Can I rescue my blackcurrant sage??

A little while ago I asked for advice on my blackcurrant sage. Last autumn my rabbits ate quite a lot of the plant and it seems they took it back to the wood, so this spring my poor sage is looking rather anorexic. It is all twiggy (and these bits are def dead) except one small area where there is fresh growth.
It was suggested by someone last time that if this new growth took off, which it has, that i could possibly cut it and root it to make a new plant. I'm very new to gardening and i'm rather fond of my blackcurrant sage so I don't want to make hash of it! I therefore have the following questions-
1. Can i root the only live piece of the plant?
2. If i can root it - how do i root it (where do i cut, how do i look after the newly rooted bit etc)?!
3. I had heard blackcurrant sage are hard to find? Does anyone know where I might find a new plant should this all go very wrong (which i'm thinking it might!)? I live in Berkshire should that make any difference.

Thank you

 

If there is a bit growing, then I'd leave the new growth alone and let it grow. Without a pic it is hard to see what I would do to it, but last year I deliberately hacked to bits my overgrown sage because it was full of old scraggly growth.

In the case of my sage, I chopped off all top growth, leaving only one or two living shoots near the base of the main stem. After a few weeks I noticed brand new buds even further down, so I let these grow enough to produce decent leaves, then chopped off the last remaining 'original' shoot. Now, about 6 months later (I only did this late last year), it is about a foot tall and the same wide, and looking pretty good.

It would be good if you could post a pic so we can see what's happened.

 

ok, i will try to get a pic done tomorrow, i realise it's hard to know what to suggest without actually seeing it. Thank you!!

 

I agree with Clueless - just leave it. It should grow away quite strongly after a while. Mine is at least 3 ft by 3 ft. I certainly wouldn't sacrifice the whole plant for a cutting now, I wouldn't try till about August, when you should have several suitable stems. If you leave it a bit longer it may well produce seed, and they are easy to grow from seed.

The latin name is Salvia microphylla (or Salvia greggii which is technically a seperate species but is essentially identical and many plants on sale are hybrids of the two). It is quite variable, so there are lots of named varieties around with different coloured flowers (usually shades of red) and different leaves. A popular new variety, which you may see on sale, is called 'Hot Lips'. I picked one up at the end of last year for about 50p, when Focus was moving. Its not that common, but I would think that you should be able to find it in quite a few places.

Being a woody shrub it normally grows from existing branches, but it can sometimes sprout again from the base, so just have faith.

 

Thats great - Thank you!
It does have a very deep red coloured flower, i will wait until it flowers and collect the seeds - i have never collected seeds before (im new to gardening), what is the best method of collection in terms of when to do it, when to sow the seeds etc.
There is possibly some signs of growh at the base of the plant but the stem that is growing is doing very well so i'll leave it be. I grow it in container and i have some slow-release feeder - should I give it some? I have never fed it before and had it approx 1 year in the container.

Thank you!

 

Plants are very robust and will grow without any fertiliser. However they will do a lot better with some. Plants in the ground don't need much, if any, fertiliser as they can get what they want from the soil. However a plant in a pot can't. It relies totally on you for feed and water. If you have other plants in pots, its worth getting into the habit of feeding them regularly. I use Miraclegrow. In the box there is a two ended scoop. I use one small scoop in a pint of water, and water the plant with this. Do this about once a fortnight or so. A plant is a bit like a human, within reason it doesn't matter if you underfeed it or overfeed it - it will still thrive. But if you never feed it, it will not be happy.

Many nurserymen give their plants a bit of slow release fertiliser, but also liquid feed as well. Its sort of belt and braces, but you don't have to do both.

The seeds of all plants appear a while after the plant has stopped flowering. For your Tangerine Sage this may not be until October or November. At the base of the tube of petals there is a brown or green holder called a bract. At the end of the season the petals will fall off just leaving this bract. Inside this bract will be 4 quite large black or dark brown seeds. If they are not a dark colour they are not ripe. You have to look fairly regularly as Salvia seeds tend to fall out of the bracts by themselves when they are ripe. This is one reason you don't see many Salvia seeds on sale, as they can be difficult to harvest commercially.

The easiest way to collect seeds of any plant is to cut off the whole flowering stalk which had several flowers on it and put it in a bag and leave the bag for a month or more to dry out and fully ripen. Then often you can shake the bag and the seeds will fall out, but you may also have to prise the individual bracts open to release the seeds. The bag should be paper to prevent the plant sweating and going mouldy. I use polythene bags (where do you find paper bags these days?), but I always leave the bag open.

The best time to sow them is in spring. The seeds need heat and light to germinate, so I sow them in trays inside the house in March. I don't cover the seeds with compost, but I do use a seed tray cover. They take arount 10 days to germinate, but generally they are easy to grow.

 

Tht is really useful - thank you very much!!! I ill be able to use that advice and hopefully grow myself a new plant! I really appreciate you taking the time to explain. Ive been looking for a gardening course to learn some basics but can't find one that doesnt cost hundreds of punds!! So ive decided to just teach myself, read books and ask foradvice on here - thank you!

 

Glad to be of some help Busybee. I myself have just learnt by reading and seeing what other people say.

There is a lot of material on the internet. For instance you could Google "Flower Parts" and look at several sites, and then just keep following the links. How about Botany for Gardeners: Brian Capon: Amazon.co.uk: Books . I don't know that book, but I bought myself a different one and found it very helpful. At £10 it is cheap enough, and you can keep it as a reference book.