Indynanny, thanks for feeling sorry for our 30's and 40's. My sis lives in Battleground and their temps last night were right around 0. UGH. I can't stand the cold, so FL is the place for me! Whine, whine.
Pineapple sage is one of my favorite herbs! I find that it does well down here in partial shade in the ground, with some extra organic matter worked into the soil. It sulks if it's in the summer sun. I had forgotten all about it, have to plan on getting some for the hb garden, I can squish underneath something else for some shade.
I'm envious of your hummers, lucky you! I hope they will come through and stop here awhile...
Best Hummingbird Nectar Plants for Southern Gardens
Pineaples sages and mexican sage both do well in my garden well until yesterday's freeze. They bloomed late in the season, but persisted through several mild cold temp. drops. I'll work myself up enough courage to check on them after today's maximal temp. drops down to the teens last 48 hours. Ughh!!!
Kim, I hope your sages are OK! I adore the Mexican's fuzzy little flowers, they are so cute.
Have you ever grown Salvia dorisiana, fruit or peach scented sage? http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/51658/ It is an absolutely yummy plant with fruity scented fuzzy leaves and fuschia blooms. Maybe hummers like it too?!
I almost fell over when I saw it at the farmer's market before Christmas.
Hope you all warm up soon! I'm off to remove towels and blankets from the shivering plants...
Ah, Cathy thanks for reminding me of the red lovely! Yes, I've a clump in the north side of the garden, and indeed they're lovely. Lady in Red, rings a bell, until I pulled it up from pf. :-)
Kim
Now ya'll are enabling me,,, I have to have some peach scented sage. My hot lips salvia loved the cold weather, but I am afraid to look at it after the 17 degrees we had last night. ,,,someone will get d-mail for a trade..LOL
sorry about all this cold!!!!! I hate it. My little ponds all froze from the 17 or whatever cold temp we had last night and tonight. I put a spotlight on my fish, but they went way down deep anyway.
So glad you have another hummer, Becky,, maybe he/she was a late snowbird.. LOL..
Elaine
Elaine, I promise you won't be sorry, it is such a divine scent and beautiful plant. I haven't had it for several years. It always died a slow death in August with all the summer rains. Our last summer was so dry tho, that I'm hoping maybe it will be a perennial this year and next. I will try to take some cuttings, it's a little tricky to root sometimes, with the fuzziness and our high humidity, sometimes it just rots.
I hope it warms up for you and your fish!
Thanks,, I kept the blankets around a lot of my plants today. And the heater going in the greenhouse. Only took cover off my mustard greens for a few hours this afternoon. I love all the salvias and sages and basils, mmmm.
Elaine
I walked out the garden this morning and yes, the hard freeze has pretty much took care of all the hardy perennials leafy green. :(( But not to worry, they will spring back later in the spring.
Cathy, do you mean your sage kicked the bucket during the height of summer's heat and moisture? Maybe planting them in a sheltered corner, and well drainage area would help? Mine is on a slope, so water pooling is never a problem. :-)
Kim
Kim, yes many of the sages don't make it throught the summers here. Garden sage, Israel sage and the peach sage all have those nice fuzzy sort of leaves that seem to really dislike the heat, humidity and days upon end of rain in August. Our soil here is almost pure sand, so drainage isn't usually a problem. I just treat them like annuals and replace them in the fall when it cools off. Small price to pay for short winters and rare frosts! We are projected to be in the high 70's this weekend, yay!
Ah, indeed sages would be a good plants for the cool perennials garden. I didn't know they couldn't tolerate heat. Now I know. I love them though, good flowers for late in the season. I know many a garden in Fla. is being affected by this brief freeze. I hope your garden is doing well, Kathy.
Kim