Marianne's Response

wheezyweeder’s Question

This one is specifically for Marianne Binetti because it was in her column regarding Salvia Hot Lips.
Someone asked her if she could prolong the flowering period. Marianne said that you could in August if you watered and fertilized it. OK so far. BUT she said that:
There is a price for this encore performance however. Tender plants such as Hot Lips salvia are more tolerant of cold if you prune them back and encourage a late summer surge of new growth. It seems to me that cutting it back now would make for tender new growth rather than not.

Posted by wheezyweeder on August 7, 2013

Marianne's Response

You are correct! That was a typo from either me or that newspaper - the column runs in a dozen papers so I don't get to see how the final version is printed. My apologies for the mistake. Tender plants do indeed suffer and are less hardy if you cut them back and feed them in late summer. I do appreciate you taking the time to write so I could correct this mistake. The lack of one small word certainly changes an entire sentence - hopefully I have not contributed to the loss of a whole bunch of Hot Lips Salvia. Keep growing - and catching my mistakes, Marianne Binetti

    Search the Ask the Gardening Expert library

    Looking for a quick resolution to your problem? Marianne has answered thousands of gardening questions. One may be similar to yours. Try searching our library to get the answer you need — fast!

    My Topics

    View questions you submitted to Marianne in the past

    VIEW MY QUESTIONS