Mine are around 7ft tall too but nowhere near as wide. Many plants tend to grow bigger in my warmer climate. Maybe this year’s heatwave in the UK gave it a boost or has it been that tall for a while? I don’t think they can be split but they can be ‘Chelsea chopped’ to reduce height, if not width! Mine grow in poor soil in full sun, rarely get watered and never fed. The rootball does grow wide and fat after a few years, so taking cuttings and replacing them with new plants is probably the way to keep them manageable.
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
Wow, that is a monster of a salvia!! Lucky you! Its one of my favourites. Unfortunately, mine was trampled by Boris the Berzerker (daft dog) and he snapped it at the base. I did manage to salvage some cuttings and have one decent plant atm, and I'm anxiously waiting for the flowers to open and hoping Boris doesn't spot another fox, which caused him to do the Riverdance on the original one!
As others have said, you could take some cuttings as an insurance, if you do try to split it. They are ridiculously easy to root, in soil or in water.
Our neighbour grows a lot of these and she cuts them down to the ground in spring and they still grow to 6ft during the summer (even in normal summers, they don't appear to have done any better this year). They don't get as wide but an early prune doesn't seem to hold them back at all. She normally takes cuttings because they aren't reliably hardy here even with our free draining soil.
Thank you to everyone who’s replied. There’s a lot of love for a Salvia Amistad on here, quite rightly IMO. I think I must have an unusual strain, was round at a friend’s this afternoon who lives about 200 yards away and her Amistads were both the expected 1.2(ish) metres high. I ignore mine other than cutting it right down to the ground as new shoots appear in the spring. This one was also transplanted in May. It has an extraordinary desire to flourish! I just wish I had the space for it here. Will cut a few of the outer stems right back tomorrow to make more room for the things around it in the bed.
In the same bed I also have some Pennisetum ‘Fairy Tails’ that I bought as 2 litre plants only in May - they’re already 1.5m high and 1.2m wide. What the Salvia isn’t smothering, the Pennisetum are! 🙄. This gardening lark is not as easy as it looks, is it?
Amazing specimen. In spring following cut back and when you see growth, use a spade to divide as you like. Make sure to take it with some root. I made about 5 divisions last year from my moderately big clump (3yrs old above) and gave away three. The two divisions from this year are about 4-5 feet tall as opposed to 8-9. FYI I watered it once when re-planting and is doing fine without extra watering. It is a thug in the right place and needs to be managed.
Amazing specimen. In spring following cut back and when you see growth, use a spade to divide as you like. Make sure to take it with some root. I made about 5 divisions last year from my moderately big clump (3yrs old above) and gave away three. The two divisions from this year are about 4-5 feet tall as opposed to 8-9. FYI I watered it once when re-planting and is doing fine without extra watering. It is a thug in the right place and needs to be managed.
That’s interesting to hear - will take some cuttings just in case and then try dividing it in the spring. The problem with cuttings is that if they all take I’ll then have to plant them out - I can’t bring myself to throw away anything that I’ve germinated or is growing (even if I don’t want it) - all it’s done is what I asked it to do and to reward that with destruction is more than I can bear. (And this is why we end up with 50 chilli plants every year - I plant many in case of failure and we never get any so I dutifully grow them all on to adulthood. You can’t get in our spice cupboard for chilli flakes or our freezer for whole chillies!)
Yes. Pls do. When yours comes out fine, you can always give your rooted cuttings to a charity shop . I’m noticing more and more having plant sales day in spring.
Ah…. I’ll show you my chilli bonsai collection some other time . Once they are past their 3rd year they make a rather nice specimen with woody trunk etc. following root pruning and potting in a bonsai mix. You still get 3-5mm mean reapers which you don’t need to cut in order to eat.
@Alchemist that’s really helpful and good to know that division has worked for you, I was always told it wasn’t possible! It just goes to show, nothing ventured..
Mountainous Northern Catalunya, Spain. Hot summers, cold winters.
My Amistads tend to only make one or a few shoots close together from ground level so I wouldn't want to try division (easy from cuttings anyway) but if yours produces more shoots, in a bigger clump, then division should be worth a try.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
My Amistad salvias also grow both as tall and as wide and are doing especially well this year. They are quite different from those such as Caradonna which are always fairly low-growing. Another tall (and beautiful blue) salvia is Super Trouper. I cut them down once they start to show leaves and the weather warms up a bit, mulching around them in the Autumn before the frosts. In recent winters they have always come through although a little later to flower than newly-raised plants from cuttings. I wouldn't try dividing them...just take cuttings and pull them up if they have outgrown their space.
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As others have said, you could take some cuttings as an insurance, if you do try to split it. They are ridiculously easy to root, in soil or in water.