I bought a 3 gallon container of the Silverado sage. Is this a dwarf shrub? Cause the Purple sage grows about 8 feet high. Im going to plant the Silverado sage on the ground. Does it need water after planting? How much water? Is this plant a fast grower?
Silverado sage, Texas sage
I bought a Silverado in the Spring. The plant tag said that it is a dwarf and it is supposed to stay more dense. Mine has done alright, but I suspect it doesn't get quite as mich sun as it should.
deb789, you will need to water it until it becomes established especially when planting it at this time of year. You should water it about every other day for about a week (if you haven't had a big rain); then, cut back to every week until fall so its roots will be able to spread.. During the fall and winter, if there hasn't been any rain, water it occassionally. You will know when it has established itself when new leaves start appearing. I have never planted a Silverado so I don't know how fast it grows.
I bought one last year and followed htop's watering prescription above. This year while it has not shown much growth or bloomed it has proven its toughness. It has been watered only occasionaly and not fertilized. In other words no TLC compared to last year. Right now, today, it has many new flower and growth buds. A very promising plant!
Do yall mean to water it 2 or 3 times a week? Please explain!!
Deb, yes, just to get it established. Every other day for the first week (if you haven't had a lot of rain), then once a week 'till fall.
Maggiemoo, I have mine in full sun its gets 7 hours of sun. Does this plant have a rounded shape? How tall will it get? Cause mine says dwarf shape.
And, when you water, water deep. The equivalent of 1" rain each time. Roots do not grow in dry soil. :-)
When you say water deep, How many minutes would you leave the hose on the plant?
Build a levee about 4" high a little beyond the plants branches. Fill that area with water. Then mulch.
We have several silverado sages. Ours are mostly 5-6 years old. They have been forced to adapt to our strict watering routine.... (as needed). The Silverados LOVE this. The happiest ones are high and dry, and now about 7 ft tall! We planted 5 in a row, and they have grown to look like a hedge, and are truly COVERED with blooms when we get a rain.
I have pics on my other computer, so I will have to get those for you later...
As with most new plants, in Texas, you are going to have to water deeply the first week or two when they are planted...
Here is a tip that my dad used to use... take an old leaky 5 gal. bucket, or a new one... drill one or two small holes at the bottom of ONE side.... fill this bucket, and let the water sit next to the base of each tree or plant... let it leak out and water the roots. This helps when you have more watering to do than time, and want to water deeply. You know that it is getting a good 5 gallon drink that way, and it is not enough to just run off, but soak in deeply. An old bucket with a crack or hole in it works great for this!
I cant wait to see those pictures of your Silverado sage the blooms are awesome!!
Texmel, that's a great watering idea! I have a very important rose I need to use that idea on. Thanks.
I must say that Mel's Texas sage is the most beautiful I have ever seen.
The number of blooms is unbeleivable. You need to post those in the color picture threads too, people need to see them.
Josephine.
Ok, I guess this is a ridiculous question, but what is silverado sage. I looked in PF and I didn't see it. There are about 10 different plants that are called Texas sage though. HELP!
Texmel was your Texas sage blooming when we were there in May? I will always remember walking into your backyard and thinking I was in a dream, because no garden could look this good in Texas.
My oh MY! OK, I finally got back to my computer... I see that ya'll really need to see some GOOD pictures of some Silverado (TX) Sages!
Silver- I don't remember that they were blooming in May, but they bloom all summer, off and on. Last week, they were in full glory, then gone in a day or two!
Here goes!
Here is a closeup and a favorite view... You wouldn't believe how happy the bees were those days during bloom!
melanie
I didn't realize that cenizo was silverado sage. Cenizo is very common here and beautiful.
Mel, you should add you pictures and at the very least a zip report on the PlantFiles. Those are gorgeous! I've decided the spot that mine is in isn't as sunny as I thought, I'm hunting a new location.
The ones that are shown above are in the middle of a very hot, dry, elevated, full sun bed near the corner of our lot. They were little 3 or 5 gallon pots just 5 yrs ago...
I just found this photo, and cannot believe how full they have filled in now!
They are very happy where they are, but we are going to be trimming them back this winter. We have 2 others that are just as large (7ft tall), but are not blooming as well. We know of some local landscapers that trim them back by half, and they fill out nicely and have a much better shape. We won't go too crazy on these 4, but the other ones will get cut back to about half!
We've been told by the neighbors that they are their favorite focal point from their front windows too!
Just for comparison, here are those same sages last May 2004, with the Mexican Hats that tried to take over! The corner is filling in nicely!
I see that I need an updated picture of that corner overall! I will get right on that! We are expecting rain, and if so, they should bloom the day after....!
Melanie
Melanie, These are awesome plants , and the deep purple flowers. I agree with you there were blooming about 3 weeks ago. I believe when it rained. They started to bloom after 2 days.
Well Kid, you finally did it, thank you , they are beautiful.
Josephine.
I saw many L. frutescens in Sherman today. All were blooming with many bees buzzing about. None seemed to be the cultivar Silvarado and appeared leggy with bare spots but, were beautiful nonetheless. What is that plant with the red spikes behind the Mexican Hats? I like that combination.
Btw, I have heard that this is the Purple Sage that Zane Gray wrote about in his books. The problem with that rumor is his stories centered in the Great Basin area and not Texas and Mexico so, I dunno about that.
My Silverados were blooming some today, we got a sprinkling yesterday and today. Maybe more blooms tomorrow! Yes, we did have 3 Standard TX sages, but they were very leggy and bare, so we pulled them out. We really like the Silverados around here.
The red spikes behind are Red Yucca. They bloom all summer and the Hummers just LOVE them! Bees too! We started out with 5 little one gallon pots... I now laugh when I see them for sale at $8 each, cause I pull up baby ones and toss seeds like crazy! We love them too!
thanks all....