Russian sage can be propagated by stem cuttings, seeds, or by splitting mature plants. In the garden, you can also transplant young plants or seedlings.
Under ideal circumstances, established plants will self-sow and occasionally spread via underground rhizomes as well.
It should be noted that depending on their patent status, some cultivars cannot be propagated without a license.
From Seed
If you choose to sow Russian sage seed indoors, you may do so at any time of the year.
If you intend to plant seeds outdoors the next season, it is advised to start them at least six to eight weeks before the last anticipated frost in your location.
Start by cold stratifying the seeds for 42 days in a plastic bag inside the refrigerator at a temperature of about 40F. The rate of germination will rise and accelerate as a result.
Spread the seeds evenly across the soil’s surface, at least a half-inch apart. If seedlings become too crowded, which may happen if they move around when you water, you can thin them later.
To ensure that the seeds have adequate soil contact, gently press them. Add a very thin layer of soil or sphagnum moss on top.
Place the tray in a spot with regular temperatures between 60 and 65 °F, cover it with plastic, and keep it out of direct sunlight.
Lift the cover once or twice a day, or anytime the soil surface seems dry to the touch, and sprinkle the seeds with water from a spray bottle while you wait for them to germinate.
In many cases, your seeds will germinate considerably more quickly than the recommended 90 days. After 120 days, they might not have germinated if you have not noticed any symptoms of germination. If this is the case, throw them away and start over.
Remove the plastic cover after the seeds start to sprout. Position the tray beneath a grow lamp or in a window with natural light. Continue watering as necessary.
You can transplant the seedlings into individual 12-inch pots with potting soil and landscaping sand mixed in when they are an inch tall. This will encourage adequate drainage.
Late spring or early summer is the best time to plant in the garden. The first blooming season for plants raised from seeds occurs in the second year.
After the risk of frost has gone, cold stratified seeds can also be dispersed onto a planting space that has been prepared outside. Till seedlings sprout, gently water the planting area and keep it damp.
From Cuttings
This approach produces pleasant outcomes, has a high success rate, and is far quicker than beginning from scratch.
Both softwood and semi-hardwood cuttings can be rooted, and each gardener seems to have a favored method that they use depending on the season with varied degrees of success.
Spring is the best time to take softwood cuttings, whereas summer is the best time to take semi-hard cuttings.
The optimum time to take cuttings is when you know you can take care of them and when the plants are at their healthiest.
Using a clean pair of pruning scissors and a healthy, mature plant, take numerous cuttings that are each about four inches long in order to propagate Russian sage from cuttings. A leaf node is a good place to start your cuts.
With the exception of a few at the end of each cutting, remove all the leaves. Take out any flowers or buds.
If desired, dip the cut ends of each in powdered rooting hormone. Russian sage will root even without additional rooting hormones, however using them may increase your success rate.
Put the bottom of each cutting approximately an inch deep into a 12-inch well-draining container that is filled with damp sand or your preferred soilless media.
Place your clippings in a sheltered spot indoors with good lighting and a temperature of about 60 degrees.
Within a few weeks, the cuttings should start to create pale white roots, and as those roots take hold, they will start to sprout new growth.
In the interim, keep the soil moist. When your rooted cuttings are about a foot tall, you can plant them in the garden.
From Seedlings/Transplanting
As soon as the threat of frost has gone, Russian sage can be planted in the garden.
Before planting, harden off seedlings or rooted cuttings. This can be accomplished by taking them outside for an hour in a protected, partially sunny place on the first day, bringing them back inside, then gradually increasing the time spent outside each subsequent day by about an hour until they are able to spend the entire day outside.
When plants are grown enough for effective in-ground transplanting, a foot-deep hole that is about two and a half feet broad and as deep as the plant’s root ball should be dug.
Avoid damaging the plant’s delicate roots by placing it in the hole with care. After lightly compacting the earth back around the plant, water it thoroughly.
From Division
If you wish to manage the growth of your current Russian sage plants, division can be useful. Additionally, it can urge them to bloom more forcefully. Naturally, it’s also a fantastic method to introduce new plants to your yard!
Every three years, you can divide your plant, and the optimum times to do so are in the spring or the fall. Before your plant is actively blooming, or right when the blooms have completed blooming but before plants hibernate for the winter, divide.
