The notes suggest rabbit resistant. Here on Cape Cod, the zillions of rabbits will gnaw on everything and they eat my sage. I assume its rabbits as the stems are cut in way that looks like someone took a knife to it at 45 deg, nice and clean. Then last year they started on my roses. And not just the newer shoots. Didn't go after the older woody stalks but chomped off some 1/4 inch stems. But of course didn't eat those. Uuuugh...I hate rabbits.
Zone 8B--It's growing in a pot under a tree that provides heavy shade. I bought it mid-summer in a one gallon pot. It now fills a 25 gallon pot with trailers almost to the ground. No problems with pests or disease. In mostly shade it blooms regularly but not profusely. The leaves are attractive too. Right now it's early November and we have had a couple light freezes. It's still happy and has a couple blooms and some buds. The buds are a medium violet. We had a very hot, dry summer so it received regular watering. Next season I will plant it in our yard, which is extremely rocky and dry, and see how it does there.
This plant, found in northern Baja California (among other areas), is being removed from habitat in vast quantities and sold for its supposed health benefits, some of which involve burning the leaves. The vast majority of white salvia on the market here is obtained illegally, and its extraction causes massive and lasting harm to habitat.
Salvia blanca can be grown in cultivation without much trouble in its native climate, and the few people who have invested into this mode of production deserve support. Shun any seller who cannot say in some reasonably verifiable way that their product came from cultivated plants.
This Salvia starts blooming in early May in my zone 7b North Georgia garden. The blooms during the cooler seasons of spring and fall are prolific and bi-colored red and white. During the hot summer, the flowers turn solid red and there are fewer blooms. The plant goes dormant in the winter.
Rockin' Deep Purple does produced the occasional seed/seedling. Seedlings I have found so far have had dark purple, pink or light blue almost white blooms. While all these colors are in the Rockin' series, they are not exact matches to the original blooms or plants. But for the price of one Deep Purple and a couple years, I have two new colors.
One of my favorite Salvias. I've had them for years and the flowers are incredibly blue and while the plant is sterile it is not without nectar, they are highly attractive to large native bumblebees and hummingbirds.
It can tolerate humid heat unlike many other closely related blue Salvia species (eg S patens) however it needs correct siting.
In FL, a trick is to place it in an area under a tree where St. Augustine lawn grass does not need irrigation. They like moist soil with decent humus layer such as that found under thin-leaved deciduous trees. My most impressive ones are beneath a neighbors Crape Myrtle. They regularly form roots on their stems like tomatoes which makes propagation easy.
Foliage is a pebbled apple green and complements the glossy dark green of many shade plants (eg red star anise and camellia). Flowers look great with firebush too.
White Sage grows natively in the Black Hills, and is very invasive. We have to keep on top of it in our gardens (as well as the dill), otherwise it will spread to the point of being a real chore to get rid of.
Mystic Spires thrives in my zone 7b North Georgia Mountains garden. It has wintered over for 3 years in a row, with temps down to 12 degrees. It blooms continuously from June to October, with no deadheading. It mixes well with coleus for summer-long color.
As with many plants which successfully grow in my northern cold-climate gardens, Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia 'Blue Jean Baby') is noted as hardy to zone 4. It's growing well in zone 3b for me, perhaps due to the fact that I mulch nearly everything... or due to the heavy snow cover we have for more than five months of most years. In any case, very hardy plant despite its ethereal appearance. It is extremely low-care and, once established, drought-tolerant.
Salvia is a versatile darling of the flower garden. There are many annual and perennial varieties and one of the most colorful and easiest to grow is mealy cup sage or Salvia farinacea. A new award-winning selection boasts even more colorful blossoms and a longer bloom time.
'Fairy Queen' sage (S. farinacea 'Fairy Queen') won the 2008 Fleuroselect Gold Medal for its long-blooming, fragrant, bicolor blossoms and drought tolerance. Fleuroselect is an international organization promoting ornamental plants. Each year it awards its Fleuroselect Gold Medal to outstanding new plant selections.
'Fairy Queen's 18-inch-tall plants produce 10-inch-high flower spikes that feature dark blue blooms with white dots on each blossom. 'Fairy Queen' grows well in containers, flower borders, and cottage gardens. The plants begin flowering in early summer and continue into the fall, attracting butterflies and bees over a long season. This plant is perennial in USDA zones 8 to 10, and grows well as an annual everywhere else.
You can grow it just about anywhere in the United States, so it's available in garden centers or from mail-order nurseries nationwide.
Perovskia was named by the Russian botanist Karelin about 1840 to honor a Turkestani statesman, B.A. Perovski. He was governor of Orenburg, a Russian city 1,500 miles northwest of the plant's native region. These are its only links to Russia. The species is native to the steppes of Afghanistan, so might more accurately be known as Afghan sage. The plant is called sage for its relation to the culinary sages. A member of the mint family, it shares the squared stems and aromatic qualities of its cousins.
Woody stems are silver and leaves are grayish, 1 inch long and slightly toothed. Height is nearly 4 feet. Flowers are small, light blue to lavender, and arranged in whorls along the stem. Flowering spikes are 12 inches long or more.
Depending upon your climate, flowering begins in late spring or midsummer. Perovskia often continues to bloom through September and until a hard frost.
Russian sage is one of the most heat and drought-resistant perennials available. Cold hardy to nearly -40 °F, it grows in USDA hardiness zones 3 through 10.
