Mealy Cup Sage 'Victoria' (Salvia farinacea)

This is the annual, right? Such a great clear blue.

Yes Lenjo, it is the annual.

i have some of these, but it took me a while to realize mine were the same because they aren't that full or colorful! what are you feeding her?

Hi Meiyu. I feed all my flowers liquid seaweed & fish emulsion. Sometimes both mixed together & sometimes separate. That's pretty much all I ever use. If I do happen to use another fertilizer (like Miracle-Gro)I always add liquid seaweed to it. I also pinch them back when they are young.

wow...sounds like the diet i grew up on and fed my kids!! (i'm japanese..hehe). never heard of the stuff...where do you get it? i've had great luck with superblooming on almost all my plants, but that's one of the ones that aren't doing so well, and i just realized that i probably should've been pinching back, cuz they grow tall and awkwardly, then branch out finally, but the bottom of them always look a little sickly...!!

Meiyu I buy all my liquid seaweed from T & T Seeds in Winnipeg, Manitoba http://www.ttseeds.mb.ca
I buy my fish emulsion from Canadian Tire but I'm sure you can get it at Home Depot or any other home stores in the US. I find it works great for me & the liquid seaweed is supposed to help fight off insect problems & provide a couple of degrees of frost protection. Actually that was a stupid statement wasn't it as I just noticed you live in Texas. Anyway, best of luck with your salvia......Linda

Othing I've noticed with this plant: during the hottest time of the summer, the colors tend to "wash out", but with cooler fall temps (or a bit of shade, but not too much) it'll take on a deeper, more vibrant color. Also, I suppose some of it has to do with cultivar...

AHA! Thank you Broots.

I was staring at a plant today trying to remember it's name. This is the chap.

If you can find a frost free place to overwinter it, it's a perennial.

Baa how I wish I could find a frost free place to overwinter this, but not likely to happen in zone 2b. I would love to have this as a perennial.

broots...does that stuff really help with the insects?? see, while you think frost wouldn't be a problem here, it actually is, because if i didn't have any frost, my tropicals would bloom year round, hehehe!!! as for 2b, what kind of insects could live there??? i've been thought to be a pest, and i would die the first winter in your area!!! seriously, though, i'd like to find out all i can on how to keep bugs away. i just planted about a half dozen fruit trees, and plan to get anothe half dozen more. my mom's garden was so infested it creeped me out just walking back there in the daylight because of all the giant eight-legged monsters that could have been stars on many japanese (or hitchock) films...and besides, none of us wanted to eat the fruit anymore!! so, which helps with bugs...seaweed ot fish emulsion? or is it a combo of the two? and do you find that using this as a fertilizer is worth the level of inconvenience it would probably take for a texan to locate (superbloom being in just about every nursery and grocery stores, even)?

Broots,

Were you growing this Salvia in partial shade? I have grown this Salvia, but always planted it with full sun. Great blue color! I'm going to have to start using liquid seaweed & fish emulsion too. How often do you use those 2 items during the summer? Were you planting this Salvia in the ground or potting it up in a container? Thanks!

Marilyn

I have always grown this cultivar and this year I am trying 'Evolution'....and compare the two...

Bettygail,

I grew Salvia 'Evolution' year in a plastic container on the patio. Pretty.

I love blue so much, that I'll probably plant Victoria Blue again this year.

Here's a closeup from last year of Evolution with Salvia 'Blue Angel'.

Edited to add that Salvia 'Black and Blue is in the background in the middle of the pic and the far left a bit.

Marilyn



This message was edited Feb 11, 2007 7:39 PM

Just got some yesterday and I hope it looks as good as yours.

I love this flower. There was an article a couple years ago in northern gardener mag on it(mn horticulture society mag). It is beautiful in mass plantings. U can often find these at garden center closeouts. Buy em up and u'll have a beautiful bunch of flowers. I pulled mine out in fall and hope to regrow from cutting. Have also grown them from seed. Plants thrive in to fall and pollinators love them.