Last year's sage-- What do I do with it?

[NurseNettie]

I wasn't sure if it would last through our zone 4 winter or not-

I've got "old" plants in the garden, and don't want to do the wrong thing, in case they did last. Our snow has just melted off them.

Do I pull the plants? Cut them back? Or let them be? They are all flattened to the ground, with, of course, mostly dead leaves. I just don't know how the plant "works" as a perennial.

Thanks!

 

[vfem]

Mine always come back but I am in a much warmer zone by far. I wish I had advice on keeping them or not. In the summer I cut off quite abit of mine for drying and storing. Mine gets kinda icky around christmas out in the garden, and I don't bother harvesting it fresh again until spring. This way I have a back up for those no growth months.

 

[stepstephens2]

I've been growing sage for a few years now... although I have a hotter climate than you I've notice that these plants are the hardiest when you let them do there own thing. I had one that I was growing in a pot that I thought that I had killed. I planted it in my herb bed with the other sages just to see what would happen. Two months later and it is flowering! Give it a couple of weeks to warm up and see what it does is my vote. I noticed that almost all the leaves I thought were dead started to perk up by then.
I read somewhere that the leaves have a lot of oil in them (which is why they take so long to dry) and I'm guessing it might make them a little hardier through frosts and snow. I have a book (Advanced Home Gardening) that says it is hardy for zones 4-8. It also says that it will quit looking nice after 4 years, so if it is beauty as well as cuttings you want you will have to replant then.

 

[journey11]

It's a perennial, so it will come back year after year. Mine is on year 3 now. I just prune it back a little in the spring before it takes off again because it is so lanky.

Oh, sage is so pretty when it blooms!

 

[lesa]

Just put my seed in the ground a few days ago. Thanks for the pic Journey- I didn't know how pretty it was! Now I am really looking forward to it!

 

[wifezilla]

Let it go until it starts to get really woody and doesn't produce a lot of leaves. Then plant a new one. I just replaced some 5 year old plants.

 

[thistlebloom]

It's still really early for perennials Nettie, mine are just now starting to nudge themselves out of the ground, and our snow melted off a few weeks ago (not counting the "bonus" snows we got, but thankfully they didn't stick too long ). Just let them be, and when they start growing, you can trim the dead stuff off. Do you know what kind of sage it is?

 

[NurseNettie]

I'm not sure what kind of sage it is at all. I planted it in the ground last year, after having the seeds a few years. I don't recall it being any "special" sage---I'd never grown it and wanted something basic.

Of course... I never really understood that it was perennial here ( I had been told by some locals it would never grow year after year).. and I guess I never realized how hardy it was.. I planted it like I would have dill, or something that I use a LOT Of... and got. well... scores of plants. I have a sage patch, and will never possibly use all of it, LOL. I dug up a bunch last summer and gave away a LOT in pots. I'll probably do the same again, and reduce the number of plants I have, should all or most of it come back.

It's still really early for perennials Nettie, mine are just now starting to nudge themselves out of the ground, and our snow melted off a few weeks ago (not counting the "bonus" snows we got, but thankfully they didn't stick too long ). Just let them be, and when they start growing, you can trim the dead stuff off. Do you know what kind of sage it is?

 

[thistlebloom]

Nettie,there are over 60 (!) named varieties listed in the Sunset book alone, and it states that the sages are the largest genus in the mint family, so there is definitely a huge variety there!

If you have common sage (salvia officinalis ) it looks like it's hardy where you're at. Time will tell tho' right?

 

[NurseNettie]

Common sage, I think it is! Another few weeks and I should know.

Nettie,there are over 60 (!) named varieties listed in the Sunset book alone, and it states that the sages are the largest genus in the mint family, so there is definitely a huge variety there!

If you have common sage (salvia officinalis ) it looks like it's hardy where you're at. Time will tell tho' right?