Hot Lips Salvia is a tender perennial so waiting to cut it back until late spring is the safe way to make sure you don't prune too early. In most areas waiting until Mother's Day or mid May is the safe date to prune back marginally hardy plants such as hardy fuchsia, salvia and escallonia. But gardeners can gamble so if the plant is too ugly to be a part of your beautiful spring go ahead and get snippy with it. It is your garden and sometimes taking a hard line pays off. Keep growing, Marianne Binetti