Today's Salvias of the Day is Mexican Sage (Salvia mexicana 'Limelight').

This plant can be found in the ATP Plant Database at:
Mexican Sage (Salvia mexicana 'Limelight') .

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Mexican Sage (Salvia mexicana 'Limelight')

I like this salvia so much that I have five of them in various parts of my garden -- 3 in the sun and 2 in part-shade. They are huge plants and the color combination is stunning when they're in bloom.

Unfortunately, however, this is the worst water-hog in my garden. I literally have to water it every day, and I mean deep watering. If I skip a day, it starts drooping and looking lifeless. The amount of sun or shade doesn't have any effect on its voracious need for frequent watering. If we continue to suffer from drought in my state and we have to intensify our water conservation efforts, I'll have to give up on this plant.

Incidentally, all of my S. coerulea cultivars melted away long ago. Even daily watering couldn't save them. The only salvias that have proved to be drought tolerant in my garden are the S. elegans, S. greggii, and S. microphylla varieties (and the Wendy's Wish and Ember's Wish hybrids).

Thanks for the great info. I have a bit of a dilemma here in Houston. We have wet winters, but also have dry spells, with high temps in the summer. This makes it more difficult to chose one. Moisture loving or drought tolerant?

@Zuzu

Thanks for sharing your experience. Maybe you could use your post as a comment in the plant files, so others could learn from your experience.

I tried growing it one year in 24 inch mixed container of other salvias. Never grew well at all. I just had some leaves. After reading your post, I'm realizing why it didn't grow well. I've thought about growing it again, but next time, it is going to grow in its own container with no other plants and make sure it gets lots of water. Hopefully, it will bloom before our frost/freeze.

@SALL20

You probably know about this one..... what about growing Salvia farinacea 'Henry Duelberg'? or Salvia farinacea 'Augusta Duelberg'? I know they like it dry. I don't know about how they'll do in your winters, but it was discovered in a dusty graveyard halfway between Houston and Austin by Texas conservationist and horticulturist Greg Grant.

Maybe @FBTS could chime in and help you. On his site, he does list http://www.fbts.com/texas-nati... that you could check out.

Thanks Marilyn. Since I lived in Nacogdoches for 16 years, I'm very familiar with Greg Grant. Love his blogs and books. Have even met him a couple of times, when attending a few of his lectures. I'll check out those salvias you mentioned. One of the hardest things to me about moving to a new place is getting to know the new garden and finding new nurseries. But it is fun too. New adventures!