Yvonnes Salvia

Well after all the hype and getting some seed. Have them starting to bloom now..I had to say to myself...that I am not impressed. They are barely 2 ft. tall. Oh well...I got sucked into the hype and tried it......

Me too,,, Not a very good performer here in Lizella.

Elaine

Don't give up on it yet. The behavior of sages depends highly on the weather. This year, the midwest through the northeast is having quite a rainy, subtropical season. For the first time in three years, I have pretty lush growth on my Salvias, though few are blooming. If we get a gradual cooling, with more sun and drying off, and no early freezes, I hope to get some really splendid blooms from my plants this year. 2007 (drought and many 100 degree temps), and 2008 (just a strange set of conditions, especially in August) were not very encouraging. From year to year, I usually get a peak performance from some members of my collection, which is one reason I remainpatient. I also get surprised by the timing of the blooms. Some sage unexpectedly puts on quite a display when it should not.

I wish I had some kind of data base to record how each of my sages behaved in reference to weather conditions on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis, but I don't have the time for it. Contributions from this forum on the intensity and timing of blooms and the general health of salvia plants would be a good project.

My Yvonne's is blooming it's little behind off...note I said "little".....has not gotten very tall.
I've got quite a few different salvia's and like Rich said, some seem bloom well no matter what and some are just ho hum and some don't do diddly. My peach pink has lots of spikes and continuously blooms. Same w/ the Black and blue. But my Purple Majesty sulks if we get a dry spell and I don't water it. The Mystic Spires is another one that blooms profusely no matter what as well as the Dancing Flames, and the (recently id'd thanks to Rich) Vanhouttie Red. I've got others that are not supposed to bloom till later in the year but are putting on a ton of growth now so I'm hoping for a nice display from them when it's their turn.

I think due to all the hype and chatter the expections get to high. Bottom line is that it is a nice average okay plant but nothing spectacular. I would grow it again...but not plan on it being a standout plant.

Now my Oceana Blue will not be invited back....LOL!

Interesting about the Yvonne's. I tried to grow it with no luck a couple of years ago. I think I was too impatient with it.

But I am wondering what the botanical name for it is?? S. splendens 'Yvonne', maybe?

Thanks. t.

It is indeed a Salvia splendens. There is no cultivar for it yet, but I think Emily is looking on how to get it into trials, etc. to have it be an official cultivar.

Mine is about 3 feet tall and blooming pretty well now. I think if I would have started it earlier and fertilized (it's in cruddy sandy soil), then it would have done better.

My oceana is sparse but doing well. I think that's just the nature of it, like the black and blue. What is doing really well is the Lady in Red and the Nymph Coral.

It was a terrible preformer here last year. I planted them behind 'Subrotunda and 'Lady in Red' for a "Sea of Red" in one section of our garden. It also barely made 2.5' by the 1st frost. I gave my seeds away and planted 'Praeclara' in it's place this year which worked out great! The 'Praeclara' reached 7'...WooHoo!
Here's both pics...
This pic is from last year with Yvonne's...(from left to right...Lady in Red, Subrotunda, Yvonne's)...

This message was edited Aug 13, 2009 1:35 AM

Here's a pic I just took recently with the same Lady in Red and Subrotunda in the same spots of our garden...with the Praeclara taking the place of the Yvonne's...Love it!!!

Mrs_Ed,
I put real good compost in our gardens at the start planting every Spring. Even with plenty of nutrients, the Yvonne's didn't do well at all. Everything else in our gardens does extremely well...
I'll pass on Yvonne's...

This message was edited Aug 12, 2009 5:34 PM

I see what you mean about your 2009 planting. Very effective.

I forget, and maybe someone can remind me...in what zone did Yvonne herself grow the red sage? I seem to think she gardened somewhere near Chicago, right? (If she were located in the south or southwest, I can understand how her salvias got so large).

I think she was in Massachusetts.

Well, I see what you mean, maybe mine doesn't need fertilizer. I have it next to the Tithonia, which is doing great. I had visions of it being above the fence, so it is on the outside of my 4' fence.

From all I had read in zone 5 it would be somewhere between 2-3ft. tall. I have not read of anyone else getting it to grow as large as hers did. I think I expected it to be fuller not such straight sticks like what I have! LOL

I think Massachusettes is right. I know it was the northeast.

My Black & Blue blooms continuously here Mrs. Ed.

It's Chicopee, Mass, in the Connecticut River Valley, and it is USDA Zone 5. The climate there is like that further south (sometimes it is hotter there than in North Carolina), but the subtropical weather is punctuated with Acrtic - originating cooler & drier air masses. No continuous 85+ weather for 3-4 months.

I spent much of my earlier life in Pioneer Valley.

Nanny, My Ocean blooms continuously, but it they are kind of more sparse like a B&B, not like the Lady in Red. We'll see when my hummers show up which they use and that will dictate who gets to stay next year.

My Oceana has not rebloomed at all...it is just greenery in the container!! LOL
My LIR is recovering from getting run over by the huge dog and blooming again...YAY!