Mike Heger of Ambergate Gardens, Waconia, Minnesota (zone 4), treats Russian sage like an herbaceous perennial that dies back in winter. I live in central Pennsylvania (zone 5) and my plants die back to the ground, too. In zones 9 and 10, Russian sage grows well but is more like an annual or biennial. Plants usually die within two years, but might reappear from seedlings or root suckers, according to Randy Baldwin, San Marcos Growers, Santa Barbara, California (zone 10). He adds that supplemental summer water seems to enhance longevity.
Perovskia loves heat, so generally performs best in areas with warm summers, even if humidity is high. Some shade is okay, but too much makes plants sprawl. Soil should be neutral to alkaline. Poor drainage, especially in winter, is deadly.
There are seven species of Russian sage, but only a few are available. Perovskia atriplicifolia is most common. The one currently sold in the U.S., however, is likely a hybrid between P. atriplicifolia and P. abrotanoides and is nearly identical with the variety 'Blue Spire'. The first to flower in spring is 'Blue Mist', which, along with 'Blue Haze', has lighter blue flowers than the species. 'Blue Spire' has deep purple flowers and larger panicles. Lavender-blue 'Longin' has stiff upright stems and a more formal appearance than the species. 'Filigrin' is a compact variety with deeply cut foliage and bright blue flowers.
Modest amounts of supplemental water are necessary in hot and dry climates. Cut old stems back to the ground once a year in spring before new growth begins. In coldest climates, leave stems standing in winter to trap snow for a deeper mulch.
Perovskia's open growth and light blue flowers combine nicely with many other plants. Use it for a large-scale ground cover, as a filler in borders and to separate more dominant colors. One striking companion is white-flowered phlox. Perovskia also combines well with coreopsis, English lavender, and gloriosa daisy.
I have become a fan of salvias due to this cultivar, 'Hot Lips' - and also its ability to woo me to propagate it from cuttings to save it from harsh winters in Michigan. Its luscious scent makes it so worth it. Catching a whiff in the frosty winter is a treat!
I grow coral nymph salvia from seeds, but 'Hot Lips' seems to not produce seeds, so cuttings work fine.
I just came upon a good and large specimen of this tropical perennial from Mexico and Central America, often in pine woods in the mountains, in October 2021 still in full bloom, being used as an annual flower in southeast Pennsylvania. This "Greenwood' cultivar has light purple flowers with more white color showing than the mother species or some other cultivars. This species is much better known in the southwestern USA where it can be a perennial or an annual, depending on the zone. However, I did finally see this Mexican Bush Sage in southeast PA (Zone 6b) with this 'Greenwood' specimen, and last year I saw a number of potted plants of the "Santa Barbara' cultivar being sold at a nursery in northern Delaware (Zone 7a), also as annuals. It is hardy up to USDA Zone 8a, but it might survive a mild winter in a good warm spot with mulching farther north in Zones 6 or 7. Otherwise, it makes a great annual even if it must be replaced each year.
The species of Blackcurrant Sage is native to southeast Arizona and the mountains of Mexico, where it is an evergreen small shrub. It makes a great herbaceous annual up in the northern US or other northern climates. This 'Hot Lips' probably is the most common cultivar grown as an annual, though most garden centers in the northern USA do not carry it; only some conventional nurseries or garden centers that are large, diverse, very knowledgeable, and carrying a big supply of annuals.
I planted Radio Red mid-April in full sun. The flowers emerged dark red and immediately bleached to white by the end of their first day. Relocated to a pot and determined that it needed half-day afternoon shade to avoid bleaching. In late summer and early fall it maintained rich, deep red coloration with some mid-day shade. Our high-altitude June-July sun is quite intense, but I have never seen another Salvia bleach like this.
At last, I found a cultivar of the Scarlet Sage that is not a dwarf being sold at a garden center in 2021! The best size for this Salvia splendens species is one that gets about 18 to 24 inches high, and to 36 inches high, which used to be the most types from the 1950's through the 1990's. Unfortunately, the cultivars that are too short of only being 10 to 14 inches high have been somehow popular during the last decade and a little more. I don't know why. Some of the new cultivars have something different with their flowers that are not so attractive to pollinators. The 'Saucy Red' that has some rosy color in the red is attractive to hummingbirds, like the older larger cultivars.
Kermit Carter of Flowers By The Sea introduced this new beautiful salvia. For sale for the 2021 season. FBTS sells, grows, and specializes in salvias. FBTS is located in Elk, CA.
I have been growing this annual salvia since 2000, and it has re seeded reliably ever since. Although the data base entry states that it may not come true from re seeding, I have find it to be exactly the same as the original plant I planted in 2000. I have given away hundreds of seedlings, making this a top pass along plant. It takes heat and humidity with ease, and once established is fairly drought resistant. As long as it is kept dead headed, it will bloom until a hard frost takes it down in the late fall or winter. This is a very valuable plant for anyone wanting to attract butterflies or bees to their garden.
I would not have known this species of perennial flower unless I found a few tags in the pots of plants being sold at a northern Delaware nursery in USDA Zone 7a. This species is usually noted being cold hardy to Zone 8 or 9 depending on the source, except for one that noted Zone 7. It is native to tropical and subtropical pine forests in central and eastern Mexico. This cultivar of 'Santa Barbara' was found in a garden in the Californian city and it is more compact growing than the mother species. The foliage is evergreen in warmer climates. I am not sure if it stays that way up in Zone 7. Its roots and crown probably survive in Zone 7, unless the nursery is selling it as an annual. One is supposed to cut the plant down in early spring. it is a good-looking forb.
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