Salvia Hot Lips

I got a lovely Salvia Hot Lips from Tom at the World Garden in Lullingstone last year, and it grew into a beautiful, big bush, covered in flowers, in its first year. I have read that in a cold winter they can die.

Fingers crossed, mine has survived ( I have no proof of this yet!) but I do not know what to do with it. Do I cut it back, or will it grow on from last years growth. I have read that it is deciduous but I can't find any information on what to do with it!

 

Don't so anything with it for a bit Victoria. 'Hot Lips' is a Salvia microphylla hybrid, which is a small woody shrub. You don't cut it back to the ground like a herbaceous plant. New buds should appear from the current woody growth. When you have some buds showing you can cut it back a bit, but you do that mainly to shape the plant. Even if the top growth is dead - it may still come back from the base.

The S. microphylla group (S. microphylla, S. greggii and S. xjamensis) are only just hardy. I have a 'Hot Lips' which I forgot to protect, and I can't see any buds on it yet. But I also have a large S. microphylla which I covered with a fleece. Its still bare and woody, but I can see green buds on it. I will probably cut it back by about half once it has started properly to grow, as its getting pretty big now.

 

Thank you PeterS, that is really helpful advice. I have had a close look and there do seem to be new leaves coming. Yay.

It has gotten bigger than I expected and I was going to move it, not sure if that is a good idea or not!

 

I wouldn't be that happy moving any bush - though you probably can. And perhaps now's the time.

Incidently all Salvia microphylla are said to be short lived - only about 4 to 5 years. So at some point it might be worth taking some cuttings. My oldest one is about seven years old and still going strong. Thats when I started gardening - so I don't have anything older. Exactly what determines the life expectancy - I don't know. It may just be that it gets too big and too woody, rather than dying of its own accord.

Why not try growing some from seed. The seeds are small and black, with 4 to each flower. They are very easy to grown and should flower a bit in the first year. The reason I say this is that 'Hot Lips' was a chance seedling found in Mexico. When you grow from seed you are never quite sure what you will get. I had seed from Salvia 'Maroon' another microphylla variety, some offspring gave maroon coloured flowers (as expected), but one gave pure white flowers.