Well draining soil, lots of light, cold winters and not super hot summers are what lavender like. They don’t like soggy roots but do not like long dry periods. They get attacked by aphids so a little pest control is needed.

You need to cold stratify the seeds first. Put them in a baggy with a damp (not wet) and then in the fridge for sixish weeks. Keep and eye out for mold and open the bag once a week to refresh the air. Then put them in a seedling tray with some light drainable growing medium. Put in a sunny spot that’s warm and keep the medium moist with a spray bottle. Keep this up until you see sprouts.

You can remove the seedlings from the growing tray once the get their first set of true leaves. The sprout leaves aren’t technically real leaves. Sun harden the seedlings before putting outside for potting or in ground planting.

Good luck!

I’ve never had luck propagating lavender from seed, but plenty of luck from seedlings. I find it bushes out pretty quick (over 2-3 years). If you aren’t having luck with seeds, I suggest buying starts in 2" pots and going from there. It’s a perennial so you can get good deals buying and planting it in the fall after the normal gardening season is over. Some nurseries will unload their ugly stock at the end of the season for cheap.

If all else fails just buy a plant off a farmer’s market (still might be early enough? 🙏). Once it gets growing it’s practically a weed.

I live in the PNW and we’re lousy with lavender. I got some 6" starts from Costco and planted them on slanted, west-facing soil that gets lots of sun. It’s been about two months and they’re doing just fine. I water them most evenings and cleared 6-12" around each plant so they’re not shaded out/competing with grasses.

Awesome thanks for the tips. I may give seed one more go since we have it but may have to resort to starts. I am just more annoyed that we can’t get it to go from seed than anything else at this point. Similar issues with Rosemary and Sage…