Amazing all the types there are. All so beautiful. I ordered some plants last year from Mountainvalleygrowers.com and they were so nice and healthy and came very fast. I highly recommend them.
My favorite Salvias
I'll have to check them out.
P
ecrane3,
Do like Dancing Dolls a lot....checked with Suncrest's site and there are 4-5 nurseries here that I frequent who order from them, so will see about ordering. Thanks for posting the pic.
Sherry
Mystic Blue Spires
Mexican Bush sage :
pineapple sage :
salvia involucrata x Karwinskii
black and blue ( past its "best" days !)
foliage of the s. involucrata x K.
beautiful pictures! Is the pineapple sage--salvia elegans? or a different type? I am waiting for that one to come in.
fireant - yes. Sometimes it doesn't come back for us in this area, so I am hoping our 20 degree nights (unusual for us ) have not killed mine. It sure does draw the butterflies !
If your temps have really only been in the 20's it should be fine--I think it's hardy down to about 10 degrees. Are you sure you're really in zone 7b? 20 degree nights being unusual would suggest zone 8b/9a to me, not zone 7.
beautiful
Twenty degree nights are not common in zone 9a. Temps dropping below 35 or 30 for extended periods is also unusual. We have those temps only for cold snaps and freezes. I don't know about zone 8. They may receive extended periods of lower temps like that.
Corgimom was saying that 20 degree nights were rare for her too, that's why I was wondering if it was really zone 7 where she was. Zone 7 can see temps all the way down to 5-10 degrees, so I figured nights in the 20's would be a bit more common.
Hello again, Ecrane3--check with me before you buy any Black and Blue Salvia--I had a bunch last year and, assuming they come back, I should have plenty to spare this year, FYI. Love the new forum and love all your pics!
Thanks!
Carol: I am also in Zone 8A and my greggii salvia varieties come back every year, in fact they're close to evergreen. I planted Black & Blue for the first time this past year so don't know if it will come back or not. But I wintersowed it and there are seedlings so that's a good sign I'd say. Salvia should do fine where you are.
Corgimom: I just planted some Mex. Bush Sage last summer; waiting to see if it made it through the winter. I hope it'll be as pretty as yours!
Deb
my first try at Salvia Black and Blue suffered and died this year. I think I will try it again in a super well drained site that is in less sun.I'm not sure if the drainage is the issue or the intense sun here in texas..But the few blooms I did get were super, so I'm going to try again.nancy
To clarify, 20 nights are not simply unusual, they are bizarre in zone 9. Even 30 and 35 degree nights are extremely unusual and frightening for the citrus people. If corgimom has 20 degree nights that are unusual, there may still be a very high number of nights that are still below freezing or nearly freezing.
DebinSC, thanks for the heads up. I will just have to try more salvias and see how they really do the next few years then.
Carol
Ok, let me try to make myself more clear. First of all , I checked several temp zone charts this morning and they showed me in conflicting zones. I live right outside Jackson ,Mississippi. Some charts show it as 7b and some show it as zone 8. I think it is actually zone 8.
Now, as for what I meant about the nightly temps. I meant we have been having more CONSISTANT 20 degree nights than we are used to . We have what I like to call "see-saw" weather. 32 one night , then 40 the next , then down to 18 maybe the next, then 38 the next, then maybe only 48 the next ! This past few weeks has been like that. That is what we usually see. But this winter we have had more consistantly cold nights than normal. That is when I worry about my plants. This week it is only down in the 50s at night . About a week ago it was below 30. This is why we have trouble growing some plants. They will pop out in early bloom and then get killed back by our sudden drops in temp. I see tulip magnolia and wild pear trees blooming now. Some will get to bloom on out and some will probably get killed by one night of "normal" cold for this time of year. ( Here ,by saying they will "get killed", I mean the spring blooms will be zapped. Sorry I don't say what I MEAN !! )
My 'Royal Red' salvia has new growth on it now. I am never sure when to prune my salvias. That is one reason I am so glad to see this forum. I hope to learn a lot about WHEN to prune which variety.
Is now the time to prune my involucrata x Karwinskii shown above ? It didn't bloom until October/November !
This message was edited Feb 26, 2007 11:15 AM
I probably wouldn't prune it yet as long as there's still a chance of getting some nights below freezing--fall bloomers especially will have plenty of time to come back with new growth even if you wait until later in the year to prune them. My involucrata bloomed really late too (this is the first year I had it, so I don't know if that's normal or not) and it's not showing any signs of life yet, so I'm leaving it alone until I'm sure we're not going to have any more cold nights. For the ones that are already showing new growth, you can probably cut off any dead looking stalks now, that's what I'm doing on mine at least, I figure they already have new growth on their own, so I'm not going to do any damage by pruning them now.
thanks - I need all the help I can get ! Pruning is my big problem - with more than just salvias ! I am getting to the point where I am forgetting the names of my plants - not good news !!! I remember my mom saying that was her first sign that my great aunt had the beginning of Alzheimers (which runs in the females in our family). I have to have notes for everything these days. Now if only I could remember where I put that notebook..........