Before dividing in the fall, you could want to prune the stems with a pair of clean garden shears to a height of about six to eight inches.
With a shovel, dig out the plant from the soil, making sure to go far enough to avoid damaging the roots. Work in segments if you can’t dig up everything at once.
To divide the parent into clumps with roots attached, either into thirds or in half, depending on the size of your plant, gently remove some of the extra soil from around the roots so you can see what you’re working with.
To keep the roots moist while you work, gently separate the roots with your hands and lay the divisions in a shallow tray of water.
For each of the separated pieces, create a hole that is as deep as the length of the roots. To complement the soil’s existing nutrients, add some compost.
Place the crown of each division at the hole’s surface. As you work, pack soil around the roots, continue with each division, replant the parent, and then thoroughly water.
Do Russian sages grow in numbers?
Russian sage can be planted using a few tips that will aid in the plant’s establishment in your garden.
Place your planting first. For the Russian sage to flourish, full sun is necessary. Plants tend to flop open as stems stretch for sunlight when given a little shade. A stretch along a driveway or an area with high sun that gets as hot as the area between a sidewalk and a street are good choices. Russian sage enjoys heat and sunlight.
When planting Russian sage, keep in mind that this lovely plant dislikes two things: high humidity, and soil that remains wet all year. Select a planting location with alkaline, dry soil or ordinary, well-drained soil. Both soil types are compatible with Russian sage. Plants often become slack and floppy in overly fertile soil. Insert hoop stakes or support stems with stakes and string in this situation.
Plants mature at a height of 3 to 5 feet and a spread of 2 to 4 feet. Russian sage grows in clumps, so provide the plants some room to expand by placing them about three feet apart or three feet away from other plants in the garden.
At your preferred plant store, keep an eye out for containers of Russian sage. Russian sage can be planted any time between early spring and six weeks before the first frost, but late spring is the best time. The earth is now warm, and plants should begin to grow swiftly. If you decide to plant Russian sage later in the summer, make sure to water the soil frequently as the young plants grow.
There are numerous types of Russian sage for sale. The straight species can reach heights of 3 to 5 feet and widths of 2 to 4 feet. Russian sage known as “Little Spire” is a scaled-down kind that grows only 18 to 24 inches tall and wide. Russian sage known as “Blue Spire” has stems that may grow up to three feet tall and wide and is known to grow more uprightly than other varieties.
In the correct circumstances, Russian sage can self-sow and can also spread via rhizomes. Gardeners claim that this perennial bloom can occasionally be invasive. The National Invasive Species database does not, however, report or list it as such. Keep an eye out for spreading stems in the garden. As you find them, pull and cut them.
Is Russian sage contagious?
Either early spring or late fall are suitable times to plant Russian sage. To encourage proper drainage and guarantee a successful overwinter, choose a sunny location for your plants with soil that is on the grittier side (sandier loam).
Light: Russian sage should be grown in full sunlight. The plant will flop over and get leggier in partial sunlight.
Russian sage is a great choice for rocky, less fertile, poorer soils. It thrives in alkaline environments (pH > 7) but is intolerant to soggy, acidic soils.
Russian sage should be planted 24 inches apart to allow for the ultimate spread of the plant.
Slow-growing and unable to spread, Russian sage develops a woody stem structure at the base of the plant. It can produce offsets (‘mini’ plants with incomplete root systems’) at the base once it reaches maturity.
Russian sage should be planted in the early spring or early fall to give its roots time to grow over the off-season.
When will Russian sage cuttings start to root?
Choose a healthy stem with two or three leaves that is at least six inches long.
Cut off any flowers or buds, and remove the leaves from the stem’s lower half.
Russian sage stem ends can be dipped or soaked in rooting hormone powder, which is sold in garden centers.
Just long enough to get a decent coat on the cuts that are about one-fourth inch long.
Avoid letting powder build up on leaves or buds since this will stop them from rooting.
You can move your fresh Russian sage plants into larger pots or the garden once the roots are a few inches long.
When may I take Russian sage cuttings?
Since most plain garden soil already contains more nutrients than the sage is typically used to, applying chemical fertilizers is neither necessary nor even desirable for Russian sage because it is well acclimated to barren soils.
When selecting a location to cultivate Russian sage, you might want to keep in mind that it draws bees.
