I know a lot of salvias do not come true from seed. Is there a list somewhere that has been compiled to use for that purpose?
I have saved every little seed from my limelight and now someone told me it will not come true.
I would also like to know about the pineapple
Thanks for any help you have to offer
Sandra
I need Salvia Seed help
As a rule of thumb, if it came with a cultivar name like 'Limelight', that means it's a hybrid and it won't come true from seed, but if it's a straight species (no cultivar name) then it would, so if your pineapple sage didn't have a cultivar name then it may come true. However, if you have a number of salvias growing in the same area, you may have complicated things because some of them can interbreed with each other, so even if you have a plant that is a straight species, there's a chance it could have crossed with one of the other plants that is nearby and the seeds that you get will be a hybrid between the two.
Is this only true for the perennial salvias?
What about the annual salvias?
So if I want a limelight, I really need to do cuttings.
Thanks
Sandra
Annual salvias work the same way as the perennials. Except they're maybe a little less likely to be a named cultivar, but the same principles apply.
So I will still get a salvia from my seeds off the limelight just who know what it will turn out to be??? Am I thinking straight here or are the seeds viable at all???
Sandra
Would still give it a shot if I were you. Everyone told me that Salvia g. Black & Blue would not come true from seeds. I had 8 of the seeds planted germinate and every one of them was true B & B. I have some seeds of Limelight that I got in a trade from someone in California. Am going to try them, if just one comes true I will be happy.
Nancy
Sometimes hybrids don't make viable seeds, but in the case of Salvias I think they generally would be viable. So the seeds you grow from Limelight will give you salvias, just maybe not ones that look exactly like Limelight. Sometimes as Nancy found with her B&B, even though the seedlings aren't technically the same cultivar, they will look an awful lot like the parents so you may not notice the difference. Or you may get something else that looks different. But half the fun is in trying sometimes! If you're really attached to Limelight though and want to guarantee new plants that look like it, cuttings is a much more sure bet.
Nancy, I really intened to try them, but I have so little room to plant out the seedlings that I hate to sow stuff that may never even bloom for me, who knows?
Thanks for answering though. It gives me hope. I have went to that plant every day to see if any were dry and tried to save every seed. None of my other gardening friends have the limelight and I wanted to share with them.
I think I will still share the seeds and put a disclaimer on the packs--lol
We have a seed swap coming up in Jan
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/51764/
Sandra
I had seeds from Salvia mexicana 'Limelight' before, and they did come true. Though I love it when a new hybrid occurs, you never know what the result will be!
Chinese Salvias are notorious for hybridising, if you have more than one species in the garden, anything can happen.
The microphylla and greggiis hybridise to a great extent, and hundreds of new cultivars have occurred around the world. Some are rubbish, but a few are exceptional. Naming these is a problem as an "identical" cultivar can occur in several places/countries, so several people may have an identical plant...all with different names.
Mexican and South American species sometimes hybridise. Look at all the purple Salvias around...e.g. 'Purple Majesty', 'Betsy's Purple', 'Black Knight', and 'Jean's Purple Passion'. Likely parents are guaranitica, gesneriflora, and splendens. Without DNA testing, difficult to solve the mystery.
Then there is the fab. 'Indigo Spires' and its baby cousin 'Mystic Spires', apparently offspring of S. farinacea and S. longispicata, though I cannot see any resemblance to the latter. These hybrids are sterile.
Also sterile are 'Waverly' and the superior 'Phyllis Fancy', both hybrids of S. leucantha and S. chiapensis, apparently.
Better shut up and stop rambling!
Robin.
I bought a Apricot greggi last Sat. It has the most beautiful blooms. I also paid more than I would usually pay for a plant. Can anyone tell me anything about how it would be concerning the seeds?
Sandra
i saved some seeds from my limelight salvia to see if they would come true and mine did,i did that about 2 years ago and they came true so if i was you i would try some i keep seeds just in case my plant dont make it lol
For your apricot greggii--if it's a hybrid then it may not come true from seed. And if you (or the nursery you bought it from if it was blooming when you got it) have other greggii or microphylla plants around it, they interbreed very easily, so your seeds will be a cross between the apricot and whatever was near it. So there's a very good chance that some of the babies will look different. But you'll never know until you try!
I brought salvia mexicana 'limelight' seeds off ebay, it is flowering now and they came true.
I bought the apricot at Gardens Oyvey in TN. Wolfgang posts on Daves from time to time. It is a wonderful place and like no other I have ever been.
They did have other greggii. It is not only a nursery, it is their home. It is built in the woods and has a pond and up and down hills, wonderful paths to explore. You see the plants in the natural setting and then they have them potted for you to buy.
Wolfgang even found us a fig to try from one of his trees.
I usually post on Mid South Forum, I am not sure if any of you that are regular posters on this forum would be close enough to ever visit them, but you really should if there is any possible way
Here is a link to the on line
http://www.gardensoyvey.com/
I am already excited about going back in the spring, it is such a wonderful place. Diane had the salvia in a group of plants that she was selling as low water maintenance plants.
She was telling us we needed to get more low water needs plants as the dry trend is forecast to continue next year.
Thanks for all your help about the seeds.
I think you have convinced me to plant each one and make a place to see what they will be. Only another salvia lover could ever understand--lol
Sandra