I was lucky to have been given seeds of this variety. Of the 25 seeds I received, 12 germinated, but only 5 made it into the garden. I'm grateful that the seedlings are healthy and I'm looking forward to seeing how big they become. I've read that the foliage will be between 2-3' and the stalks of blooms could reach 5'...Brilliant! I would be gobsmacked if I saw them reach that height at full maturity.
Would anyone know if I would see that the 1st year...this summer, perhaps? Or will I have to wait a couple of years?
Here's the addy from here with several nice pics members have offered and posted. The pic from sweezel gives me a good idea for area of each when I spaced them in the garden, but none of the pics really show it at it's full height potential. I have scoured the internet/web for other images, but they are growing in the wild and not in someone's garden. Sometimes the look/growth pattern of a plant looks different in a garden. Does anyone have a pic they could share for me and others?
Even when I looked at the one vendor's pic that is offering it, it's only a close-up of the blooms :(
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/110608/
Does anyone grow Big Red Sage (Salvia penstemonoides)?
I grow penstemonoides. I did not take photos last year, but mine has been in the ground going on its second year and is now starting to extend its stalks for flowering for this season. I'll take pics tomorrow a.m. but it will obviously be awhile until it reaches full height for this year. This original plant was brought home as gallon size and I am growing seedlings, but do not know if you can expect flowering first year from seed. I'm sure someone else here may come along with an answer to that.....
I'm pretty sure it will require 2 years to bloom. I went to visit Tony Avent at Plant Delights yesterday, and he hasn't seen his new plants emerge yet. On the berm along the road, his old plant lasted around 8 - 9 years. It usually likes stream flood plains in caliche, but does not seem to need lime.
I also ordered seed from
Native American Seed 800-728-4043
Mail Order Station
3791 N US Hwy 377
Junction, TX 76849
Salvis penstemonoides Big Red Sage Item #: 3162
Salvia Engelmannii Engelmann Sage Item #: 3146
E-mail: info@seedsource.com
Web Page: http://www.seedsource.com/
Note that the listing has Salvia misspelled, which is why I first failed to find it doing a Google search. They are correcting the typo.
This will be the second summer (planted in the fall of 2007 from a gallon container)for mine. We plant a lot of our perrenials in the fall since we have mild winters and such brutal summers. Last year it grew a little, but no blooms. This year it is starting to get some height to it, so I'm hopeful I'll get some blooms later.I like it because even though it didn't bloom,it stayed a nice lush green all year for me which not many plants do here in Texas during the summer. I have it between a rosemary and a Mexican sage.
This is the start of the third season in the ground for this penstemonoides. I think I'll be putting a lotmore of these in the ground this week.
Hi Susan,
Here's the PF link for Salvia penstemonoides
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/98675/
I have a couple of pics among the other pics.
Marilyn
Hello All,
Here's an update with a pic of the 5 I planted. Although they are growing slow, they are doing well...I'm thrilled! :)
This message was edited Jun 11, 2009 8:19 AM
Susan, How are your salvias doing now? Do you have an update?
I think I am growing this S. too although it is officially a No-Id (I lost the label in the garden, as usual).
I bought the S. penstemonoides seed from Gerris on e-bay 2 seasons ago along with some other salvia seeds and the single shoot is just flowering now. It is very elegant looking and I hope mine is as hardy as Marilynbeth's is (since she is just across the river from me in Kentucky I have hope).
If I have more seed in my box I am definitely going to try to grow some more. It is very very pretty. A lovely color, and if mine were bigger I'm sure the hummingbirds would love it. Maybe next year!
I hadn't thought to take pics of this until the thread popped up again. The photos appear at first glance to be more pink than the true color of a deeper magenta/burgundy. I really like this salvia!
Hello Tobasco,
Here's an updated pic...
I took a close up of 3 of the 5 plants. the other 2 are a little behind on growth compared to these. I'm thrilled they are starting to bloom, but still very surprised that they are barely 12" tall. I have them planted in the back of the garden because I expected them to be taller. Hopefully they will put on major growth before the 1st frost. I will be covering them with rose protectors for the winter in hopes that they will survive here...time will tell...
Yours look robust tho they are a bit short. Mine are tall and thin.
What zone is Lincoln? I hadn't thought to give ours some winter protection but that's a great idea!
Mine has really surprised me this year. the bloom stalk is around 4 ft now and has been blooming for a month or so.It must really like the intense heat we've had this summer. About 50 days of 100+ temps. and little rain, though I do have soaker hoses in that bed.I am just waving at my garden from the patio this summer. It's too hot to do much else.
I just wanted to update everyone with our Salvia penstemonoides...
They all survived the frozen tundra we had here this winter in zone 5B. I had to tell DG about this since the PF for this plant says the hardiness to be starting with zone 8!!!!
Not only did they survive, but I moved them and they are still doing fine...WooHoo!
that's good (and surprising) news, SL! I will be interested to know if you get some hummingbirds visiting it.
My single plant survived this winter in zone 6a, but I think it would grow better in a spot that is more like what Rich described in his earlier post. It is next to the house in a south facing situ but doesn't get really good sun shine throughout the day.