Perovskia atriplicifolia, sometimes known as Russian sage, is a perennial sub-shrub that blooms in the summer and fall with spires of blue and lavender flowers. Russian sage is hardy in USDA zones 5 through 9 and requires just light watering and sporadic pruning for shape and size to perform well despite less-than-ideal soil and temperature conditions. Russian sage is a woody perennial with flowers that can be spread both by seed and by cuttings.
At the conclusion of the bloom cycle, gather the seeds of Russian sage from the drying seed heads. Pluck or chop off the seed heads while holding them over some paper or another flexible surface. Then, funnel the seed heads into a small airtight container or resealable plastic bag until planting. Seeds should be buried one inch deep in nursery pots or trays of fresh potting soil before being thoroughly watered.
Use a clean garden knife or secateurs to cut soft wood cuttings off your Russian sage in the late spring or early summer. To ensure that the cutting is not harmed by removing the leaves, make cuttings that are at least 5 inches long and leave any foliage in tact. Make a fresh cut on the woody cutting’s bottom end, then quickly dip it in water and rooting hormone powder to coat the bottom inch or so. Put the cutting’s bottom end quickly and gently into some loose potting soil. To support the cutting, lightly compact the earth around it, and then thoroughly water it.
- Perovskia atriplicifolia, sometimes known as Russian sage, is a perennial sub-shrub that blooms in the summer and fall with spires of blue and lavender flowers.
- Make a fresh cut on the woody cutting’s bottom end, then quickly dip it in water and rooting hormone powder to coat the bottom inch or so.
Put your seed pots and cuttings in a well-lit, moist area that is shielded from the wind and from temperatures that are below 55 or 60 degrees. To assist germination, keep the soil consistently moist. Check on it every day as letting the soil become too dry, especially for cutting, might result in a high failure rate. Within a few weeks, pale whitish shoots should start to appear as an indication of successful germination.
When the seedlings are at least a foot tall, plant them outside in the garden. Before winter, seeds sown in the spring and cuttings prepared in the summer should have enough time to establish and harden off. In order to prevent the sensitive young plants from being destroyed by winter temperatures, the indoor housing period may need to be extended if they are propagated later in the season.
How can I cut up some Russian sage?
The drought-tolerant Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) has lovely silvery-gray foliage. Russian sage blooms along its long stalks in late summer, creating billowing clouds of small lavender flowers. Although Russian sage prefers warm sunlight, it may also survive in regions with extremely chilly winters. Russian sage can be challenging to divide and prefers to be left alone, but successful division is frequently feasible. Russian sage can take a while to establish itself, so be patient. However, Russian sage is a hardy plant that will endure in your yard for many years once it is established.
When the plants are young in the spring, divide Russian sage. To prevent the roots from drying out too quickly and to give the newly divided plant time to settle in its new place, pick a chilly morning on a cloudy day.
- The drought-tolerant Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) has lovely silvery-gray foliage.
- Although Russian sage prefers warm sunlight, it may also survive in regions with extremely chilly winters.
With pruners or kitchen shears, remove only approximately 3 to 4 inches of the Russian sage cluster. With a shovel, dig the Russian sage cluster. If the Russian sage clump is big, cut off a smaller portion of it with the edge of your shovel and leave the rest of the plant in the ground.
Shake the Russian sage plant carefully to shake off extra soil as you lift the cluster from the ground. As you divide the clump into smaller pieces, carefully pry the roots away with your fingertips. The size of each division should allow for four or five shoots, with multiple strong roots on each shoot.
With a shovel or trowel, dig a hole for each division, then plant the freshly divided Russian sage in a bright area of your yard. Each plant should be spaced at least 18 inches apart.
- With pruners or kitchen shears, remove only approximately 3 to 4 inches of the Russian sage cluster.
- If the Russian sage clump is big, cut off a smaller portion of it with the edge of your shovel and leave the rest of the plant in the ground.
For the first growing season, water the Russian sage right away and keep the soil evenly moist. After the first growing season, Russian sage can withstand dryness and only sometimes has to be watered in hot, dry weather. Avoid overwatering the Russian sage since too much moisture can make it decay.
You can also plant divisions of Russian sage in patio pots. Select a container with a hole at the bottom, and then fill it with potting soil from a store. At the same soil depth as when it was first planted, place the Russian sage in the container. For the first growth season, keep the soil moist but avoid overwatering.