Q.Salvias
I have red salvias. They looked beautiful until the last week. They were bright red and now they are faded and almost look dead. I have been watering. They really make my flower bed look bad. I am considering replacing with another flower if they don’t start looking better. Do you have any tips?
Thank you, Diane Hamric
Certified GKH Gardening Expert
It may be possible that while you are watering, the water is not penetrating into the rootball of the plants. Often, potting soil will actually repel water if it is allowed to dry out too much. So, first I would recommend trying to give the plants a really good and deep watering to force the potting soil to start to absorb water again.
The other possibility is that the plants have a fungus, like powdery mildew. You can treat for that and the plants will eventually recover. But it could be weeks before they do so and it might just be easier to replace the plants.
Here is some information that may help you:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/disease/get-the-cure-for-powdery-mildew.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/watering/watering-garden.htm