Wow, My Oceana does about the same as my B&B.

Black and Blue blooms profusely here. I have a big clump about 6 feet around and about 3 ft. tall
One of my Yvonne's died...just turned black and crumpled !
My other one is doing good as far as bloom, but not very tall. I may move it this fall to a different location where it gets a bit of mid- day shade and see if it's a little happier there.
Not many Salvia's can take all day sun here in Florida summers. Even and hour or two of shade during the middle of the day can make a huge difference in how well they grow.

Thanks, Rich, for your confirmation on the original Yvonne location.

I just looked at my B & B salvia and it has really caught on in the past few hot days. I think it was waiting for some sunshine to start perking up. Of course, my hummers have mostly left for home now so....

Mrs_Ed, When do your hummers arrive?? Do you not get nesting HBs where you are in Illinois?

There are lots of hummingbirds in Illinois. Even outside of town friends of mine have nesting hummers all summer. I just don't have them throughout the summer. I had one sighting a couple of weeks ago. However, the fall group usually arrives at the end of August and is here through the first week in October.

Re `Salvia 'Yvonne'.......I could be totally wrong, but I reckon that this is the true species of Salvia splendens. In Brazil, this has been known to reach a spectacular 3 metres...9 ft. tall. This Salvia requires heat, humidity, and partial shade. In the UK I treat it as an annual, as it tends to rot in winter under glass. In a good year, seeds sown in warmth in early March can flower in early August at a height of 4-5 ft. Wonderful plant!

I didn't have much success with Yvonnes either and was disappointed. I really wanted it to work. One that did great last year and got much taller and wider than I'd anticipated was the pineapple (Elegans). This year I gave it much more room, but it didn't grow as large. It must have been that I had it on a south facing wall last year, where it got all the sun it wanted, moisture, and protection from wind.

here are mine... looking sorta "thin" ... but we've been dry and they were shaded by huge Sunflowers that we just pulled out yesterday.

tcs1366

Your plants look like they need some humus added to the soil, which will make both moisture and mineral nutrients more available. They look a little stressed, and compost or mushroom soil is a good antidote. Lots of tropical salvias are heavy feeders.

Rich -- thanks for that bit of info.... I'll do that for next year... this year most of my beds were neglected.

regarding harvesting seeds...

since this is my first year with them, i figured once the "pod" is brown, they'd be ready... well in 9 out of 10, the 'pod' cup thing was empty. So i started after the red - half way brown ones.... those had black seeds and some were white seeds.

Will they mature / darken in the house just fine or do I need to leave them in the lil pod cup thing til the 'blacken'?

TIA,

Terese

I was wondering about that also???
Elaine

Don't some people tie paper bags around the seeds?

I'd suggest you contact Emily, queen of Yvonne's seed collecting…
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/YvonnesGiantSSplendens/

thanks Mrs Ed... that was my next place to ask....or at least do a search in there.

Mine finally did put on a nice flower show. The hummers seem to like them. But they really do need to be planted behind something to hide those ugly legs!!

I managed to get some seed but I didn't worry about getting to many. I sent some off to a fellow DG'er. Will see if I get some more before they are done....which will be very soon here.

I had a few white seeds in with mine that sat here in the house for a few weeks and they did not darken up. Probably like most seeds once they are seperated from the mother plant ...that is it!

OH and regarding the Yahoo Group for Yvonnes... the old one moved [somehow i must have missed that]
I think Emily was inundated with spam and set up a new group.

the link Mrs Ed posted is the correct one.

Right. She couldn't get it to "Un-spam" so set up a new group.

I obviously posted my question there... when i get a response... i'll add it here too.

yah. i saw. i get email notification.

:D

Salvia seeds ripen and fallwithin two days. There are no hairs to prevent seed from falling out, so seed collection has to be done daily. Those calyxes with white seeds are usually within 1 to 3 days of ripening. The one tricky thing is to avoid getting the ripening seed damp, because it will cause the gelatinous coat to swell. Mold spores will collect, and the seeds will contain their on doom.

Here is the reply from Emily ... for those who are in the Yahoo Group

Hey that is what I was doing!! Did something right without knowing it!! LOL

OH -- i did want to add, all those white seeds I collected.. i left all the seeds in a paper coffee filter and the white ones did turn brown/black.

tcs1366

Compare the now darkened seed with the already dark ones for size and appearance. Are the former white ones as glossy and large?

Rich -- i'll have to get back to you on that... when i was sorting seeds, i did not notice a difference, but i also wasn't looking.

Terese

Rich... i just looked at all the seeds... now mind you - i do not know which ones were white...

out of the seeds, most are black, some are a lighter shade, but even some of the black ones are tad smaller than the other where some of the lighter shade black ones are the same size as the very black.

and I guess some are not glossy.

I really wasn't planning on seed swapping with any of these -- that way no one will get duds from me... and now that i know how to harvest.. I will pay more attention next year.

Terese