Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
rate this answer
Tuesday - February 23, 2010
From: Birmingham, AL
Region: Southeast
Topic: Pruning, Seasonal Tasks
Title: Cutting back salvia greggii in Birmingham, AL
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
When is a good time to cut back salvia gregii and how much can you cut it back. We will probably still have frost. Will it grow in sun and shade?ANSWER:
Salvia greggii (autumn sage) is endemic to Texas, and not shown in our Native Plant Database as growing in Alabama, so we're not sure how well it will do there. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is dedicated to the care, protection and propagation of plants native not only to North America but to the area in which they are being grown. The native habitat of this plant is well-drained, rocky slopes, usually limestone, sand and loams in central, south and west Texas. It is evergreen to semi-evergreen, and blooms white, red, pink, orange or purple from March to November. If you have obtained some and wish to give it a try in Alabama, it does require full sun, which we consider to be 6 or more hours of sun a day.
We have always recommended cutting salvias back to about 6 in. after the first freeze; however, since this is a mounding, semi-evergreen shrub, such severe pruning is probably not necessary, but certainly some clean-up and removing dead foliage is appropriate for now.
From the Image Gallery
More Seasonal Tasks Questions
Schedule for planting perennial wildflowers from Asheville NC
March 22, 2013 - When is the best time to plant perennial wildflowers?
view the full question and answer
Damage to plants after sudden freeze in Redway CA
January 02, 2010 - I live on the North Coast of California near "The Avenue of the Giants" and Redwoods State Park along the Eel River. We recently have had below freezing weather, constant rain and even snow! I have...
view the full question and answer
Drought affecting native trees from The Woodlands
August 18, 2011 - I've been trying to grow native trees in my yard for the past 3 years and I'm starting to question whether the amount of time required to spend watering them during the long hot season in Texas is r...
view the full question and answer
Yucca elata flowering in Tauranga, NZ.
August 20, 2009 - I have two huuuuuuge Yucca elatas in my garden. One of them flowered spectacularly last year - a 15ft stalk that grew so quickly you could hear it, and then burst into a cloud of waxy cream flowers. M...
view the full question and answer
Wildseed Planting in a drought
September 14, 2011 - Due to the extreme drought and no rain in the near future in central Texas would it be prudent to have a wildseed planting in October?
view the full question and answer
| Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |