The May Night variety of salvia has turned out to be a great plant in my garden. With decent soil it never disappoints. Last year I didn't have the heart to trim back my salvias because the bees were loving them and they kept sending up side shoots with new flowers. By mid-July they were very large and the tall stems were falling over and crowding other flowers. Here in Virginia where the summers are hot and humid, I like the space my perennials so they aren't crowded and there's good air circulation as I have to watch for mildew problems.

This year I decided to try another approach and trim them back after the initial flowering. I cut the large stems all the way down to the leafy base. I left a good amount of leaves and did notice some new shoots were coming in. They were about four or five inches high only, so they looked pretty puny for about two weeks. Now they're about the same size as they were in late May and they're beginning to produce new flowers. The regrowth has made the plants look fresh and healthy. I should probably add an organic perennial fertilizer like Plant Tone to help them for the second flowering.

Happy Gardening