Do you ever prune them more than once in a year? Do they get leggy or need to be reshaped?
I only prune in the spring unless they just get way out of bounds, which they often do in the little area they are in. I do deadhead them all summer. Is that ok? Yes, they really got leggy this last year but I didn't prune them back very far last spring. THIS year I really am whacking them back.
I just bought S. sinaloensis. The tag also called it bicolor. Is that black and blue? The salesperson thought so.
This message was edited Mar 6, 2007 6:56 PM
Oops! Just read the tag. That is blue with white spots. From the descriptions of black and blue, this is different. ...Wish I could have just deleted that last post.(can just edit, not delete)
Hello, I also love salvias. I live here in south Jersey. My favorites and our hummingbird favorites! include: Raspberry salvia greggi, regular culinary herb sage, salvia guarantica Costa Rican Form, salvia guarantica Black & Blue, Salvia purple knock out which has burgundy veined foliage, and Texas sage salvia "coral nymph" salvia coccinea (photo).
wind, beautiful picture of coral nymph ! The purple knock out sounds lovely - also raspberry greggi. I have so much to learn ! Got any photos of them??
I don't have a photo of the raspberry greggi and the photo's I have of the purple knock out don't do it justice. I first saw the purple knock out in Cape May NJ. My pictures make the blossoms look washed out and white and they are really a lovely lavender color. The purple knock out has a relatively short blooming time compared to other salvias such as the black & blue. But the foliage makes it a great garden addition.
Now I think I know what you are talking about re: black and blue. Seems like in some areas black and blue can really spread. Any experience with Argentine Skies. I was looking up these on plantfiles and the World of Salvia. He mentionned a new kind,salvia guaranitca "Van Remsem" that will be available soon.It looks like it wouldn't make it here. Anna
banana,
Van Remsen is available. I don't know how long it's been available, but I picked one up some months ago.
Sherry
This message was edited Mar 10, 2007 6:48 AM
Yahoo! My favorite, Black & Blue are coming back up! Taking that as a sign. Going to put out the seedlings I WS'd today. Yipee! Spring's here. :)
Deb
I was surprised to find this greggii (my other fave) blooming today. It's just a bit early!
Deb
Oh my word ! What a beauty ! Do you have it in the greenhouse or how did you get it to bloom so early? I love that one ! What is the name of it?
Daisyruffles, how's my S. guaranitica 'Black & Blue' doing? Does it still resemble a "dead door nail"? The roots of the ones I sent you were fat and elongated sort of like a dahlia's tubers, and are said to be storable just like dahlia tubers over the winter. How are those tubers doing now? If they're firm, there might be more life in them, yet. I've been wintering mine over under gro lights, and while the tops eventually become quite pitiful, in spring the tubers send out runners at the bottom of the pot through those holes. I just stick pieces of them in the ground after the last spring frost and several plants result. I'll send you another start after last frost - would you remind me in May?
Without the guarniticas and greggiis, my garden would be poor, indeed, but the most beautiful sage I ever did grow was Salvia chamaedryoides (from http://www.sandymushherbs.com/ - don't see it listed there this year). It was low and spreading, with very small, silvery woolly leaves and tiny blue flowers that made a blue haze among all that silver. I was so surprised a plant like that would not notice how hot & muggy our summers are - most "silvers" go toes up very soon around here.
I agree about adding penstemon, and the plectranthus genus would've been wonderful to include here, too. Plectranthus argentatus actually wintered over here a few times. Now, there's another very silvery-leaved plant with the tiniest ice-white-with-blue-tinge flowers on many very long and narrow stems at the end of summer that puts up with an awful lot of shade here and seems immune to our humidity, as well. I just rub those stems when the flowers have gone to seed between my hands over a pot, and seedlings appear in a few weeks - so far have not experienced damp-off fungus with those - perhaps because I ignore those pots and water them infrequently?
Wonderful thread - thank you.
Corgimom: It must've been our mild winter. I was definitely surprised to see it blooming. :) I was crawling around pulling weeds and, ...Tadaaa!
It's greggii "Navajo" and it's been the best salvia for me for several seasons now. It's actually a tiny bit more of a bluer red than in the photo. I can never get the reds exactly right.
Deb
Deb, it sure is a beauty ! I know, reds are hard to take. My salvias are just emerging from the ground - and we,too, had a mild winter.
DebinSC: WOW! Your greggii "Navajo" is gorgeous! I love the saturated color and bet the hummingbirds make a bee line towards it!