Sorry, it's too small, young, cold and cutworm damaged for me to tell from these pics.

Here we would pot it up, move it to a quarantine area, and watch it for a year or more.

That said, I think it's just young and damaged by freeze and cutworms.

Other folk will probably weigh in here.

Fear not, I see NOTHING virus related in the pics!

Relax, it's all good,

hh

That is very reassuring HH. What is the advantage to potting up vs leaving in place and coddling (watering well)?

Nope, no virus. Just a lot of cutworm and slug damage and probably transplant shock.

It's obviously struggling, but I think I would leave it in place. Here's what I would do. Clear back some of that mulch to 3-4 inches from the crown of the plant. Scratch around in the soil looking for cutworms. Give the whole area a good ammonia and water drench. Put down some Sluggo Plus bait (Iron Phosphate for the slimeys, Spinosad for the worms). Water it every other day and every day during a heatwave. I would also give it a little liquid Miracle Grow or something similar in the first watering.

If you do that you may get a new flush of leaves this year or it may be building roots. In that case you'll get a good increase in size next year. Sometimes plants struggle to get established when they are small to begin with.
Steve

there is a theory..

that tiny plants.. enjoy being pot bound ... and potted up.. [we always not a tiny plant in a giant whiskey barrel

and in doing so.. you can force the equivalent of 2 or 3 years growth out of them [and that isnt much on a tiny plant.. lol] ... unless .. as in my case.. you forget about the pot.. lol ...

each time you up-pot.. you use fresh media ...

and every time you water.. you use a gallon milk jug of diluted soluble fert ... 25% strength???? ...

and then shove it back in the ground in mid sept or so ...

in my experience.. if you leave it in the ground.. it will NOT be there come spring ..

i have a row of pots of various things.. out the front door.. in VERY bright shade ... so that every time i walk out there.. i an think about them ... a pot nursery.. if you will ... [i also have about 50 plants out in the garden.. that look like yours]

ken

Thank you all. I will begin the pampering and hope.

You all are very helpful, I do appreciate it.

If you have an aquarium , dump some of your water change on your favorite/neediest plants...

prairie love,

We have from time to time discussed what to do if a plant is just not making it or if you just don't like a plant. I don't mean to sound unkind, but considering how bad this one looks, I think I would say good-bye to it rather than spend all the time and attention trying to make it well.

And this is coming from someone who has a husband who tries to save *everything*, no matter how pitiful. He has had a number of successes too.

Considering how large Sagae is supposed to be, I would buy another larger one from a good, on-line seller.

chris

leafwatcher, no I do not have an aquarium! Great idea though.

chris, I certainly understand your pov. For the moment, I am basically following steve's suggestions for pampering. I am watering every day which is easy because there are some newly planted hosta and heuchera in the same area, so no biggie to water Sagae too. I am not putting in ANY new plants in the immediate future as I will be out of town off and on for the rest of the summer - makes caring for newly planted babies difficult. As fall approaches, we will see. If Sagae is showing signs of improvement, I'll let it try out the winter. If not, I may indeed replace it yet this year.