just cut out the dead bloom .. and then see what happens ...

a lot of herbs.. which a sage is.. peak once they go to seed ... leaving your only recourse to deadhead ...

i cant jump to any need for fungicides ..

are you new to sages??

ken

Did your salvia spikes turn suddenly while still in full bloom? Can't really tell by the photographs if the flowers have gone to seed or have been affected by fungus.

That's a cute little hummingbird feeder!

This summer a lot has been going on so it has been a really stressful time in my life, and because we have literally 100's of plants to care for, this area has been neglected. I don't believe the browning and dying out occurred until after the spikes bloomed. I normally would have deadheaded by now, but..... My second pix shows a plant that I didn't deadhead yet, but it has not gone immediately to the state the other one is in. The bad plant has probably now most of the stems brown with wilted brown leaves - look dead to me. Neither was deadheaded yet, but you can see the difference. If I cut out the dead stuff in the sick plant, there won't be much plant left.

Thought maybe I should just cut out all the dead stuff and stake the rest to make it look as good as possible, but didn't know if closing it up like that would make the plant as a whole more susceptible to whatever ails it.

Yes, Ken, I am new to sages. The poor plant got even worse as time has gone on. When I pruned all the dead branches out, don't have much left but it is still alive. Very unsightly. Guess I'll just have to look into another small purple flowering perennial.

well if it dosent make it, try russian sage.
and don't for-get herbs are heavy feeders
but with a name like yours you probly know alot more than me. :o)

The perennial salvias are usually pretty tough. I grow mine in heavy clay soil with no irrigation. In your top photograph, I 'think' I see some moss growing on the soil surface. If that is so, could it be that the area is overly moist or poorly drained? Your salvia would NOT appreciate that. Overhead irrigation or too much rain might contribute to the problem. These plants are truly drought tolerant.

Don't try to grow a hybrid salvia like a culinary sage. The requirements and habits are quite different. Mine are going through their second big bloom period right now, after having been sheared back a couple of weeks ago. I've got May Night and Blue Hill. Your 'Merleau' looks like a nice one, too.

rhizo, when you cut it back, how far did you cut it back? With my May Night, I deadhead to the first small leaf. Was doing that on these but then I got this deadening problem. You're probably right about the moisture problem. Like I said we have had unusually wet weather. I have not watered the planters since the spring - well, maybe once or twice lightly for the sake of the other plants. But we do have very rich soil. I should probably think about tilling in some sand next spring.