter? If so it's possible the damage was done then, French lavender doesn't like sitting in very wet soil in Winter. You have to keep it fairly dry by putting it under cover, or by potting it into something that is exceptionally well drained and lifting the pot off the ground.
Yes, this is what French lavenders tend to look like; you need to keep them trimmed lightly (not below the green shoots) every year and keep them well-drained. Yours should be ok with a drink in a bucket and perhaps adding some Perlite to the compost? I manage to keep mine going for three or four years but after that they look tatty and I replace them. The survivors are generally not those in pots but those I plant out in well-drained soil in raised beds in the sun. In pots they have a mixture of multipurpose compost, grit and Perlite, with a bit of garden soil. As others have said, a porous pot is best but they are OK in other pots for short periods in summer.
Other things which enjoy a sunny spot and do well for me in pots are Salvias ("Royal Bumble" is a good one which does not get too big and keeps flowering over a long period if dead-headed regularly), prostrate Rosemary, Artemisia "Powys Castle", Convolvulus sabatius, Perovskia (which I think, like Rosemary, is now reclassified by RHS as a Salvia) and Helianthemums, and Agapanthus. Some of these need quite large pots, though.
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@MikeOxgreen yes I did leave it outside at Winter. But it revived by May & June it was looking fab.
@parrotfeather* @parrotfeather* thank you for the suggestions, do those all do well in glazed pots?