Purple Sage and Apple Mint

[Chooklady]

My Purple Sage was given to me as a little plant so I repotted it into a much bigger home, this was last year.

It is really struggling and a little brown on the tiddly little leaves.... what is the matter with it?

Same with my Apple Mint.... one long stalk and some leaves near the top.... that's all there are

[Chooklady]

From the lack of replies it looks like I'm not the only one who has no clue!! Anyway, they have both died and I'll reuse the compost in the pots. Onwards and upwards as they say

[lottie dolly]

Sorry no one has answered your post,is it possible you could get a pic on here,of them both,that will give peeps a better chance of helping you,i am no expert

[teakdesk]

I don't think I saw your post before now but from the info you gave I suspect my only answer to "what is wrong with it?" would have been "it is dying!". Sorry


Sage is easy to grow in masses from seed. Mint is really hard to kill in the right conditions as the roots survive and re-sprout.

Were the plants inside or outside? How were they watered? Pictures? What size was the pot? What compost were they planted in? How were the fed?

[sparrow100]

I've never had apple mint make it through the winter - it dies back and doesn't come back so I buy a new plant each year. Shame because it's lovely stuff.

[veggiechicken]

I don't remember seeing this thread either - sorry.
Purple sage seems to keel over and die for me - regularly. I've just been given some cuttings that I'm going to root up (I hope).
As for the mint, if you still have it (or the compost) how did the roots look? Often mint dies back but the roots remain viable. With all the mints, I take fresh cuttings each year, just in case. Ites easy - just take the top few inches of a non-flowering stem and put it in water. It will root itself very quickly. With hindsight, you probably could have done that with the single stem that you had

[Chooklady]

No worries about not seeing this, it's not a big deal They have all been hoofed into the compost bin now. Everyone I know seems to have problems with certain herbs, especially sage....

I'll try again another time

[KittyColdNose]

I have three or four different sage plants, no purple though. Mine are thoroughly neglected in a border at the fence. The soil is very shallow, hard and gravelly. At the end of the season I cut it back to the ground, it gets no protection from the cold and each year so far it has thrived.

You watch, next year I bet it will die...

[elleme]

I haven't had as much luck with purple sage as with the ordinary green stuff. The purple seems to die off while the ordinary sage grows huge and leggy over a few years. So you cut it back right into non-leafing wood, KittyColdNose? I didn't think it would grow back if I did that. I might try it as I was going to take out and replace anyway this year.

[KittyColdNose]

Yes, I cut it back level with the ground. Not sure if this is the suggested way of looking after sage, but the plant in the photo is three years old and seems to be still going strong. It may be the combination of position, soil and so on, but if you are thinking of replacing yours anyway elleme why not give it a go?

[elleme]

Thanks. I gave it a go a couple of weeks back because it was beginning to look quite scruffy and while I was cutting back, I found that it had rooted 2 new plants by layering in a couple of spots anyway. So I think chances are good for at least 1 out of 3 surviving.