Dianthus Lionheart and Salvia 'Hot Lips'

I bought one of each of these a few weeks ago at the GC, attracted by the flowers (the Salvia hadn't bloomed yet, but has been showing signs of starting now). As yet both have been living indoors in a relatively sunny room, getting plenty of water and seem to be doing okay. But I want to plant them out. Does anyone have any experience of either, and what conditions they most like? Any pointers appreciated. Cheers, Dan

 

Hi Dan. I don't know the Dianthus but I have Salvia 'Hot Lips'.

I have just seen Periwinkle's post - but I hadn't heard of it being difficult to grow. Its a Salvia microphylla hybrid, which is essentially a small bush. I have had my 'Hot Lips' for less than a year, but I have had a large Salvia microphylla in the garden for five years, and several younger ones in pots.

The attraction of microphyllas (other than the appearance) is that they are extremely long flowering. Mine are already in flower and I expect them to continue till the first frost. Also you don't have to deadhead them. They grow to about 3 ft by 3 ft.

They comes from the mountains in Mexico, so are fairly drought tolerant, but won't want to be too wet over winter. Yours will probably tolerate down to about -6C or -8C in winter. But that could be a bit marginal, depending on where you live. I am in North Yorkshire and have a large S microphylla in the garden. which I just covered with a fleece. My lowest temperature was -8C, and it has survived several years. Last winter I overwintered my 'Hot Lips' in a pot under cover as it was very small. Its easy to take cuttings as an insurance policy -around August/ September. And easy to grow from seed, but seeds from a hybrid may not come true.

Overall, I regard my large Salvia microphylla as a superb trouble free plant, with the slight reservation over its winter hardiness, but I don't have much experience with 'Hot Lips' yet.

The 'Hot Lips' flower is part white, part red. But it has the reputation of turning pure red in very hot weather, then reverting when it cools a bit. - weird.

 

many thanks for the insights folks... peter, very much looking forward to seeing how the hot lips turn out. it was the unusual red and white flowers that attracted me - fingers crossed i'll get some, but i like the plant generally. does your salvia needs lots of sunlight? i can plant it out at the front, which is south facing, but would really like to put it in the back garden, which is semi-shade. the soil here is clay, on the acidic side. reckon i need to play with the pH at all?

 

Dan, I am on slightly acidic clay and have no problems. So I don't think you need worry. But it is always worth trying to improve the drainage of clay with sharp sand, grit and organic material. Whilst Salvia microphylla is reasonably tolerant, many Salvias, Penstemon, Liatris and others are as liable to die from winter wet as from winter cold.

In her book on Salvias, Betsy Clebsch suggests full sun or part shade. As she lives in California, even part shade for her is almost full sun for us! A simple guide as to how much sun a plant will take is to look at the leaves. Small, tough leathery, thick succulent, silver or hairy leaves are all nature's adaptationss for plants that are exposed to a lot of sun. By contrast the thinner and larger the leaves, the more the plant likes shade. As microphylla means small leaf in Greek, its a fair bet the Salvia microphylla will take full sun. But it will probably be happy in part shade as well.

Really your only problem is its winter hardiness. It might be worth growing it in a pot so you can take it under cover over winter, at the same time I would take a cutting, which would then give you the confidence to leave the mother plant outside over winter.