Protecting a Zone 8 plant in Zone 5 for over Winter

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hankmii Mount Clemens, MI Jul 12, 2020

I would love to find a way to protect my Hot Lip Salvia (Sage Salvia microphylla 'Hot Lips') aZone 8 plant here in Michigan, Zone 5 over the Winter months.


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Audrey Hadley, PA(Zone 5a) Jul 16, 2020

You can find some advice on how to do that in the first of the Gardeners' Notes on the following page. It looks as if the plant actually is hardy to Zone 7.
https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/57961/

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Blucy Lafayette, LA(Zone 9b) Jul 16, 2020

That is beautiful! If you don't want to disturb it and dig it up, put together a PVC frame around it with clear, plastic covering and a one socket, outdoor lamp at night for warmth. It can easily be removed on a mild day and recovered at night. A miniature greenhouse of sorts.

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hankmii Mount Clemens, MI Jul 26, 2020

Being in Zone 5 I understood that the plant would not survive the Winter months. I cut about 30 cuttings and rooted them. Potted them & put in my basement. Placed Full Spectrum Lamps above them and watered once a week. They got very spindly so I cut them back. About 20 have survived and I have them outside now. Several are starting to bloom. Come Fall I'll be cutting them back as several people mentioned and bring them back in the house. Hopefully, they will build up their main stem and do even better next season.

Thank you for the replies and suggestions!

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MaypopLaurel Cleveland,GA/Atlanta, GA(Zone 7b) Jul 26, 2020

I was given this plant by a fellow Dave's Gardener ten years ago. It's at my cottage in north Georgia, which is zone 7B, and is so vigorous that it must be severely pruned two or three times each season. Mine has survived hard freezes and many inches of snow but nothing like your climate.

I would try to dig more mature root stock and pot that up, keeping it indoors, cool and barely moist to dry through winter so that it remains semi-dormant. Let it go through fall chilling and frosts before digging. The problem with cuttings is that they are going to want to grow and be harder to force into dormancy. This is what I have to do to winter over lantana, which has similar culture requirements, in my zone.

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