I received some pineapple sage as a trade early this spring. It was dug up and sent with roots. I potted it up, keeping it under lights until the weather warmed up. I moved it outdoors and left it in the pot, in an area near the back door, where I have several other pots of annuals. I understand that it is not hardy here in zone 5/6, so I was wondering if I could take some cuttings and root them. Is it possible to root the cuttings, and what is the best way? Would now be a good time to get them started? Thank you for any info you can share,
Linda
Can I root cuttings of my Pineapple Sage?
Pineapple sage can root in water or you can use a rooting hormone and root in vermiculite. You could also make willow water and root using that. They may be a little slow rooting this time of year (the plant wants to slow down growth in the autumn), but hang in there. You could also just bring the entire plant in its pot inside.
Last year I waited forever for a pineapple sage to bloom. It finally did, about a week or so before our first frost, so you know how that story ended! I took cuttings (before the frost) and overwintered them, thinking I'd get a head start on this season.
Well, here it is, almost frost time, and the *&^%$ plant hasn't bloomed yet. It's huge. Looks great. No blooms! Or even buds! Argh!
I don't know what to do. Give up? Try again and fertilize it more? Maybe it was our lousy cool rainy summer? I suspect that no matter what I do, it just needs about 3 weeks more of warm weather than it'll ever get here.
Sigh!
No flowers or buds on my plant yet either, nedweenie. But I keep hoping I will see some soon. Since my plant is potted, I can move it inside the garage if the nights get too cold for it.
herbalbetty and nedweenie, I will start my cuttings today, and I thank you for your info and help. I hope to be able to keep this plant going for years to come. I love the way the leaves smell, and I also like the color of the leaves. The red flowers would be a plus, IF I get bloom!
Linda
I grew mine under lights in the basement. Ambient temps were in the high 60s/low 70s. They got kinda "woody", and took awhile to get settled and growing once outside.
And just to get your Plant Junky interest, apparently there's "Honeydew Melon Sage" that's supposed to bloom a bit earlier, (same red blooms) and smells just divine. I haven't been able to find one just yet (or seeds) but someday!
Good luck!
Oooooo, Honeydew Melon Sage sounds wonderful. Thank for letting us know about it. Looks like I will be on the lookout for a cutting or seeds of that one now.
Linda
At my previous house, I had pineapple sage growing near the sunny south wall of the house, and it came back every spring, even though I'm in zone 6! (Lemon verbena was perennial in that bed, too.) Alas, my south side is all shaded here at this house, so I'm not expecting it to come back in this garden, so maybe I should try the cuttings....
Even as hot as our summers are here, I never had it bloom before October.
I'm growing honeydew melon sage this year. It's blooming now. I'll go out later and get a pic. One year that I grew pineapple sage in a pot, I brought the entire thing in for the winter. That silly thing got as tall as my ceiling (okay, we have an old house and the ceilings are low, only about 7 foot), but still. It seemed to have exhausted itself and died shortly thereafter.
Nothing like a south side microclimate! I have a black & blue salvia that came back nicely after a heavy mulch & crossing of fingers in a sheltered, southern spot. Maybe I should move the pineapple sage next to it & see what happens.
And please post the pic of the Honeydew Melon Sage! I'd love to see that mythical beast that I've heard so much about! (Where'd ya git it?)
My pineapple sage has just this week gotten buds.Its calling for possible frost Wed night.I think I'm going to try to dig the whole plaht and bring it in.
Will that work?
I'm new here. I should introduce myself.I.m Vi from northwest Ohio.
Hi Vi~
If you think that you'll get a period of warmish weather after that forecasted frost, you could try just covering it with a sheet. If you dig it up, you run the risk of stressing or damaging it. Do you have a greenhouse or a really sunny spot indoors? Or are you going to dig it up to let it go dormant somewhere dark & cool? I'm not sure how to advise you, it depends on what you want to do with it once it's inside. I've kept pineapple sage cuttings going under lights, but how to keep a whole mature plant going is beyond my experience. Maybe someone has tried it and can help ya out here~ or you can ask over at the Salvia & Agastache forum.
Believe me, I feel your pain! My pineapple sage has finally budded up too, as I check the weather constantly, hoping I'll see it bloom before frost. But mine is way too big to even consider digging up to bring indoors. (And I've already taken cuttings for the winter.)
This message was edited Sep 29, 2009 6:33 PM
I also saw the first buds on my Pineapple sage today. Like Vi, the weather here has turned decidedly colder. My plant is still potted though, and I can move it into the garage for the night.
