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eddie111_gw

Black and Blue salvia HELP

eddie111
11 years ago

I planted a Black and Blue near my house foundation in the fall----It survived out mild winter and is really coming in------Problem is that it is coming in SUPER thick with foliage.-------- Can I divide it without killing it??---I would rather have 1 large live one then 2 dead. -----thanks---ED

Comments (5)

  • melvalena
    11 years ago

    You can dig it up and divide it. Keep it watered. It will pout for a while then adjust.

    I did it to several of mine a few weeks ago. Some I cut back nearly all the way..(they were about 3' tall already) They looked dead for a while but new growth is appearing on the stems. Others I just left the stalks and leaves on, they aren't looking too hot either but they are going to make it. We've had highs in the 90s the last week or so.

    We're much further ahead of you in our seasons so do yours now before it gets too much hotter.

  • hummersteve
    11 years ago

    I prefer to leave mine as they are thick foliage or not. The idea I have is if you can overwinter your plants where you live each year their root system will become bigger and better thus providing more and more flower stems thus providing more and more food for hummers. I grow a lot of black and blue but also salvia blue ensign which grow to the 5ft plus level. One of my blue ensign is already over 50" in my zone 6 garden.

  • terrene
    11 years ago

    Last year I bought 5 Salvia B&B at the nursery. They grew wonderfully in the front garden, then the voles found them toward the end of the season. They LOVE those thick tuberous roots. They started wiping them out, but I rescued 2 before they were eaten. I potted them, over-wintered them in the garage, and then planted them out again last week. This time, I surrounded the roots with 1/2 inch hardware cloth.

    With those thick tuberous roots, you could probably break the root system up and divide. Such a beautiful plant!

    Oh I also collected 8 whole seeds from last year's plants, started 4 of them this year and have sprouts. I have heard they don't seed true - have anyone grown out seeds from this plant?

  • hbwright
    11 years ago

    I've never divided an individual plant but when we moved into a new house I just had plants coming through the ground and I dug up each little tiny plant I found, most of them coming off the main plant, which I only planted one. I have done this in previous years and gave them to friends and family, each of them turning into full size plants within about a couple months time. I can honestly say that from this 1 plant I've probably given away 10-20 plants and brought 5 with me to the new house, one of them has its first bloom stalk, 6 weeks after my transplanting this tiny sucker plant.

  • hummersteve
    11 years ago

    You can also grow new plants from the runner/rhizomes not to be confused with the tuberous roots. That is the best way to start new salvia guaranitica plants. Runners have nodes on them , roots do not. I cut them up into about 2" lengths you need one to two nodes on a section. Put it in some potting soil or peat keeping humidity high,, and waalaaa.

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    a closer look
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