Highdesertgardener:
I prune my S.greggii & microphylla back really hard during
Febuary. I would think that S.May Night would benefit from a prune to help the plant re-grow from the crown.
I would do it early so the heat does not toast the plant.
Art

hi hybridsage,

I have a question too. Sorry for hijacking the thread. I just bought 2 B&B today. It's still in pot. I'm in zone 5a. Our average last frost date is May 15. Although it's been a warm winter, should I go ahead and plant it now? If let say I plant it tomorrow, how many days should I wait before I pinch it? And how do I pinch it, I mean, how much should I remove? Which part of the plant should I pinch?

These are the 2 B&B I bought. I think the height is 5 inches tall excluding the dark black stem.
{{gwi:1242447}}

I planted my first B&B last weekend. However, this weekend is going to be cold with frost likely Sunday morning so you should probably wait until it warms up a bit next week. I will be buying three more B&B this weekend. Regarding the last frost date, May 15th would actually be pretty late, unless you live in an especially cold low spot. The first week of May is about average for our area. I'm new to gardening so I can't help with pinching.

Hybrid Sage,

thanks for your response. Here in central Oregon, our last frost can occur as late as June 1st and our perennials don't start showing signs of life or pop up out of the ground until April. If my salvias are only 4 inches off the ground, do I prune them back to two inches? In other words, at what height do I want them at before I pinch them?

-High Desert Gardener

Being May Night is not that big a plant make your
prune at the 2nd or 3rd Node or branch division. It should regenerate new foliage from the nodes below that. You
should also do a second prune after the 3rd round of Bloom. Our weather here has been cooler than normal up to now. So I am looking at doing some tip pruning to relieve some of the weight from the newer stems so they don't get floppy.
Art