Linda
Well I took the plunge and tried it! I also took cuttings and it had a piece on the root that I could take off and start a new plant.So I am trying it all. The room I want to put it in has 3 skylights.I figure this is the time of year to transplant perennials so maybe!
Keep us informed on how it works
sharing knowledge is what makes us grow here at Dave's
^_^
Yes, do let us know how your cuttings and piece or rooted Pineapple Sage do for you.
Check this site for honeydew melon sage;
mulberrycreek@yahoo.com
The have a full catalog of herbs.
Mary
Marti001, you are my hero. Thanks! (They have an amazing selection of herbs. Wow!)
My Pineapple Sage is blooming outside right now. We've been taking it in and out of the garage if the night temps are forecasted to get too low. I just wish it had bloomed earlier in the year. Love the bright red color of those flowers!
As to the cuttings, not much going on there. I waited to take the cuttings and hope I didn't wait too long. The cuttings are alive, but no sign of roots after two weeks in water.
Linda
There's still some time with that. I wouldn't give up or pitch 'em just yet. Are they in a warm spot? Sometimes that's the key factor.
With most plants, I have better luck rooting in potting soil than water. I don't take off the node leaves, I just ram the stem in until the soil just barely covers them, and then pull off those leaves later, after new growth starts. That seems to work well. I don't use hormone powder either. Maybe you should take a few new fresh ones and try them in soil instead, while you still have the mother plant. Just in case!
Sometimes it just pays to complain! While doing dished this morning, I took a good look at my cuttings and 2 of the 3 have roots. I had them in a clear glass jar on the window sill above the sink. I'm pleased to see the roots on the two that have them and even the other cutting looks healty, so I will be awaiting roots on it too. Thanks for your suggestions nedweenie.
Linda
They must have heard your thoughts, and knew that they better get goin', or else! LOL.
You're welcome/good luck!
All three cutting are rooted now! Yippee!!!
Linda
A question for you pineapple sage experts.
I have a plant in one of my flowerbeds and have no clue what it is. A search in plant files came up with pineapple sage and the plants look
identical but mine has not a hint of any fragrance.
Do any of you have any ideas?
TIA
Vickie
Are you identifying the plant mainly by the flower?
If so the salvia lady in red has about the same flower color.
Any chance of a picture?
It might be some kind of pineapple sage cross. Or a less well known cousin. It's odd that it doesn't have a scent.
Penstemons have similar blooms to salvia, you may want to look at some pictures of those. (Like penstemon eatonii.)
Does it come back every year in the same spot? When does it bloom? Are the stems fuzzy or smooth? Leaves wide or strappy?
Lady in Red is a coccinea that gets 16-24" high & "blooms all summer" with fairly robust trumpets. It's an annual too. Pineapple sage is an elegans & gets much bigger, 30"- 48" high. The blooms are thin & delicate, & show up towards the end of the season. It's considered a perennial shrub.
I don't recall how fuzzy L in R is, but PS has very fuzzy stems.
The Sage & Agastache forum might be worth checking out too- there's more than one (real, LOL) salvia expert over there who might be able to identify it for you.
An update on the pineapple sage that I dug up:
It lost all its leaves,new ones are sprouting.
Takes a lot of water.
I also took cuttings,They have rooted.
That's great news Vi!
I kinda regret not digging one of mine out now. But if it's a mild winter, there's a slight chance that they'll come back in the spring. When I cut them back, they looked pretty beefy & I was heavy with the mulch. My cuttings are doing well under the lights, so either way it's looking good for next season.
It may work for you in your zone but I'm sure I couldnt have.
OK GUYS, You're hearing from a very embarressed lady. I took one of the leaves and squished it between my fingers and no doubt about it........Pineapple sage!
My humble apoligies. Tickled ones tho.LOL Am proud of my plant. Will mulch it heavily tomorrow.
Vickie
D'oh!
No big deal, I kinda enjoyed the research~
Too bad it wasn't a penstemon, that would have been a total score! ;)
You know, Cando - I have had that experience with mine, where a leaf had close to no fragrance - or none at all. Then later on it would. I don't know if these plants are like roses that have a heavier fragrance in the mornings and evenings, or ..?
I don't know if this is what happened but I've noticed herbs don't have much fragrance if recently watered or rained on?
What happened, i picked a stem and waited awhile to smell it,as it had started to rain. and i needed to get some other flowers inside. I would have thought the fragrance would have bled out more. but i guess not.
Vickie