Super Salvias!

Longk, looked it up, seems a very nice species, Iam intrigued by the name "anis scented salvia", but it says halfhardy
I grow mostly plants that are hardy, because I have no means of overwintering tender plants and our garden can be somewhat windy and cold over the winter
I have a few begonia and dalia tubers over the winter, these are fairly straightforward to store and then in april my tiny downstairs guest toilet is not fit for use because you don't get your feet into the room for want of space, all full of pots
If only I had space for a greenhouse there would be so many nice plants, but never mind, there are so many things we want...

 

It's worth a punt Loveweeds - I know someone in the wilds of Norfolk who finds this hardy in his sheltered garden. So hardy that it was approaching two metres in height last summer.
Being one of the tuberous Salvia it can be lifted and stored too, although I prefer to take cuttings to over-winter under glass.

 

Just viewed Salvia guaranitica in Robins salvia gallery. "Grows like a weed in N. Argentina - suckers all over the place and can disturb paving" . HWMBO wouln't be too happy if it pushed its way up thru' the Spanish porcelain patio tiles methinks.Maybe a cast iron planter job... Also,, Robin says that Indigo/Black and blue doesn't produce tubers.. Sometimes, too much reading is a dangerous thing.....
jenny namaste

 

Got me worried there Jenny - thought that I'd lifted the wrong plant!
Here is a photo of the one that I left in the garden....................


The second photo shows the root runners that I found - off to pot them up now.

 

I think what Robin Middleton is saying is that all S. guaraniticas are tuberous with the one exception of 'Indigo'. What he calls 'Indigo' he thinks might be called 'Black and Blue' in America. As opposed to what we call 'Black and Blue' in this country which is tuberous.

S. guaranitica is almost hardy in this country. I had both a 'Black and Blue' and a 'Blue Ensign' overwinter outside for several years. But the winter before last, which was very cold, killed them off.

LongK - that Brillantaisa nitens is lovely. I had never heard of it.


Another close relative to Salvia is Lepechinia, which is often regarded as an honory Salvia. The above photo shows L. hastata on the left with S. 'Mystic Spires' on the right and the bright red of the S. splendens on the far right.

I love L. hastata. Its leaves are immensely smelly, even more than any Salvia. Its not hardy, but otherwise very easy to grow. I should have loads of seed later this year if anyone is intereted.

 

I had to google Lepechinia hastata - looks wonderful!

I was a little confused over the S. guaranitica and had to rip the one in the garden out to check! I was surprised by the long root runners - they are now in a seed tray in a placcy bag, so we'll see if anything comes of them.

 

there was a salvia book in our library (by John sutton)
its very interesting and I could read about all those hundreds of types

about the tuber-like swellings in S. guaranitica he only says that they have no real tubers, means they cannot be used for propagation, they are just food storage organs, the plant has rhizomes which could be used for propagation

 

Much the same as Dahlia tubers from the Bishop series then?
Dope that I was yesterday, the best word for rhizomes that I could come up with yesterday was "root runners"! Planted up now, so I'm hoping for several new plants.

 

Salvia discolor opened its first blooms today................


Bit of a pants photo, but I'm so pleased that I just wanted to show it off! It has been outdoors for the last few weeks (moved into the garage for cold nights) in an effort to toughen it up a little for the move.

 

Keith - I am amazed your S. discolor has bloomed so early - well done. John Sutton says its summer flowering but if you keep it warm it can continue flowering into winter.

 

So was I!
I needed to toughen it up a bit for the unheated greenhouse after the move so out it went. But it clearly loved the last couple of weeks!

 

Does your skimmia give you hayfever, Simbad? Just asking because I've noticed that my eyes start to react whenever I've been near the flowers ...

Back to salvias ... great thread. A wonderfully varied family which has more or less everything. I particularly like that patens 'Dot's Delight'. S. patens is a lovely, clear blue - not at all mauve, as most 'blue' flowers are.

 

ClaraLou - "Dots Delight" is a gem! Not as floriforous as the pure S.patens but I grew mine in with those as a dot (no pun intended) plant and they really stood out.
Maybe I should start a blue flowers thread - there seems to be lots of interest in the blues.

 

There is a variant called 'Tangerine Sage', which has leaves that are more heart-shaped than those of 'elegans' - and that seems to be the shape you have in your picture. (The smell would fit, too!)