Agastache Blue Boa and Salvia Amistad - too small to divide?

Nollie

They are only a year in the ground, but growing away nicely.  I was wondering if it were feasible, in the spirit of make do and mend (mail order plants not being a possibility just now, due to courier overload). Maybe just the biggest of each group?

Buttercupdays

I don't know about the Agastache, but Amistad is very easy to root from cuttings, either in water or in a small pot of compost and it grows fast, so soon makes a decent sized plant. It is one of my absolute favourite, reliable plants and I make sure to always have one or two spares in reserve.

Nollie

Thanks @Buttercupdays. I actually have several cuttings of each in water, three weeks now and no sign of roots. They are still alive, but maybe it is just too early? I have no potting compost, grit or such and can’t get any at the moment, with all the GCs shut!

Nollie

Hi folks,
Can anyone advise me whether it’s OK to split the bigger of these one-year old perennials?
Cheers.

lilysilly

Hi @Nollie, l wouldn't try and divide the salvia Amistad . Mine is just putting on growth at the base, growing from a central woody stem. I would not want to risk losing the plant, via the core rotting off if l had tried to cut it in half. My plant has no natural division point. I would just separate your group of 3 established plants, and plant elsewhere. They are all of a good size now and in good soil would soon grow away to a sizable plant, filling the space of your clump in a matter of weeks.
In a few weeks when they have settled I would take cuttings of the Amistad. Strong side shoots pulled away with a tiny heal. I just use a small square plastic pot, poking one cutting in each corner in a gritty soil. On a bright, but not full sun windowsill they root within a fortnight with a near 100% success rate. They grow fast, and with a bit of pinching out  and potting on are soon in 1 litre pots ready to go in the garden. 
Sorry I don't have experience of agastache.

the tidy gardener

I wouldnt divide the agastache they dont like it! In my very limited experience they dont like being split or being cold and wet .I lift mine that I have in the ground and put them in pots over wintering them in a mini greenhouse.then put them back in the garden in spring.

Nollie

Hi, @lilysilly and @the tidy gardener,

Thanks for your replies. I have no problem leaving them in the ground here (different climate and roughly a month ahead of the UK) but from what you are both saying it is inadvisable to divide them so I will leave them be, as I like things in groups of three.

I have loads of salvia caradonna that will divide easily, but of course I don’t want more of that one, I want more of these ones!! 

I will try again with some root cuttings in water, since the last ones failed totally. 

parrotfeather*

I agree that Salvias are easy from cuttings but I woud not root either these or Agastache in water but instead use a gritty compost or Perlite as they both appreciate good drainage and tend to rot off in water.  Agastache will grow from cuttings but need a bit more care.  I have rooted Blue Fortune in grit but there are always more failures than with Salvias, and they do root better as semi-ripe cuttings taken in mid to late summer.  I leave mine in the ground with a mulch over the winter and they mostly survive outside here in the East Midlands on a free-draining soil.

Nollie

Thanks @parrotfeather* I would use a gritty compost/perlite/grit, but I don’t have any and no chance of getting any for the foreseeable future. You are right, they do rot in water, as my sad specimens prove! I wondered if I was just being a bit too keen/early, even for here. Will try again later in the year.