Can't help you on the division problem. I've never divided mine. A thought occurred to me. Are you sure you have May Night and not another salvia? I remember now that some years ago, I started out with a salvia that had some kind of German name, if I'm remembering correctly. It is readily available in many nurseries and catalogs. After a couple years, I tossed it--because it sprawled a lot. Then, after researching, I got May Night because it does not have the sprawling problem that the other had. And it has not sprawled all these years I've grown it. I bet you actually have a different salvia. The general color and appearance of the two were very similar--just that difference in sprawling. Maybe try a May Night next spring and see if it performs better than the (fake?) one you have now. Just a thought. Kate

I was very surprised to see mine come up after the 3 snows and cold temps that we had here; however, it did and it is really healthy/blooming nice. Lavender Mountain has some that is specifically marked May Night but $6.99 for a 4 inch pot is ridiculous!! Especially when it looks as ragged as it did. I have found stuff on the clearance rack at Lowes in twice better condition than those pots. I asked if she would be willing to mark it down and she gave me the impression that I had paid her the ultimate insult. She took her business back about 20 notiches on my chart with that encounter :( Oh well. Yesterday, I worked on the area with the May Night Salvia: I think once the newer Salvia fill in....the purple mass will be quite an eye catcher when someone comes around that curve in our subdivision :) also planted some delosperma and some Shasta Daisy I'll post today's efforts/results in another thread. Good Lord, I'm tired but satisfied :) Dora

I wouldn't say lavender is "maintainence free"...if you want to keep a good shape and prevent the center from dying out/getting too woody (before it's time), the wands should be harvested and remaining shrub pruned back into foliage at least 2-4". In my zone I'll get a flush of new growth and re-bloom in fall and will not prune again until spring above the 'wood'. I put in a 5" 'Grosso' June of 95' and the plant has more than doubled in size this year...with wands about 3x2.5 (the wands made up most of that height). Lavender 'Munstead' was all seed started December of 95, planted out (8) 4" plants in March/April and this year I'm even more in love with Lavender that I was before!! Great bloom-and re-bloom from both types. Some variation in the 'Mustead' bloom color...a few plants are deep purple, while a few are more lavender in color. Soil alkaline and generally poor and full sun in zone 5b-6a. Have also found Lavender summer cuttings easy to root in straight perlite keep moist. Pot up in gritty mix after rooting in 2-3" pots. Mustead re-bloom Early spring transplanted 'Munstead'...was probably the smallest this year, but it bloomed beautifully! Thought I had pic's of the 'Grosso' but no such luck! Vera

Hi Vicki - gorgeous - I see you must have great conditions for these 2. That salvia is quite large isn't it? I'd like some large ones like that too. I planted Lavender Vera and Munstead last year in another area that has great drainage and they are wonderful. Typically our heavy clay doesn't do lavender justice. I've found I have to condition the soil quite a bit and raise the beds to grow salvia. I get small plants from Bluestone and am going in a couple weeks to buy a half flat of liner sized lavenders - that will be 36, and another half flat of salvias. They have a good selection for zone 5 so now the task will be to sort through the descriptions. I've grown Salvia May Night at my previous home in a raised bed and it did fine but it never achieved the size I've seen in photos. By now it should be gargantuan but I'm not there to see it. Thanks again for the photo!