As one of the most varied and widely distributed perennial plants, Salvias find their way into many gardens and even more hearts. Show please share your pictures of these wonderful, colorful plants with the rest of the forum. Experts please share your knowledge, everyone please share stories of your favorites.
best to all,
Pic is Salvia gesneraeflora
Oooo! Let's see what I've got pics of. . .
Oh, here's my Salvia guranitica 'Black and Blue' (my personal favorite)
Now that's really nice. Great pic Dogzilla
Lady in Red. One of my favorites. Dependable, tough, pretty and reseeds all over the place!
Lady in red is an awesome flower, Here's one that comes out a little like her but is perennial.
Salvia blepharphylla 'Diablo'
I would love to see a picture of Coral Nymph. That isn't hardy here but I what have read of it sounds so pretty. I have salvia transylvanica that is very blue and self sows. Sorry no pix. I also have Lady in Red.
I also have Black and Blue and LOVE it. The color is superb
Tina
I have Black and Blue also.I think it has one of the most wonderful blue colors I have ever seen.
Salvia guaranitica 'Costa Rica Blue' It's not quite the fabulous contrast of 'Black and Blue', but it does bring with it that great deep blue color.
Lenjo, here's a link for pic of 'Coral Nymph' http://www.cernyseed.cz/novinky04/Salvia%20coccinea%20Coral%20Nymph%20big.jpg. Not hardy for us either, but it reseeds and pops up everywhere which is fine by me. When weeding in the spring, I actually look for these so I make sure I won't pull them out by mistake!
Here's my Coral Nymph, a young plant in May '04. They start out coral, but when it gets hot, they are more pink (see next pic.)
Just took this pic, the flowers in pink.
So pretty, maggie, I love the coral nymph.
S. Pozo Blue (a hybrid of Salvia clevelandii and Salvia leucophylla). The photo doesn't do it justice, it's absolutely beautiful right now. This plant is less than a year old -- we have another that is even bigger. The scent is heavenly and the color is intense -- a real WOW! plant. Hummingbirds love it and according to Las Pilitas Nursery, about 30 species of butterflies. I'll never have enough of this.
Coral Nymph is gorgeous!
Maggiemoo, it really is lovely indeed.
There really are some lovely pics coming in on this thread. Here's one of Salvia coahuilensis or Coahuila Sage from the state of Coahuila, Mexico.
Salvia patens or Gentian Sage is also a nice one.
Ooooooo, Dr Don, I think you live in salvia heaven! I will have to take some pics tonight(of the ones I haven't killed, lol).
hiya Calalily,
nice to meet you. I sometimes think I do live in Salvia heaven. We're very lucky to have a climate that allows us to grow some of the good ones from Mexico and south America. They thrive in our heat but have some trouble with dieback from freezing in the winter.
Here's another of my favorites, Salvia chiapensis from the state of Chiapas in Mexico.
I love salvias, too. I only have a hot pink and a gargantua blue. Both have finished blooming. If I cut them back, do you think they'll re-bloom? My blue is about 5 feet now, so it could use a trim. Also, do you think there's any chance of rooting what I cut?
Oh, and Robin, your Lady in Red is just magnificent!
Here's peachy pink Salvia Brenthurst, I love it - the picture doesn't do it justice.
By the way, how do I get it to bloom again? pinch the entire stem? pull the spent blossoms off the stem? leave it alone?
This message was edited Jul 11, 2005 5:47 PM
hiya Ivy1,
That's really a beaut! I'll bet it really puts on a show outside when the weather is right.
Here's one of our few pinks. We haven't quite graduated from blues and reds....lol.
This is Salvia microphylla 'Berzerkeley'
Oh, Ivy1, that is a beautiful pink!
~Kathleen
I had seen Brenthurst in a public planting a few years ago and kept trying to find out what they were! It starts out a light peachy color with the tips darker pink! Really pretty.
So, does anyone know how I get it to keep blooming? All the blooms are gone now. I've pinched one back, pulled spent buds off of another, and left the rest alone.
I love your Berzerkeley, maybe more for the name than the plant! I like the way the buds are forming on top. It looks really soft to touch too.
As a Berkeley alum, I have a soft spot for the cultivar's name....lol. We extend our Salvia bloom season by putting down a bunch of bone meal during the winter before we mulch around them. Another time is in early spring when they get their big haircut. We put the bone meal down and mulch over it so the doggies don't go wacky over the stuff.
hope this helps,
Don
Do doggies like Salvia?
hiya Ivy1,
Not particularly, but they do like bone meal. And when they frenzy over the stuff the Salvias get the brunt of their fury over the bone meal...lol.
annual salvia Victoria blue.
hiya Starzz,
great to see you!
That's a fabulous blue. Did you do it from seed? Does it produce fertile seed in your climate? If so, would you send me some?...lol, is this enough questions?...;-))
That's beautiful. I keep buying seeds of that and forgetting to plant them. I guess I better get cracking....
Here is Indigo Spires in my windowboxes. Did a mix of Salvias and Agastache, with Angelonia, Lantana, and Petunias.Threw in Sweet pea and Pansy seeds.
Very nice indeed Ivy1,
I love Indigo Spires. Ours are out of bloom right now. I'm hoping for a fall bloom from them. The bloody Purple Majesty keeps crowding them...lol.
Drdon- got pics of Purple Majesty?
Going back over the thread, I realize that the plant I originally saw that led me to Brenthurst, was actually Coral Nymph! it's a beautiful plant, Maggiemoo!
Salvias Black and Blue, Diablo, and Chiahensis really caught my eye on second look.
Does anyone have pictures of Caradonna? I keep thinking I will buy some but haven't yet.
Can you imagine any other plant that has such a variety of colors available? Red, blue, peach, pink, purple. Wow!
Salvia 'Purple Majesty' as per request. If you'd like plants of S. chiapensis, coahuilensis or 'Berzerkeley' I can send you rooted cuttings for SASE, no problem.
best to you,
don
Oh, golly, Drdon, that's purty. Makes my mouth water.
Thanks so much for the offer. I don't think they are hardy here, and I would hate to grow them all summer just to have them kick the bucket just as they bloom.... How quick would they grow, do you think?
hiya Ivy1,
With your summer humidity and rain I'd say about an inch a day....lol. Very fast growing plants. I've got a freind in Vermont that just takes cuttings of hers in the late summer, keeps them in a sunny window during the winter, then moves them back outside when the night time temps get above freezing. They are hardy to about 28 degrees. We got down to 17 for three straight nights last winter and they survived with quite a bit of damage. But the great things about Salvias is that they are root hardy. With mulching they'll survive snow, ice and even our dry frosts here. Your climate in summer is perfect for them as evidenced by how nice your Indigo Spires are.
Here are a few of my salvias, it had more flowers yesterday, we had wind.
S. miniata
Another shot of S. miniata. This is one of my favorite reds.
S. romeriana, Cedar Sage, native to Texas
Salvia Mexicana "Port de Zoro", just starting to open. This one is doing well in the heat, it's in filtered light, no direct sun.
This is a type of bog sage, I think the tag said "pitcher sage". It's hard to see against the ficus bark, but it's a pretty sky blue color. Needs to stay moist and doesn't like hot sun.
