Do I want to be black and blue?

How aggressive have you found this salvia to be? I saw some on sale and they are so pretty but I am not certain I want to fight with another overly aggressive species right now. Who grows them?
C

I have it. It sends out runners, so it needs space. I have had it about 2 years. I decided to move mine from an area with daylilies to the back of the bed (Bad boy!)

I am thinking I will put it into a large pot this year and enjoy it without fear. Is yours growing in full sun or a little shade? Does it really bloom all year?
C

I have a few large stands in my yard, but then I have the room to let it go. It does get very agressive but I will always keep it. It bloomed from May to November last year. The hummers love it!

We have had B&B for years and it is still in the same spot and has only gotten so big and then seems to stop. It does not seem to reproduce from seeds and the patch is only about three feet across. It does bloom all Summer especially if it is dead-headed.

Cheryl....mine does best in full sun, but will bloom in partial shade.

I had it morning sun. Now it is full sun.

I find that plants listed as invasive are in my yard. Too much water probably. I think the plant is beautiful, both the leaves and the flowers and really want more necter sources, so I will plant some. I have some nice large ceramic pots that need to be changed so I will try a few in there. I don't mind seedlings as those are pretty easy to keep up with but extensive underground runners are a pain. Thanks for your input and it seems all of you think the plant is worth growing and then some.
C

I have some and love it.. no issues with it spreading and the hummers LOVE it!!!

I dug a few plants that had spread and planted them in other areas. This year I put one on either side of my deck steps so we can enjoy the hummers and take pics. The plumbago that was so pretty last year is yet to appear. I hate voids!

I have found that it is the most invasive plant I've ever owned. I've been trying to get rid of it for three years. It literally took over an entire bed. I kept trying to cut it back to the spot alloted for it, but it just ran over everything else in the bed. I finally pulled it out along with all the runners I could find. Three years later and I'm still pulling out new sprouts and runners. I would never, ever plant this again anywhere. It's even worse than mint. I'm amazed at the people who say it's stayed in one place for them. I don't know why it was so exuberant in my beds.

Crow

Like Sheila, I have this plant and absolutely love it. In my flowerbeds, it's aggressive when it's first up in the spring and I do have to spend time yanking out runners. But after a few weeks, it seems to spend its energy in blooms and sends out few runners. It's a plant that I wouldn't be without, as the hummers love it.

Carla

More water in Houston then here? It is a different climate. I honestly do not want to plant something that I need to eradicate in a year or two. I am going with my original idea and putting into pots or creating a barrier in the bed to try and contain it.
C

It is something how different people seem to get different growing habits for this plant. Ours is out front near the drive and is in red clay that does not get amended as much as plants further back, maybe that makes a difference.

I think it does indeed. Richer soil and more water can make a difference. I am still going to try some as I think they are really pretty plants and I want more butterfly attracters as well.
C

I think that if you have good soil most any plant can be very aggressive a case in point are my Day Lillies but of course those you can always give away ...I have a Lemon Balm plant that I grew in a container until the frost arrived in the fall then I just dumped it out thinking that noway would it survive an Okie winter just laying on top of the ground ...The laughs on me now as it is everywhere and kinda hard to pull too..

It isn't a question of spreading, its how difficult it is to remove the offsets. day lillies are pretty easy to divide and keep in check but tall mex. petunia sends deep underground runners all over and its pretty hard to get it all out. So I am leary of any plant that is listed as aggressive.
C

I think for you Cheryl, the pot sounds like a good idea. It is very tall though, so start clipping it back early to make it fuller and less leggy. At the end of the season, do save a little clump and bury the pot in the ground, because you will want it again.

I will join the crowd that doesn't have thug problems with this plant. Mine's in sun until about 3 p.m., in a hot spot, unamended very heavy clay soil. No runners from it ever, in 4 years. I love the beautiful flowers. But even if it did spread, I would keep it because of all the hummers.

We have Black and Blue Salvia and Salvia guaranitica the species plant, which is the same as B&B but has green calyx instead of black. These two plants are planted two feet apart and never grow together. Our soil is red clay and they are planted near the drive which stays on the dry side but is composted several times a year. The soil is rich enough to grow Plumerias and Brugs every year. I have looked it up in the plant files and several people have it listed as invasive.

