Friday, May 25

An Easy Decision (It Was Made for Me!)

So I've been debating whether to let my salvia argentea bloom... or to chop back the flowers and keep its pretty foliage around as long as possible.  I wasn't having strong feelings either way, so it was kind of a relief when I came home tonight and discovered this:



If the salvia had stayed upright as it began to bloom, the countdown to Decision 2012 would have been on. But since the plant was looked so ridiculous, leaning over the walkway like that, I decided to say adios to these not-so-inspiring blooms:


Note: After the dog walk a few minutes ago, I noticed that the freshly cut back salvia plant is now happily upright. And I look forward to seeing it live another year!

5 comments:

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Does this plant die after it blooms? It is a beauty. I think the blooms are pretty too but those big silver leaves are gorgeous.

Andrew@gardening tips said...

It is a lovely plant and grows well in the UK but is is tender, so maybe lost if we have a hard winter.
We have exactly the same issue, it is a top heavy plant and seldom stays upright.
Sadly it always falls over once the flowers open.
Staking is the only solution.
But your right, the foliage alone is also beautiful.

Unknown said...

Yup, Lisa, it dies after it blooms. This is the only one out of three that I planted thst survived--admittedly, the other two were questionable at best when I bought them at the end of the spring season. I love these leaves. :-)

Thanks, Andrew--I don't feel so badly now, knowing that the toppling is pretty typical. I will know to stake it for sure next year if I decide to let it bloom, too. I really appreciate the tips!

Entangled said...

Ah, now I remember what the flowers look like, but now I can't remember whether they toppled over. ;-)

I do recall that they were pretty easy to grow from seed, though.

Stratoz said...

Nice when you don't have to flip a coin to make a decision

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