Just take the whole shebang out of the pot and slice the 3 plants' root ball into 3 separate plants.
Then pot each in its own pot, or toss the least healthy ones.
They're just root bound is all. No worries !
The leaves are blackening because the plant isn't "breathing".

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YW ! I'll bet they'll be OK !

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Good, TK ! Now keep the roots moist but not drowned. I bet they make it !

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In stuffing? Mmmmmm....

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I love my common Garden Sage!! My seed sown plants were nice bushes come year two so hopefully yours will too
Mine are in the ground though....very little water in sandy/gravelly soil. The hotter the sun the better.

Vera

I have one that is 2 years old now...I first placed it in a large landscape type pot and buried the pot in the garden, then in the early spring I pulled the pot out of the ground so that the garden could be tilled, It is still in that pot sitting in a flower bed where I had planned to remove it from the pot & plant it in the ground, I'll try to get a picture of mine, it is not big and bushy like it should be, but still has plenty of leaves, and I love fresh sage..nothing like it, esp for stuffing or even to add to other things. One thing you should know...any of the stems that are woody/older should be cut out each year to make it form new stems.

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Well no picture today it is raining and flooded here, so as soon as it quits raining & I can get out there to get a picture, I'll post it.

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Finally I have pictures, Keep in mind that this plant is in regular dirt and kind of clay mixed in, it gets no attention, maybe water once in awhile if I remember, and the reason I am showing it, is so that everyone can see that yes it can be grown in a pot without any care, hopefully I can get it in a permanent place in the ground this spring. Then I can show you what it should look like, It should be bushier & taller.

Here is the view looking down at it:

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Yes the leaves do stay green all year around, It is a Hardy Perennial in zones 3-10. The soil that my one plant is growing in is not good soil, I dug the dirt up out of the yard and it was kind of clay mix soil, it was a temporary fix until I could set it in the ground in just the right spot, but that was 2 years ago & as you can see it is still in that pot in that bad dirt, I think I'll start a new plant when I start seeds, and set it into the ground and collect all the leaves from this one and pitch it, I think it is about every 4-5 years that you really need to start a new plant or at least divide the one you have growing, which you can start more from cuttings.

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quote:

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Originally posted by tkhooper:
They are that short lived huh?

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Its not that it is short lived...it just becomes so woody that it needs to be divided or start a new plant. When it is growing in the ground it produces so many more leaves, and is not in its prime until the second year, once you have a well established plant you would be amazed at the harvest results. When I had one plant in the ground...it was 2-3 foot wide and about that same size in height....And I would cut it way back and the harvest was a very large amount, and you could harvest from it at least twice or three times in a season. But I also enjoy being able to harvest a few fresh leaves when every I want esp in the colder months. The scent of it may not be pleasing to all, But I do like the scent and the taste of the fresh sage.

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TK...how do you dry your herbs in the microwave? I have never tried that. My sage did better this year than ever and I am thankful to have a ton of it for the holidays. But I always air dry my herbs...so I am interested in how you go about drying them in the microwave...thanks

~V~

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Happiness, like a dessert so sweet.
May life give you more than you can ever eat...
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quote:

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Originally posted by tkhooper:
I have a cheap microwave so it takes about 3 minutes on hi with mine. But it's best to start with one minute for regular thickness of leaves and 2 minutes for thicker leaves.

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I must say that this is a fine way to dry sage for later use in cooking...But if you are saving sage for medicinal purposes...do not microwave it to dry it, dry the old fashioned way.

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