I bought one and put it into a new bed with a couple roses and a strange orangy hybrid coneflower, we will see how much it expands this season. I love the color and will buy another to put into a large pot near the patio.
C

I side with crowellli. Big bad boy - three (maybe 4) years later, I'm still finding those durn runners and tubers! Very aggressive and almost impossible to control. Gets big and flops over too. Loved the color, but can't handle the personality.

Hmm, it seems this plant is more of a problem in zone 9 than 8. Maybe that makes a difference?
c

Sounds like the amended moist soil is it's ideal spot for runners. Those that have a dry or clay based soil aren't troubled by the spreading.

I've still got runners popping up under existing shrubs that are in unamended clay gumbo soil. This is over 10 feet away from where the plant was originally placed. Water may be the key. I wish I knew why it was so bad for some and not others. I'm with CeeJay though and didn't especially like the plant anyway. I had BIG problems with mealy bugs on it and the flopping over too. I have just as many hummers coming to some of the other blue salvias that are more polite and stay where they were intended. My favorites are East Friesland and one of the Spires, I can't remember if it's Indigo Spires or Mystic Spires. I guess as gardeners it's just as well we all like different plants or we'd all have identical gardens though.

Crow

The Indigo Spires is nice but skimpy on foliage and seems to flop a lot more on me than the B & B. Don't remember having Mistic Spires, but E Friesland is pretty and low growing. I will always have a spot for the Black and Blue, because of it's robust growing habit even in the hot summers here.

We have the Indigo Spires in two places and have a wire ring that we put around them before they starts flopping. It is one of the best bloomers we have and is never without blooms and bees until frost.

I have dwarf mystic spires and it blooms long with out flopping. I am happy it made it through the winter with some help.

My two favorites are: 1- Salvia farinacea 'Henry Duelberg' - doesn't flop, blooms forever. And when it looks ratty, I cut it back and the seedlings take over. 2 - Salvia microphylla ‘Hot Lips’. I've had it for several years now and it even blooms in the winter. I cut it back late winter/early spring and before you know it, it's up and blooming again. Love, love, love it! (And so do the hummers!)

Is there really 2 B&B's? Black and Blue Salvia and Salvia guaranitica the species plant I have one from Lowe's from last year and it says Black and Blue Salvia (Salvia guaranitica)

Want to decide pot or ground. I love the cobalt color.

Black and Blue is a cultivare of Salvia guaranitica that has green calyces instead of dark like black and blue. This website shows both.
http://www.floridata.com/ref/S/salv_gua.cfm

You'll haven't read the whole thread have you.

Yes I have kenboy. It is not that I doubt you but I wanted to make sure I understood. I did not understand calyxes until I looked it up and I now see what I found as the definition is not the same as looking at the website AJNTEXAS posted. The definition said petals and it is not the petals that are the calyxes. my plant is not blooming to tell which it is. And sometimes we can buy plants and when they bloom we have something different.

Thanks for everyone's help.

LOL I was a bit slow on catching on to this to. LOL I just bought some B&B not long ago and didn't realize there were 2 either. I'm not certain of the ones I have either but will save this thread to make sure of where to plant it when I do find out.

According to the website I posted there are at least two cultivares in addition to Salvia guaranitica. 'Black and Blue' and 'Argentina Skies', with pale blue flowers.

The one I bought at Rodenta's had Black and blue on the bucket, the tag in the pot has a pic of the one with the dark calyxes though.

I have both. The Argentine skies gets powdery mildew more than black and blue.Maybe it needs more space.

And there is another Salvia guaranitica called 'Purple Splendour', I have not seen it but the flowers are purple.

I would love to have all the salvias as they are beautiful. kenboy that purple sounds beautiful.

I do have most of them--the blue ones, anyway. Mealy cup, Henry Duelberg (sp), B&B, Argentine Skies, Indigo Spires, Mystic Spires, and a no-id farinacea with lighter blue flowers. None of them misbehave in my gardens and are all trouble-free. Well, except Mystic Spires. It doesn't flop, but it spreads out and takes way more than its share of space. I have to use a mini-chainsaw to cut it back.

The hummers seem to love all of the taller ones. But Hot Lips and B&B are the hands-down favorites. I think they visit the greggii's too, but those are out of sight, so I don't know how often.

I do think the soil and water make a difference. Mystic Spires in my improved flower bed is the one that gets so ginormous. I started another from a cutting awhile back, and put it in a hot spot, bad soil, where all the amendments wash away. It has never gotten as big or uncontrollable. Blooms a lot, though. Indigo Spires struggles in the same bed.