I had the same exact problem this summer. For me, it was just too much sun and not enough water. I watered it a bit more than once a week and the temps have gone down just a bit (80s or so) and now it is coming back blooming and a darker green. All summer it was that pale green with not alot of blooms, and also that brown drying too. Try to give it shade if it is really hot or watering more. Maybe sprinkle a little fertilizer around it if those 2 things dont work after a week or two.

I have had a lot of leaf disease, in the UK, on several species, which I think has been caused by capsid bugs. But here it is only S. guaranitica 'Argentine Skies' which seems to get badly affected but by mid-July, the rampant new growth discards the problem.. The other guaraniticas hardly get this problem. 'Argentine Skies' is a wonderful plant here, flowering well from July until frosts, and it seems to be the most hardy of all the types. I sometimes wonder if this is in fact a hybrid, or indeed a separate species. Reasons for these thoughts are that the underground tubers resemble large black potatoes, and are almost impossible to eradicate, should you wish to, and that the beautiful plant, in full flower, does not really, to my eyes, closely resemble a guaranitica. It is so much smaller and delicate.....where, and how was it first identified? The prolific flowers are the most beautiful sky-blue. This form has never set seed in the UK, whereas other forms of S. guaranitica do, if a trifle reluctantly. This makes me wonder even more if 'Argentine Skies' could be a hybrid? Any ideas?

Warmest regards, Robin.

Betsy Clebsch doesn't consider S.g. 'Argentina Skies' to be a hybrid.

Does ANYONE know what this is?? I've looked everywhere (on internet) -cant find anyone who has had same prob- Ive fertilized and its growing well, except new leaves are smaller - Im guessing its a fungus HELP!!

Leaf tip browning is, amongst other considerations, a symptom of problems with root systems, especially with the small, terminal feeder roots. Is your soil heavy or constantly wet? The soil should be porous enough for aeration.

Another consideration is the presence of too much dissolved mineral salts, including excessive fertilizer, and the related problem of pH.

Besides being a primary cause, these conditions also promote the activity of pathogens.

This is often why a plant that is just shuffling along in a pot suddenly goes crazy with new growth when set out in good garden soil. It has room to grow and can find the nutrients it needs.

In the pot, it is suffering from mismanagement based in ignorance or unawareness of its needs. If you have more than one plant, it is time to try some experiments, like repotting one, setting out another, and carefully fertilizing or controlling the watering in another.

I'm of the opinion that Argentine Skies and Black and Blue are forms of the Salvia melanocalyx group of naturally occurring types S. guaranitica. An old revision combined the four species S. ambigens, S. melanocalyx, and S. coerulea with the older S. guaranitica as one variable species.

Here is the description from Epling:

A species of some variability particularly in density of pubescence and flower size. In general the size of the flowers and the density of pubescence diminishing situations from north to south, although a single plant, as for example Mosén 4316, may have fully developed corollas varying from 38-54 mm in length. The plants of Parana have the larger corollas of the more northern specimens but smaller calyces. S. guaranitica, S. ambigens and S. melanocalyx are representative of the smaller flowered forms; S. coerulea var. Regnellii is representative of the larger flowered forms with dense pubescence; Sellow's specimen, the type of S. coerulea, which has marked similarity to other specimens from Rio Grande do Sul, is more or less intermediate.

Argentina Skies was collected by Juan Patricio OâÂÂFarrell in the wild as a light-colored sport amongst a population of variably darker forms