I have by 1/2 and they did still bloom..... but I wouldn't wait any longer.

MY SALVIA TOO, HAVE BECOME TALL AND SCRAGGLY LOOKING. I HAVE ALREADY CUT THEM BACK, THE 1ST OF JULY AND AM THINKING ABOUT DOING IT AGAIN. HOPE IT WORKS AGAIN.

BRENDA

I've done this to my Mexican Bush Sage many times, and it does come back... even 3 to 4 times a year!

My slavias looked great until the real heat set in in July. I have moved most of them to a little more shady area and they are doing better. I want to cut them back though, especially the ones with dead wood like my Autumn Sage. How do I do it. How much do I cut and am I right in assuming new growth will come from the base not on the old wood? Is it true of the others like Coral Nymph and the whites, reds, and blues?

Salvia greggii and related woody sages do come back from old wood and should not be cut back unless the wood is brittle and dry. Tahe a piece off a bush that you know to be dead and another that is live, Compare the suppleness/brittleness of the stem and take a pocket knife and scrape off the bark, the next layer is the cambium, and if it is at least light green and damp, it is viable.

You can kill a greggii/microphylla and especially a regla by cutting it to the ground. Treat as a deciduous tree or bush.

I have some S. microphylls Hot Lips that I just retrieved from the compost pile because they are starting to bud out at the leaf axils.