Salvia farinacea

I still have lots of Salvia farinacea in bloom although they are coming to an end.

Has anyone ever overwintered them? Tthere's lots of woody growth on them and I have no idea if they will survive.

 

Hello JennieB

I love S. farinacea, but I don't seem to have very much luck with it. This year's specimen has already turned up its toes and died, even though I have many other salvias which are perfectly healthy.

Are your plants in the ground, or in pots? They won't survive without protection, but if they're in pots it's a fairly easy job to get salvias through the winter. You can cut them hard back (they will regenerate from the old wood in the spring) and then protect them from the frost. All my salvias, including some quite tender ones, survived our very hard winter in a cold frame.

In the ground, it's more difficult. You could try covering your plants with a mulch or some horticultural fleece.

 

Unlike S.Mystic Spires and S.Blue Angel I haven't overwintered S.Farinacea as I grow them from seed every year but Clare's advice is spot on.:thumb:

 

My Salvia bethelii not only survived last winter outside but has performed its best ever.

 

Hi Jennie. S. farinacea is tender and wouldn't be likely to survive outside over winter. Technically it's perennial, as are many other Salvias such as splendens (the red bedding plant), patens and coccinea etc. I have tried overwintering farinacea and splendens but it wasn't a success. Patens and coccinea will overwinter happily, but these (like nearly all Salvias) are late to develop the next year and are usually just as good from seed.

So seed is a good way to go. But better still are cuttings - though its a bit late now unless you have a good light source. You can get funny things with cuttings. Traditional wisdom says don't use flowering stems. But I have in the past found that if the cutting was in flower and was given enough light it could often remain in flower continuously for the next 12 months.

I have never taken cuttings of S.farinacea, as I prefer S. 'Mystic Spires', which is a bigger plant and is a cross between farinacea and longispicata. Its very easy to overwinter with a bit of protection and very easy to take cuttings from.

 

Thank you all for your help with my Salvia question. I would love to be able to overwinter this lovely plant but I don't think I'll have the time now to lift them all but fleece may be a good option in the long run. We purchased these as young plants and they've made an amazing display.

I help to maintain the company's gardens on a part-time basis, two days garden, two days accounts, I'm really lucky as I don't know anyone else with such a job variety.

Strongylodon, do you have a good source for seeds, please, for S. Mystic Spires and Blue Angel?

 

Jennie - I don't think you will find seed for S. 'Mystic Spires'. I believe it's a sterile hybrid. However you used to see them sold as plugs in garden centres in the spring alongside fuchsia and pelargonium (ie Geranium) plugs.

Chiltern sell S. patens 'Blue Angel' seeds. I suspect that it is not a lot different from the species in colour, which is also a superb blue. The other nice colour is the pale blue 'Oxford Blue'. If you don't know Chiltern Seeds - I think they are really good, with a much wider range than other companies. S. patens grows tubers and so you can treat it like a Dahlia and lift it over the winter - otherwise just give it a bit of protection as its borderline hardy.

 

Thanks Peter , so that's why I can't find Mystic Spire seeds ! :DOH: I grew S. Coccinea hummingbird mix ( red / white / pink )this year which are still performing very well in mid october. I am going to try a couple of salvia from the extensive Chilternseed list next year.