Here's how I overwinter my Black'n Bloom Salvia:

I leave them out in the garden for as long as possible after the killing frost. Usually I have leaves over the plants, so uncovered ground might actually be frozen over an inch deep before I dig, but the plants aren't frozen yet. I dig up about 5 plants because I usually lose a couple over the winter. Then I throw them in a tub or a big nursery pot and I put them in the garage or basement. I let them sit dormant until around New Year and then I pot them up individually.

I have a cool, south-facing window in the attic, and that's where they go first. The cool temps really help them not to get leggy. As soon as it's warm enough, I try to get them in the greenhouse. Here are the two plants I've got growing this year:






Tonight I took cuttings from those donor plants and I got 13 pretty good ones. I think I'll be able to take a few more cuttings in about 3 weeks because I'm sure there will be some duds.







The fastest growing cuttings will probably need to be potted up once before it's time to put them out around Memorial Day. This strategy worked out really well for me last year. I think I had 16 plants to put out, and I gave my Mom 3. They looked really nice, but the hummingbird action wasn't great, which is unfortunate because that's why I grow them.

(Reposting here in case the other thread is deleted)

I don't have any place I can keep them indoors, but I experimented with one salvia in the basement this year, so I'll see if that wakes up once it gets warmer. I love your rows of flowers, that's a very pretty combination.

It took several years of growing salvias before I got to the point of having hummingbirds daily, so just keep growing what they want. I used to get them just during spring and fall migration at first, but now they stick around all summer. I also found that having several different types and colors of flowers worked best. Wendy's Wish is a big hit with my hummers, the Skyscraper series of salvia, and Purple & Bloom. And not a salvia, but Cuphea Vermillionaire is always one of their favorites along with the red flowers of Cardinal Climber.

The other thing that helped a lot was having the plants out very early to catch the early males migrating. For me that's by May 1st. I had bought some early one warmer-than-usual spring and just had them sitting on the patio still in their small pots and noticed the male hummingbirds were coming to them. Since I've been doing that is when they started sticking around and I now have them daily.

Thanks for the tips about the hummingbirds, @Murky. I'll look up that Cuphea Vermillionaire. I've never grown that before.

I was getting returning hummingbirds until a couple years ago when they came too early and I think a late, long cold snap may have trapped them too far from a food supply. Last spring I put a feeder out early in the year, and I did get one male to stop. I only saw him once though. I did get a couple females that moved into my place last year in late July or early August. They didn't know me and were kind of dumb and afraid. They did like my Salvias, but unlike the previous hummers, they liked my honeysuckle bush better. Overall, the Black n Bloom Salvia is their very favorite, even preferred over red ones.

I swear that various hummers have their own favorite flowers and colors. Several of mine seem to prefer yellow, yellow anything. I hung a bright yellow thistle feeder from my window one year, and within 10 minutes I had a hummingbird hovering around it checking it out. Once they get used to coming around for their favorites, they'll eventually start feeding from the others too. So I try to keep a good variety of flowers and colors now to attract them. They're worth the hassles, I love seeing them every summer.