Perovskia Dead?

[Marb67]

Another one bites the dust. A Perovskia purchased just last year. "hardy and reliable" says the label and yet here I am with dead stems. Unbelievable!

Tell me, why do I bother?

[Containergardener]

Is that not just how it looks in winter?

[Marb67]

It's dry when I snap the stems. I hope you are right though

[Peanut]

Hopefully Containergardener is right and the core of the plant is still alive. They can be cut back hard in spring, almost to the base, so dead stems now isn't really a problem.
Perovskia, though they are hardy, hate wet and cold together. I'd cut back the "snappable" dead stems and hopefully as spring moves on it will show new signs of life from the base.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you Marb!

[Marb67]

Hopefully Containergardener is right and the core of the plant is still alive. They can be cut back hard in spring, almost to the base, so dead stems now isn't really a problem.
Perovskia, though they are hardy, hate wet and cold together. I'd cut back the "snappable" dead stems and hopefully as spring moves on it will show new signs of life from the base.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you Marb!

Thank you so much, I'll do that. It would be great if it did as I want as many plants that attract bees as possible 🙂

[Andraste]

Another one that likes the sun & not being too wet Marb. I agree with Peanut about cutting it back - I'd trim the whole thing to about 4 or 5 inches. It's hard to tell from the pic but you want a pot at least 12 inches wide for these so it may/may not be worth repotting. Salvias aren't too fussed about the soil (they'll cope with poor soil & probably prefer it).

[Peanut]

I'm with you for planting flowers for the bees Marb! They need all the help we can give them

[Andraste]

I'm with you for planting flowers for the bees Marb! They need all the help we can give them

Hear, hear

Just to say also as I had an awful thought when I re-read my post - I mean trim every branch back to 4 or 5 inches - not just make one big cut 4-5 inches from the soil level

[Nicos]

My Russian sage was looking like that a few days back marb.
I’ll try and remember to snap a few branches tomorrow to see what state they are in.

[Nicos]

I just checked my plant and it’s just breaking bud marb.
I had to cut off about 1/3 of the stems though as those were dead.

[Marb67]

I just checked my plant and it’s just breaking bud marb.
I had to cut off about 1/3 of the stems though as those were dead.

Yes, I can see some life emerging

[Peanut]

Yes, I can see some life emerging

Woohoo! I am chuffed to bits for you Marb!