Just another pic of S. oxyphora.....is this the most spectacular Salvia??? PLEASE don't ask me for seeds, it never sets any here. You could send me some hummers???
Robin.
New picture of Salvia oxyphora
That is gorgeous! Do you have any seeds? LOL! (Sorry--couldn't resist asking since you said not to!)
WOW!
You don't happen to have any seeds, do you?
Sherry
Thanks for all your nice comments about this sensational Salvia. It has never set seed here, and I have read somewhere that it is sterile, which is nonsensical if it is a true species...which it is!
Cuttings root easily within 2-3 weeks, but unfortunately USA customs prohibit me from sending these. I would love to share this wonderful Salvia with others, but this does not seem possible, currently. This has been introduced into Australia, with great success. But complicated and expensive documentation and scientific certificates are required.
I am constantly on the look-out for seeds, there has been a recent expedition to Bolivia, S. oxyphora's habitat, remote chance that seeds may be found.
Regards, Robin.
Robin, it is probably like S. involucrata bethelii - self-incompatible. It may require another seed start to cross with, not a vegetative clone.
Robin, courtesy of a friend who went to England and brought back a plant, then propagated some, I have two young stock plants, and they seem around two weeks or less from blooming.
Despite heat, humidity, and mealybugs, the plants are robust, with glossy green leaves.
Are the flowers about one inch long for you?
Sorry for not replying earlier.....life has not been easy here...now ok. Yes, the flowers are an inch long, furry, wide, and extremely beautiful. Salvia oxyphora has to be one of the best.....but never any seeds. In Bolivia, its native habitat, it never sets seeds, just grows from underground stolons. John Wood has suggested that the oroginal pollinator me be extinct. Luckily it is very easy from cuttings.
I was slow of the mark this year with my S. oxyphora. My overwintered cuttings were somewhat weak and pathetic and, hoping they would pick up, I delayed taking cuttings to plant out for this year's summer. I should know better after all these years!
Overwintered cuttings of some Salvias can look distinctly sick as they emerge from winter (if overwintered in an only-just-frost-free-environment as are mine). The overwintered stems produce shoots but these are often pathetic and wither away. Trying to coax such plants to become healthy and robust is often a lost cause.
By all means try to nuture the sickly plant but I would recommend taking cuttings of the small shoots as soon as you can - however small these cuttings may be. You will often find these cuttings will take and grow vigorously whilst the parent languishes and passes away.
S. oxyphora and also the various S. splendens such as Van-Houttei, Peach etc to be examples which show such cutting vigour. I have taken ½" cuttings of sad looking new shoots taken from even sadder looking overwintered cuttings in early spring and these have produced super plants.
So, belatedly remembering such advice with my sad over wintered oxyphora cuttings, I finally got a few plants for planting out this summer. They are late in flowering - not helped by this year's weather in the UK - but since I consider the bud of oxyphora to be almost as lovely as the flower, I don't mind. My best plant is about 4 feet high with the rest at about 3 feet.
Here is a pic of a bud. Isn't it just full of promise?
Following on from my pic of the bud. Here is another view of one ready for take-off. Let's hope the frosts don't come too soon and ground it!
jimcrick:
I am wondering what the down side is to keeping Salvia oxyphora alive. It does well in hot, humid environments, which may also be an indication of it having a hard time in the winter.
Since there are still few plants available in the United States, I want to make sure I can fully optimize its distribution, especially to botanical gardens like Longwood, J. C. Raulston, Brooklyn B. G. and nurseries like Digging Dog, Logee's, and Sandy Mush Herb Farm.
Any winter time propagating tips like keeping the root zone warm would be appreciated.
Richard
My routine is to have cuttings rooted and potted up before the winter sets in. I take the cuttings in late August/early September and root them in a couple of propagators (with low level under-heating at night time) that can each take about 30off 3" square pots. I usually have about 3-5 cuttings per pot. I use a proprietary soil-free compost mixed in equal parts with perlite.
