Took 10 minutes to finish pruning the Russian sage. You don’t have to prune it, but it gets pretty floppy and sprawly if you don’t, so most gardeners recommend cutting it back to about a foot high once a year, either in the fall or late winter.
Russian sage is a great parkway plant, since it’s drought-tolerant and requires no care beyond that 10 minutes of annual pruning. It does spread over time, but slowly, and you can dig out extras you don’t want. The silvery-purple stalks make a really nice backdrop to other flowers, and I enjoy the scent. (Your mileage may vary…) It blooms for months on end.
Locals, if you’d like some, I probably have 4-6 smaller plants that can be dug out. I’m not volunteering to dig them, but if you’re interested in coming by, let me know, and we can find a time to meet up in the garden and I can point the extras out to you.
Photos:
• end of winter, before pruning
• after pruning
• Russian sage in bloom (not my photo, but mine looks like this)
