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Are my salvias (hot lips) dead?

NoSlugsPleaseNoSlugsPlease Posts: 120
in Problem solving
Good evening. I bought 3 salvia hot lips last year and as expected, they lost all their leaves halfway through winter. There have been no signs of growth since. I scraped the base of the shrubs to check and there is still green under the bark but as it is already June, is there any hope for them? I live in the West Midlands and thought they would be hardy enough to survive winter here but I may have been too optimistic.
Thank you.
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Posts

  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Hi, are they in pots?
  • NoSlugsPleaseNoSlugsPlease Posts: 120
    Hi, Fire. They are in the ground. I did not cut them back in autumn, as I read that the branches would help to protect the roots.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Did you cut back in the spring? Could you post a pic? Are they in full sun?
  • NoSlugsPleaseNoSlugsPlease Posts: 120
    I did cut them back but only a little initially, and quite late in spring. They are in full sun but were slightly shaded by weeds which were only cleared in late April. I will take a picture and post it tomorrow.
    Thanks. 
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    Mine got frost blasted, but near the bottom, hiding between the nettles, there are green shoots showing.  I might use them as cuttings and dig the old plants out and put something else there this year.
  • InglezinhoInglezinho Posts: 568
    You have answered your own question. Some, but not all, Salvias are hardy in UK.
    Everyone likes butterflies. Nobody likes caterpillars.
  • luis_prluis_pr Posts: 123
    edited June 2021
    The ones I have froze in February when temperatures crashed to -19C. They all came back by either leafing out existing branches or by growing new stems from the base. However, they did take their time showing signs of life. I waited almost two months until my overnight lows were significantly and always above 10C; that change seemed to trigger active growth in them and in a few other plants that were also slow to recover like Loropetalums, Indian Hawthorns and one camellia. After they started showing signs of life, I fertilized and pruned to remove dead wood. While waiting, I maintained the soil as evenly moist as I could.

    However, my plants were not planted last year. They are well established (10+ years old), were mulched in the Fall (10-20 cm of organic mulch) and were also deeply watered the night before the freeze. Since you still have had dips at night to 10C or less, I would give them some more time and if you see no signs of life once overnight lows have warmed well significantly above 10C, redo the scratch test and take appropriate action.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    I would say, if the plants are green, there is hope.
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    Hot lips isn't regarded as being hardy everywhere
    It's a young plant,and we did have s very cold late spring. Mine is quite a few years old I've never pruned it
  • NoSlugsPleaseNoSlugsPlease Posts: 120
    Thanks all, for the advice. I will give them a few more weeks and see what hapens. I am not sure yet what I would plant in their place anyway. We only moved into this house less than 2 years ago and I am still trying to figure out what will survive in the garden as we are in the countryside and it gets very windy out here.
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