Is May Night hardy in z5b? It is very beautiful
Which salvias do you like in your cottage garden?
Oh... that May night is beautiful. : ) That's a very pretty flower bed, Lusarytole. : )
~Lucy
I am in zone 6 and they are really hardy here. Just check the plant files.
I divided my May Night salvia last fall and got about 4 new starts out of it for a plant swap. You do have to give it lots of room and air circulation, so don't crowd it with too much other stuff around it. I still have 2 starts in my sunroom. They'll go to the plant swap in a couple of weeks. :)
Here is my big one in early April, 2008.
I got some Texas Hummingbird sage (pink) seeds last year and planted them. They don't germinate until the temps get to about 70 at night. They didn't bloom until late summer, which was fine by me since other stuff in the garden was going to seed. They bloomed well into late, late fall. They're prolific seeders and reseed very willingly. Some of my supposedly pinks came up red!!
Here's a pic of the red and pink together. I still have tons of seeds!! I winter sowed some just to see if it would work. The reds have already sprouted, but I've not seen the pinks yet. There's one plant of unknown color that survived our winter and is getting ready to bloom.
I'm glad to see this thread revived, the world of Salvias really started to pique my interest a couple of years ago. For a long time I've found the Native American ceremonial use of white sage intriguing, hence "sage" in my user name, and love a plant genus that offers beauty, fragrance, flavor, medicine, and sacred uses. Until I joined DG I had no idea there were so many of them.
I've already been growing culinary Sage, Black&Blue, red and pink Hummingbird Sage, May Night, and Blue Hill for a few years, but am experimenting now with starting some new ones to me from seed. Clary Sage, S.viridis, S.argentea, 'Wild Thing', 'Y'vonnes, S.subrotunda, and ceremonial white sage are the new try outs. We've had very dry summers the last couple of years, and the xeric uses of many Salvias is of great interest to me too. Mine all grow in a cottage garden setting, combined with other plants.
There are a couple I've tried that bloomed so late for me, frost got them just as they were starting to look pretty; Pineapple sage and Mexican sage. I love both of them, and have seen members in similar climates to mine post gorgeous pics of their blooming plants through summer. I had chalked it up to them needing short days to bloom, and haven't tried growing either since, but now I'm considering giving them another go. Can any of you offer advise on getting these beauties to bloom?
Thanks,
Neal
I tried Pineapple Sage ina pot a few years but it really didn't bloom well for me either. I would love to be able to have that one.
Mine was beautiful around the first of October, and the plant grew huge during the summer. Same with the Mexican sage.
Neal, do you mean S. leucantha when you say Mexican sage, the one with felty leaves, white stems and long purple spikes?
(One leucantha bloom in front of some S. blepharophylla ("eyelash sage").)
Yep, that's the one! Those velvety calyxes are gorgeous! and fun to touch!
How cool is that..never seen that one!!
Seems like the one I had had the same royal purple velvet calyxes, but the flowers emerging from them were white, so striking! I'm pretty sure it was a different variety of the same species.
Mmm, yes, I've heard of different cultivars - that one sounds stunning.
I'll tell you a little bit about mine, and maybe that will help you.
The one you see was growing in Phoenix. If I remember correctly, they didn't bloom in the heat of summer (not much did, with temps usually above 110 in the daytime). It got the blasting Arizona sun only until about 1:00 in the afternoon. I remember getting mad about it being so thirsty - it wasn't drought tolerant there, but that should mean that it can take a fair amount of water. It was also growing in non-amended soil, which means that it was very low in pH, high in calcium, low in organic material.
Hope that gives you some ideas. Good luck!
how about salvia patens
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/59612/
I have salvia patens that I grew last year from seed purchased from Parks. It doesn't flower prolifically but the blue is gorgeous. I dug up tubers and they have been kept all winter in a pot in my garage. It is looking good and I hope it will continue to grow when I plant it out.
I noted that PF says it does not set seed so I'm wondering how I got seeds but maybe commercial growers are able to get them.????
There is a forum full of others devoted to this species. Agastache and Salvias..several real experts on these. I never new there were so many either! If you have a question, they have the answers( or no one knows it)
Indynannyof8,
just take soft wood cuttings early in the spring to propagate or dig up and seperate the plant. I have done both and it works quite well... Good Luck
Yes lusarytole that is basically what I did. I have them in a pot and will set out when it gets warm enough. Is that a picture of yours? Beautiful.... I hope mine will bloom more this year. One thing I may have not had them in enough sun. Think I will move them to a much sunnier location. I have one bed that never gets shade. That should be the place for them don't you think.
Those are mine a year after I seperated them... I have them in a nice sunny bed...
They are a fabulous color.
Those are gorgeous!!