Anouk is a lavender with silvery, aromatic evergreen foliage and violet flower spikes that open in summer and hold their color well when cut and dried. It forms a neat, compact mound, and the fragrance comes off the leaves as well as the blooms.

Here, the problem is never cold; it is our humidity and wet clay. Lavender dies of wet feet and stagnant air, so give it full sun, plant it high in gritty, sharp-draining soil, and mulch with gravel rather than bark. Leave room around it so air can move through, and resist the urge to water it on a schedule.