Super Salvias!

The proper name is Salvia x jamensis. I grew it last year and it walked through the winter like it never happened. A great performer.

Mine hasn't bloomed yet - the photo was embedded (link is below it), but this is one that I'm really looking forward too!I've a feeling that it may get big though?

It really would be a great find!

PeterS - a quick google has shown S.splendens to be indeed rarer than rocking horse poo! Far more worthy of cultivation than the bedding varieties though!

For interesting aroma from the foliage it'll be hard to beat my S.discolor! The common name of Blackcurrant Sage tells you all you need to know!

 

I have three Hotlips jumbo plugs arriving soon, hopefully they will make a good show in the summer, Mystic Spires hasn't really started to move yet.
Looking at these pics I think I will be investing in more Salvias in the future .

 

Tuberous Salvias

Some Salvias are herbaceous (ie disappear under the ground in winter) like S. sylvestris 'Blue Queen' and S.nemorosa 'Caradonna' and regrow from below the ground. Some are small shrubs like the microphylla group (ie microphylla, gregii and their hybrids xjamensis) and regrow from the wood above ground.

And some are tuberous, and can be dug up in the autumn and overwintered like Dahlias. These are a few tuberous varieties that I have grown.


S. atrocyanea


S. patens. The normal plant (ie species) has dark blue flowers but it also comes in pale blue - 'Cambridge Blue'.


and pink - 'Pink Ice'. Most Salvias are simply species that haven't been developed. But S. patens is one where several cultivare exist and so comes in different colours including white and LongK's lovely 'Dots Delight'.


S. guaranitica 'Blue Ensign'. There are only 3 or 4 cultivars of this. 'Argentine Skies' is one in pale blue.


S. reptans. This is an unusual one and only exists as the species. I can't find a picture of it so I have had to borrow one from Annies Annuals.


S. Rhinosina. Another unusual one. But like almost all Salvias it flowers for a long time. There is still a debate as to whether the proper name is rhinosina or meyerii. Along with S. guaranitica this one is just about hardy with me, the others aren't, but being able to lift them makes them fairly easy to overwinter.

 

Peter, I bought a fantastic Salvia Argentea last summer and it just went down hill from then eventually dying completely a few weeks ago, have you any experience of it, is it that short lived?

 

Hi Strongy


Salvia argentea. I presume you mean this one pictured above and not 'Argentine Skies' that I mentioned higher up. I think S. argentea is lovely its just so .... weird.

Did yours flower? Because I understand that it dies after flowering. Its a bit like a hairier sclarea () but takes longer to flower. I still have the one pictured above, which is starting its third year. It hasn't flowered yet - but I would expect it to do so this year. I don't trust it to be hardy for me, but it could well be hardy for you.

If it didn't die as a result of flowering, I can only think that you have just had bad luck. You are very welcome to some seeds if mine does flower. I have got to collect them to perpetuate it. Its silvery appearance might imply that it was susceptable to being too wet, but I haven't had any problems with mine - and I am sure I am wetter than you.

 

Salvia confertiflora is on the to get list...................


Salvia oxyphora always puts a smile on my face...................

 

I had what I bought as S.elegans, but it bloomed all summer long for me so have to question it...............


It was in shade from about 2pm ish though, and it wasn't the warmest of summers. The leaves smelt slightly "orangy".

 

LongK - your picture certainly looks like S. elgans. I have seen it in flower in spring - but winter is more normal. However I would have expected a strong smell of pineapple from the leaves.

You might have the varient 'Honey Melon', which flowers later than the species with more of the smell of melon. I have seen one site quote its flowering time as the summer. If it really does flower over the summer, then its a great advantage over the species. I find winter flowering is difficult to accomodate, unless its a small plant that you can sit on a windowsill.

 

Peter, it was a mature plant to start with when I bought it, not knowing much about it although I did take the flowers off, the leaves just went one by one then.

 

Strongy - if it had flowers it might be something to do with that. I don't know exactly how the system works. Whether the onset of flowering signals its demise or whether flowers have to form and start to make seed. I always remember Christopher Lloyd saying that it was many years before he realised that removing the flowers and /or seed heads tended to make biennials more perennial. Longevity and flowering seem to be intimately related in some plants.

 

Maybe a new thread about monocarpic bulbs and plants is a good idea............

 

I bought a S argentea last year, it flowered (white, not that remarkable) and when it set seed I cut the flowers off. It is still happily alive and got new leaves this spring too. But I faintly remember reading that it tends to die after flowering or is biennal, unless you don't let it set seed. But don't quote me on that. It grows on very well drained soil in my garden.
I have attached a pic of my salvia patens, I love blue flowers, which have no purplish tint..

 

[quote="loveweeds, post: 527094, member: 11039"
I have attached a pic of my salvia patens, I love blue flowers, which have no purplish tint..View attachment 3450 [/quote]

S.guaranitica "Black and Blue" is one to look out for then...............


................readily available in most GC's.

 

S.guaranitica "Black and Blue" is one to look out for then...............
View attachment 3479

................readily available in most GC's.[/quote]
Ooooooooh Aaaaaaaah

 

Not a Salvia, but if you like the blue Salvias you'll like this - Brillantaisa nitens;


(photo location and more info here;http://toptropicals.com/catalog/uid/brillantaisia_guianensis.htm)

An on-line "buddy" has promised me any spare seeds this autumn, so fingers crossed!