Salvias in containers, what are your experiences?

I like the one in your last (large) photo, @Glynne Williams! That foliage almost looks grey and makes the red flowers really stand out! Is it a greggi?

Nick

 

Did you paint them? Of course, I live in terracotta heaven.

 

@Victoria Unfortunately not, they were already painted when I purchased them.

I must admit to having a liking for terracotta pots, both sides at the top of the garden are like this.

 

Impressive ... I am jealous ... I'll have them all.

 

The 'grey' foliage is just the light on Jezebel!

 

Another attempt at sending pics!
I bought a couple of BEYOND BLUE from Sarah Raven. I feel sure they are seedlings of Cambridge Blue, I've grown them from collected seed myself

 

@Glynne Williams either way, they look great in that blue pot, it compliments the flowers very nicely.

 

Thanks! We like that pot for the 'Blues'! We also bought two Blue Butterfly also. Theye in smaller pots at the moment so will be alongside the above! My original Blue Butefly has had some fresh compost added and we're trying putting it in the border as it is this year rather than planting and then digging it up as its not hardy. Our other 'blue' is of course the dark blue Patens (which I call Oxford Blue. Then Black N Blue and various other. I grow lots of Patens from seed every year. They are quite hardy but slow to get going n the early Summer.

 

My Salvias are grown en masse mulched in the Autumn and cut down in early Spring to allow bulbs to show then trimmed as soon as shoots show later in Spring. I experiment with planting the odd Foxglove and the aforementioned bulbs including Alliums! I've some Large yellow foxgloves showing this year, their third year! That's pretty perrenial for here!

 

Hot Lips is prominent and very hardy, the dark red is Jezebel, and the pink Neon. All grown from seed. Also amongst are various Patens (Blue Butterfly, with its spear-shaped leaves, in its pot.) There are two purple ones, Nachtflinder and Midnight. African Skies, small blue and hardy. The taller varieties I have are at the back! I've got more at other parts of the garden, such as Amistad which is also a slow one, and possibly my favourite, Confertiflora, which is only half hardy here! My other Pink/magenta is Cerro Potosi, a nicely shaped shrub/plant, which I notice needs propagating!!

 

That looks wonderful Glynne. Where are you located? We don't get named plants here The massive Garden Center I go to had blue ones and pink ones. I would love to get some coloured ones, even seed. I can get Hot Lips and Lavender Lips rootings from Spain though which I might do.

 

Cheers Victoria! We live in the Midlands which has variable weather so usually anything that can withstand -8 is considered hardy. Anything -5 or so gets protection! Essentially though Salvias in my experience need good drainage so mine live in what was a sloping rockery and each digging hole gets compost mixed with lots of grit! Our house has two distinct ecosystem, front and back which we've learnt about over50 years here. However what I've also learnt is that more Salvias die from poor drainage conditions than freezing cold!!! The other thing is that individual varieties tend to take their time starting to grow and that you should be slow to dig up 'dead' Salvias! Of course they do die occasionally! At 80 my memory suffers so I forget about plants and reading about varieties remind me I did have so-and-so ...... once!
I do buy Salvia seed on line, but the majority I grow comes from my own plants (Royal Bumble just last week!) Essentially I rarely deadhead so I see seed pods regularly in the Summer. These are tubular and papery with up to four/two black, 1-2 mm long seeds. Be careful collecting them as they easily drop out!! I take an envelope, lower dying flower head into it, then cut it off with sharp secateus/scissors. You hear ripe seeds dropping into the envelope! Then I usually pull each 'tube' apart to get the rest. Some brownish seeds are viable. I've sown some immediately but have also kept others two years! You get to know which varieties produce seeds. My list has included Patens, both Oxford and Cambridge Blue, Neon, Christine Yeo, Jezebel, Blue Note, Amistad, bad memory leaves out others!
All Salvias root very easily from cuttings, even some in water on the kitchen windowsil, though rest in the propagator.
If Salvias were difficult I wouldn't be able to grow them!

 

Interesting Glynne. I have taken some cuttings from a Pinky Salmon coloured one I got and just stuck them in a peat pot and I think they have rooted. I want to put them at the base of a Westringia shrub in a pot for added oomph. Westringia is an Australian shrub from the Mint family with Lilac flowers.

 

We bought a very blue pot from Aldi last week (9.95, it looks ceramic even close up but is obviously plastic (and light!) So I've planted the S. sagitata Blue Butterflys in it. The pot is really very gaudy, perhaps should have Hot Lips in it!, but it is blue! Next to it is the Beyond Blue, and the one below my 3 year old Cambridge Blue grown from seed. The flowers of last two are identical in my opinion, but don't yet know about size etc of plants? The Blue Butterflys have thrown up three flowering shoots which is why they're already tied up. My other plant is still in its pot amongst red Salvias which I'm hoping will support the Blue Butterfly flowers. It's throwing up a shoot anyway!

 

Meant to also say I'm trying a new compost mixture in my Salvia pots this year of 50% each peat free compost and shop bought farmyard manure, plus a good bit of grit. Never was much good at maths!!