May Night Salvia

[ripper1]

Here is a gardening question for you fellow gardeners out there. I planted a border of meadow sage a few years back and they were spectacular for a while. This year they have barely sprouted so far. I live in NW Indiana and am wondering if the recently harsh winter or cool wet spring has had an effect on them. I'm thinking should I be patient or should I just dig them up and put in new plants.

 

[imoldernu]

No help here... not a plant person...

But... the cruel winter... We've had six different species annual shrubs in the front of our home, for that past 15 years. Always came back perfectly, always healthy. This past winter has killed half of them. All of the Villas in our CCRC have the same problem as they were all built by the same builder, over a period of three years.

 

[splitwdw]

Be patience. Salvia like the heat. You didn't say if you pruned them back, usually recommended to do it in the Spring.

 

[Jerry1]

No help here... not a plant person...

But... the cruel winter... We've had six different species annual shrubs in the front of our home, for that past 15 years. Always came back perfectly, always healthy. This past winter has killed half of them. All of the Villas in our CCRC have the same problem as they were all built by the same builder, over a period of three years.

Here in Michigan too. We lost some of our holly’s and some boxwoods. We had a couple weeks of some pretty cold weather and I think that’s the culprit. I’m going to give them some more time. With the wet spring we’ve had, if they don’t show signs of life around June when it’s a little warmer, I’ll dig them up.

 

[SumDay]

I apparently lost many things this past winter, the saddest are the 15 year old azaleas. This year they're just stick bushes with a few green leaves and maybe five blooms between the four of them. I also had some Artemesia, which didn't make it at all. I'm blaming the horrible, long winter.

I do have some annual Salvia planted this year, and they're struggling with the cool wet spring. I'm not a patient gardener, so I might be inclined to replace your perennial variety. Sad to lose such a nice plant.

 

[grasshopper]

I grow around 20 different Salvias, mostly CA, TX and AZ hot weather types. I live in the mountains and some of my SoCal sages die back to the roots in winter. Some Salvias need warn night time temps to break dormancy.



Salvia apiana in the foreground, and S. clevelandii in the background.

 

[ripper1]

Be patience. Salvia like the heat. You didn't say if you pruned them back, usually recommended to do it in the Spring.

Yeah, I did prune them to the ground in late fall. I guess I should have pruned them in the spring as I was just told by another fellow gardener that they store up energy in their stalks during the winter....Is this correct?....Anyway this is the 6th season for them so they have become a little woody and perhaps have run their course. Any thoughts on this Splitwdw? Thanks.

 

[jimandthom]

First read of the title had me thinking you were drooling at night.

 

[JoeWras]

First read of the title had me thinking you were drooling at night.

Me too! I thought the title was "Late night saliva"

 

[ripper1]

First read of the title had me thinking you were drooling at night.

Your avatar looks like the dog that pees on everybody's lawn.

 

[JoeWras]

Your avatar looks like the dog that pees on everybody's lawn.

Maybe it will improve the salvia. My lawn always seems to respond to the fertilizer (except for the center dead spot.)

But seriously, here in NC, we have a type of salvia I'm not familiar with. I think the near rainforest atmosphere doesn't agree too well with most salvias.