When cuttings root (or fail!!!) and can be removed from the propagator, other cuttings take their place until I have sufficient of each species/variety for my overwintering needs. (I want about a total of 450 or so vigorously growing rooted cuttings of about 50 different plants ready to plant out in about mid-May. This means that I need sufficient overwintered plants to be able to provide me with cutting material in spring. Of course many of the overwintered cuttings are also suitable for planting out in spring but quite often their offspring prove more vigorous.)
Plants which I know to root slowly are started early (if I remember) or, if needs be, left in the propagator over winter. However, I prefer to get everything rooted before winter sets in so that they can be out of the propagator and potted up individually. I pot up each rooted cutting in a 3" pot with the same proprietary compost mixed with perlite in the ratio 2:1. The perlite gives sufficient extra drainage to minimise avoid over-watering losses. Some vigorous cuttings may well get a second potting up before the depths of winter arrive.
I overwinter the potted up cuttings in a potting shed (I don't have a greenhouse) which is kept just frost free over the winter months. The potting shed is only 8' x 6' but with a system of hanging wire trays I manage to make enough pace with sufficient light to keep my plants happy.
In general I don't find oxyphora to difficult to overwinter and last winter's problems were really from taking cuttings from spider-mite weakened plants rather than overwintering difficulties. I seem to remember Robin (2Salvia) Middleton recording somewhere that oxyphora could sometimes come through our winter here but that subsequent growth was too weak to make adequate growth to flower well.
This winter I'm going to try overwintering a mature plant of oxyphora in a pot in my garage in the same way as I do with my various patens - i.e. cut down and no water until spring.
Here is pic of my overwintering cuttings:
I find Dave's Garden a real pain when it comes to including pics!! After previewing my reply and then previewing again, my original image was deleted - as can be seen in the above reply. Why was this?? Also how do you include more than one image in a reply - anybody know?
Here is the image that disappeared from my previous reply:
No seeds in my Salvia oxyphora calyxes, but I have found pollen. Perhaps it is self-incompatible, like S. involucrata.
I'm wondering if there is any relationship with S. involucrata or S. karwinskii outside of the section..
Rich........Salvia involucrata DOES set seed here, albeit reluctantly. Oxyphora just does not, even where it was recently seen in Bolivia by John Wood, who suspects that the original pollinator is extinct, it spreads from underground stolons.....not that I have seen this with my plants. I just let them die and over-winter easily-rooted cuttings....always a beauty!
I got mine to flower finally, it is flowering now:)
Congrats Annette..................At last!!! Never thought that this beauty would cope with your tropical climate!
Well, I guess this is another one I'll have to track down and try here !
mjsponies, I have two stock plants that I plan on sharing with nurseries and botanic gardens, so that you will be able to have some in a while.
Robin, I just found this article on the problems with self-cloning plants that might be relevant to your argument.
http://news.discovery.com/earth/cloning-aspens-natural-selection.html
That is a beauty. I would like to buy some if it becomes available
in the U.S.
zinniared, it should be by mid-summer 2011. I'm sending it to as many nurseries and botanical gardens as fast as I can.
It did very well in our record-breaking number of 90 degree days this summer as long as I kept repotting and watering it. It seems to be holding out well now that we are getting cold weather in my re-erected greenhouse at my new location. Growth in the winter does happen, but slowly. I'll have to see how it does during the blah January days of clouds and cool, when it and the rest of my collection will be tested by botrytis. I'll have to get a fan running to circulate the air.
Rich, don't forget your pals out here in Texas! Where is Candor?
I am so happy that Salvia oxyphora has found its way into the USA.......by whatever means!!! Certainly not by seeds. I hope that you will all be able to admire the unique beauty of this species. It really is not difficult in Europe. Seems to like warmth and humidity, not TOO much direct sun. I am learning about this species every year. Must be kept fairly dry in winter.
Just hope that before long you may have the equally stunning S. heerii and S. leucocephala....neither of which set seeds here. Unlike oxyphora, these are winter-flowering, so a frost-free climate is essential unless you have winter-protection.
Robin.