Tabasco,
Well, Rich said in a post above it would probably wouldn't bloom til the 2nd year and they all bloomed beautifullythe 1st year I grew them from seed! Additionally, they are in full sun...from sun up to sun down :)
I just got a D-mail from Joan (DG admin) of her updating the hardiness of this plant to zone 6. We are thrilled it survived our zone 5b!
Here's the link and you can see my pic I had added last year...
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/98675/
Here's my pic...
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/257919/
This is such a lovely Salvia, but it is very sad that it just will not perform well in England. It germinates well from seed, cuttings can be difficult if not taken at the correct time, and I am not sure when that is. It tends to rot in winter, good drainage is essential, and it hates being in a pot. Had a good plant from a seed last year, kept it in the glasshouse in winter, in gritty soil, on the dry side.....it conked! A few years ago saw a magnificent specimen in Ginny Hunt's garden in CA....she just ignored it, and it was fabulous.
Robin.
Hello Robin,
You certainly tried everything! For us here in Nebraska, the 2 Salvias we have difficulty with are Purple Majesty (bloom stalks breaking just before they bloom) and Yvonne's only growing to 18"...not the 4-5' that most everyone else experiences.
I also dream of a Salvia you have on your site...oxyphora...lovely!
Wish I could send you a few Hummingbirds your way :D
Robin and SL, isn't that just the way with some salvias? I find some very persnickity. Others grew when there was no hope.
Interesting that DG admin has caught up with your plantfile posting, susan. They are pretty quick these days. (-:
SL, are you getting some Hummers to your salvias already?
Hello Tabasco,
Darn fickle Salvias...LOL
Well, regarding DG Admin, I sent an error report to admin for them to change it and Joan wrote me back, thanked me for the info and updated/changed it :)
Since we live on the western edge of the Ruby-throated migration north, we hardly ever see a Hummingbird til mid August when they head south during the fall migration...so DH and I patiently wait til then. We do have 5 feeders out though...3 in front on the porch and 2 in the back yard. Our honeysuckle garden is in full bloom too...so there is plenty for the hummers to enjoy...just no takers as of yet. We only had one male the 1st week of June...probably a 1st year migrating male (an immature male from the previous year) making it's 1st trek north at the time...since the males are usually the 1st to show up in the Spring.
At least during the fall migration our #'s of hummers have been steadily increasing! The past 3 fall migrations we had 13 in 2007, 31 in 2008 and 43 last year. We hope we have 50+ this fall :D
If you are wondering how we know our counts...it's due to all of our security cameras we have set up around out home and being able to ID them by if they are male/female, immature males have different 5 o'clock shadows, etc.. It would be nice to someday have a female nest nearby someday...dreaming :)
Ah, I see. I didn't know NE was on the edge for RTHUs (until late summer when it seems like you hit the mother lode!).
You must have sharp eyes to discern the differences among the throng you have visiting. I wish we had some cameras around.
How do you account for your increase in numbers? ~~~ 'More better' HB plants every year? Or do you think the HBs remember your place and return (and tell their friends?). These little birds are so fascinating! t.
Tabasco,
I'm sure the increase #'s are many factors working all together at the same time. Each of the 3 years I did add more plants and HB feeders. It will be interesting how fast the #'s increase from this year forward considering we have "maxed" out with plants/gardens and HB feeders (15 during the fall migration and they surround our house so as any HB passes by our home, if they don't see a plant, they can't miss the feeders...LOL).
Other factors I'm sure are the babies/immature/offspring which are likely to travel close to the same path as their parents...even though the mature males leave 1st. Variations of coarse will be based upon the weather/winds many times too. For instance...maybe some years. due to the weather/winds we have more that pass through from Alberta, Canada/Montana and other years from Manitoba/Ontario, Canada/Minnesota. I'm also a believer of the same hummingbirds passing through each year since they learned of a "spot" to fatten up for the long trip south...those that survive from year to year that is. Some live to be as old as 5-8 years! I don't think the HB tell their friends because they travel alone...not in flocks...and when they "speak" it's always territorial...nothing friendly...especially when it comes to feeding time! They don't like to share unless there is nothing else close for them to use nearby.
Here are some pics. The 1st 6 pics will show you all of the various feeders around our property/gardens. The rest will show you how close we can take pics of the hummers to be able to detect the differences...even the slight variations between them.
Here's a pic of our porch...
This message was edited May 11, 2010 8:17 PM
One feeder in our big garden area...
Patio garden area...
Patio area/hanging from house...
All along the back of our house...
I'm going to take a break....need strong coffee so I can go through hundreds of hummer pics so I can show you a bunch of sutble differences between hummers and how we are able to distinguish them. I'll only post about 5 or 6 and that's all on hummer stuff...LOL
Even though this is my thread...it's for Agastaches and Salvias ;)
Thanks for the rundown.
Obviously your front porch is very inviting to the HBs!
But is that 'No Trespassing' sign for the hawks? (-:
Sorry Susan for getting the thread off track. I am just very curious about your 'habitat'. Sounds very successful!
And that is a very beautiful coral red agastache/salvia (?) on the left side of pic #2 (just to keep things on topic!)
Thanks again. t.
Glad I found this thread... I WS'ed some "Big Reds" -- i think i had 10 seeds... I finally got germination over the past 2 weeks -- while i was away.
I will plant it close to my foundation, hoping it will come back next year -- and hopefully bloom.
I had assumed it was an annual, as most Salvias are for me.