I have a white apiana sage plant that I received earlier this year and have it planted in a pot so that I can take care of it over the winter. It's outside in full sun, it's been dry, and it's growing great, the only thing is that it's growing as a single stalk straight up. It's gone from about a 4" plant to a 2' single stalk in a matter of a few months. Should I be pruning or topping it to force more growth? Ultimately I would like a bush instead of a single stalk! But I know that takes a few years. Basically I haven't touched it since I got it, so would love to know if it's ok to top it, what will happen, etc.
Thanks!
Kim
White Apiana Sage Pruning Question...
You could trim it back if there is green growth all along the stem, not just at the top. I avoid pruning if there isn't any other growth on a single-stemmed plant as they need leaves to photosynthesize. If there aren't any other leaves wait until some appear and then trim about 1/3 of the stem, right above a set of leaves. This will encourage the plant to send out new branches. With little plants like this I prune very cautiously, usually only one little branch at a time until the plant gets bigger.
Momherb
Yes it does have leaves all the way up, the mental image I gave was probably not completely acurate. It has little leaves coming out in each segment all along the stem up to the top where it's at it's best looking.
Also, if I were to top it, can I root that clipping in water?
I've never tried to root this from cuttings but I'd suggest rooting it in sand or vermiculite, rather than water. Some herbs will root in water but those with woody stems seem to just rot if rooted in water. Trim off all but the top two leaves, cut the stem at a sharp angle and stick it down in the rooting medium. You can use a rooting hormone if you want but there are mixed reviews on its effectiveness. Keep the soil evenly moist and maybe cover the whole thing with a plastic bag. It's rooted when you notice resistance if you try to pull it out of the medium.
Good luck!
Momherb
It is a funny plant. The base of our plant is very low, but the flower stalks (2) grew to about four feet in a blink. They fell over, so we tied them up because they were so pretty. I'll have to check and see if it's time to cut them down now. The nursery where I bought it had one that was about 8 feet tall.
In my experience this plant can be a bit finicky in humid weather and even in dry weather if it doesn't get enough water. Parts of it may die back completely and it may look like it should be pulled out but then, all of a sudden, new growth will appear at the base of the plant and when the dead growth is trimmed back the plant grows back and is healthy and happy.
I'm growing it in a garden where I work and it's used for ceremonial purposes in a sweat lodge used by Native American women. They love it.
Momherb
Had to share this link, as I love the funny comments by Bert. Doesn't answer the question about pruning, unfortunately. Also, I didn't realize there is a 'compact' S. apiana.
http://www.laspilitas.com/plants/604.htm
Looked around some more and found this:
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=SAAP2
Question: are you sure that is not a flower stalk you have growing, Ken?
This message was edited Jul 10, 2008 9:59 AM
The plant was only 4" tall when I got it, is it even possible to have a flower stalk in three months?
My initial question was about pruning or topping the plant, does anyone have an answer for that one?
Thanks,
Kim
I only asked because everything I read says the plant is low growing with tall flowers. Can you take a photo and post it here? If our plant is any example, I wouldn't be surprised at that much growth in three months. I have a photo of mine in March and it was quite small. Just checked and the flower stalks are dry, so I'll see if I can get some seed. I would like to have more of this around.
OK, here's an example. In the photo on the right, you can see how small the plant was in mid-March. The one on the left shows the (now dried) flower stalks, taken today. We planted it in early spring. YMMV
Here is a picture of how it looks, and I'm thinking of cutting 4" off the top to start with. My goal is to get this thing shorter before the winter. I would cut it right above the bushiest part, but I want to try and root the cutting, that's why I'm going to start with 4". If anyone thinks this might be a bad idea let me know, I plan to top it this weekend.
I'm glad you posted that photo! It doesn't look anything like mine. No expert here, but I can see why you want to cut it back. I can't imagine it would do anything but possibly encourage it to branch. Good luck and let us know how it goes.
Haha, I know. I want it to be cute and bushy like the other pictures of white sage I have seen. I didn't know there was dwarf apiana sage, it was sooo hard to find a seller of regular apiana sage and I couldn't believe it was only $4.50 when I found one. My only thoughts is that this is a young plant and I've been taking good care of it... I hope! I have removed some of the lower larger leaves when they appeared to be browning at the ends, and that sprouted many smaller leaves in the same spot, so I'm thinking I can successfully top it with no problems, I was just hoping someone else had some experience with one like this. At the same time I purchased this plant, I also purchased tri-color and purple sage. For some reason all the purple sage died off, and the tri-color look the same as when I bought them, but they are zone 5-11 plants so I hope they make it.
I am doing the impossible here by keeping an apiana sage plant in a zone 6, but this is my plan. I am going to trim it down until it's low enough that I can put a plastic victorian bell over it. I'm going to keep it dry to keep the humidity down, and I'm only going to do this on days when it gets below 45 degrees over the winter. I would say we get about 4 weeks of freezing weather, but it's not consecutive so I'm not worried about the roots freezing, it's usually two or three days in a row. The clear plastic dome will create it's own atmosphere (it has a vent at the top) and will also keep out any rain or snow. And it's going to be in the sun.
So that's my plan, it's more of an experiment to see if I can successfully keep a white sage plant in my zone using a plastic dome (because I don't have a greenhouse), but right now it's too tall for the dome! Last year I managed to kill 7 of them, but I had no idea what I was doing, and didn't know sage was a zone 7-11 plant. I'm bordering a zone 7, we are right on the state line between KY and TN. If anyone is interested to see how it goes (or has any tips), I will let you know after the winter is over ;)
Kim