Salvia Browning

//Salvia Browning

Your salvia isn’t dying – it’s just doing what these plants do in the summer after they flower. They go to seed and the flowering stems get brown. Sometimes this browning is made worse by the plant getting hit too frequently with water. (Such as from an automatic irrigation system that comes on more than once a week.) So be sure that the plant is only getting watered ever 6 to 7 days. Cut off all the brown parts, leaving the lower foliage only. In the future you can do this right after it stops flowering, usually in early July. Then plant another perennial, or better yet an annual such as Profusion Zinnias or Blue Horizon Ageratum, near the plant so that those will have the flower power for the rest of the summer and into the fall.

By | 2016-04-05T00:09:48-07:00 April 5th, 2016|Perennials|6 Comments

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6 Comments

  1. Barbara O Doherty August 2, 2021 at 4:56 am - Reply

    Thank you so much I thought my Salvia plants were dying.great to get so much helpful information.

  2. Janet September 6, 2021 at 11:32 am - Reply

    Thank you! I was getting sad that something got them and they were dying. The bees have been loving them!

  3. Denise Greene June 28, 2022 at 8:06 pm - Reply

    The lower portion of my stems are what’s dying. There is plenty of new leaf growth, but the stems are dying and taking the plant down with it.

  4. MAbe August 11, 2022 at 11:00 am - Reply

    I have the same problem as Denise. The bottom of the stems are totally brown and some of the other leaves have small spots. This happens every year shortly after flowering. I have Shasta daisies nearby and the whole stem goes brown and looks dead. Eventually it overtakes the other stems. If I cut the whole Salvia plant, it comes back nice and green. Unfortunately the pattern persists and soon the bottom begins to brown

  5. Melissa Henson September 25, 2023 at 8:39 am - Reply

    I think I watered my Saliva too much. It looked like it was dying. I’ve dug it up. Trying to replant it. I’ve got it in a pot with potting soil. Should I leave it outside in the sun or shade. I also cut the stems back. Should I also get the remaining soil& dirt off.

  6. Mburdett555 June 20, 2024 at 9:59 am - Reply

    Will salvia develop another flush of flowers / stems if browning occurs mid spring? Seems mine flowered intensively fairly early due to hot weather

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