Blue Jean Baby Russian Sage Pruning

You can also do a light pruning in early summer if you want to reduce the height and make plants look fuller.

Blue jean baby russian sage pruning.

The fuzzy flowers are whorled around silver gray stems forming an unusual and eye catching scene. Prune stems to about one foot in the spring to prevent the plants from becoming too woody. Gray green foliage has a piney sage like scent and contrasts perfectly with those pollinator attracting blooms and it s highly deer resistant. At the very least it s a good idea to cut off any dead branches to keep this perennial tidy.

Compact bushy mound with fragrant silver foliage. Russian sage forms a purple haze in gardens starting in mid to late summer with its purple spires of bloom. The normal time to prune russian sage is early spring or mid spring depending on the strategy you adopt. Try it in cut and dried bouquets too the pretty blue blooms add a lot to the arrangement.

That s why we like the compact habit of blue jean baby. Russian sage must be planted in soil with good drainage and aeration as the plant s roots will rot if the soil is too wet. Avoid wet poorly drained soils. Some gardeners choose to prune russian sage annually.

Thrives in average to lean fast draining soil. Blue jean baby one of the earliest perovskia to bloom is stunning when paired with rudbeckia and echinacea. Once established reduce frequency. Perovskia blue jean baby common name russian sage thrives in the heat of summer a cloud of smoky blue perovskia in bloom is unforgettable.

Russian sage can sometimes lodge or split its long beautiful stems toppling over instead of standing tall in the garden bed. These shorter stems grow fast to fill in a border and have no problem standing straight. The argument for pruning is that the plant will grow to be bushier as a result of this care. It is big in the eco friendly garden.

With most russian sage stems can split and fall making the whole display topple over but this variety doesn t even have that problem. It s not so heavy and won t flop over. Blue spire russian sage tends to grow more upright than the species with stems that reach 2 to 3 feet tall and wide. Several russian sage varieties are available on the market.

Cut the woody plant stems down to about 6 inches in early spring to make way for new growth. In early spring fertilize and prune to within several inches above the ground to promote dense growth and heavy bloom. Water regularly in first growing season to establish root system. For winter interest leave the seedheads and silvery stems in place until spring.

For the average gardener pruning russian sage typically occurs on the ends of the growing season near the start and finish.