Clint, sorry those plants didn't work out. I have never had any luck with Knock Out roses. I love amsonia, but only the Blue Ice cultivar. It has a fairly short bloom period but the foliage always looks good. I found hubrichtii to be very floppy. I just took out a couple baptisias...not because I didn't like the look, but because after bloom they expand in width so much. Let me tell you, it is a job to dig them out! The only brunnera that really works for me is Emerald Mist. All the others fade away over time, or perhaps they are just short-lived.

Amsonia 'Blue Ice' is awesome! Love that plant!

Jeanie - digging out Baptisia is more than a workout at any gym. I only dig from the front and sides to make it easier on myself.

I wonder if round Up would kill them. I regret planting them. I had no idea the bloom period was so short and that they got so huge.

I don't know if Roundup would work. I would imagine so since it seems to kill everything. I actually think baptisias are nice...bloom period is short, but the foliage looks good all the time. They are big though.
Arlene, I actually used an axe and hacksaw and dug out pieces at a time. Some of the deep roots are still in the ground so they may come back...

I have only 1 NOID blue baptisia that I enjoy very much for it's blue green leaves, even after the blooms fade. Because it does tend to splay in the middle during the summer, I cut mine back to a managable size to avoid that and give it plenty of room. It needs to be treated as a large shrub (up to 4 ft.) that dies down after frost, not as a small or medium herbaceous perennial, as planting info will have one believe. Can anyone tell me if it can be divided successfully? I heard that it has a taproot and divisions don't survive.

Deborah, I have divided mine several times. The divisions will wilt and look unhappy for awhile, but then recover and start to grow. Haven't lost any yet. The two I dug up recently are in multiple pieces and will go in our neighborhood plant sale next Saturday.

our Black and Blue Salvias didn't some back this year. we tried to protect them as best we could but to no avail. they did SUPER for us last year so we bought three more this year just for the hell of it!

Thanks, Jeanie. That's good to know. I've had several people ask about divisions. They look like they should also be easy to root from stem cuttings. I'll have to try that too.

Clint, Thanks for the tip on Amsonia. I do have luck with Jack Frost. Dont know why as GF whines about hers all the time.
Baptisia is a border plant for me. We are not allowed fences in this hood so big bushy plants define the borders.
I agree about short bloom time and continued spreading. I reign mine in with metal garden fence section from HD.
When July comes I also trim back the stems that interfere with Lilies planted in front of the plant.

riverman123 said:our Black and Blue Salvias didn't some back this year. we tried to protect them as best we could but to no avail. they did SUPER for us last year so we bought three more this year just for the hell of it!

They make nice fat tubers like dahlias, Jason, so if you want to save them you can lift after the first frosts and store them in the same manner as any other tender bulb. Mine all survived just fine in a bucket of dry vermiculite stored in a cool and dark place that doesn't freeze.

Jeanie - I've had to use an axe on a hosta but not with baptisias...yet. Last year I pruned it back by a foot around July, at ground level, to keep it from flopping on the lawn. That may be an annual event unless I can get more of it removed. It's huge and over 20 years old now.

Deebie - new divisions, taken from the edge of the base, will grow. I've done it.

Jason - the salvia is worth buying if it doesn't come back!

Thanks, Chelle! I'd never have known that fact unless you mentioned it.

You're welcome.

I had no idea either, but dug them up at the end of last season...and lo and behold...they make tubers! Yay!

Amazing! Thanks so much.

Jason, in zone 8b 'Black and Blue' Salvia should return for you without any special care. You may want to give them a little more time. I've noticed that in areas where I've mulched well they are really slow to show in spring. If they are goners, then I would suspect bad drainage issues or rodent predation more than cold damage. We have pine voles here and they like to eat all sorts of tasty tubers. Salvia guaranitica will often grow near stream banks in its native haunts so it likes more moisture than some Salvias, but, still, excess water during a long, cold winter can be a fatal combination. Also, they don't always pop back up in the same exact spot that they were the previous year. They tend to spread, like an edible mint plant, and can return a foot or more away from the original plant, so look around for the sprouts pushing up.

An FYI, for anyone storing the tubers... The tubers are just storage organs and don't actually contain any "eyes" or nodes for stem growth. You have to be sure to retain the stolons that are connected to the tubers because that it is from where the growth will emanate. If you plant just a tuber with no stolons, it will just rot.

I just left each tuber clump as a mass and replanted them that way. They were already sprouting, so it was really easy. I may get brave and try splitting them up this year.

I had also in that bucket some little guys that looked for all the world like tiny seedlings, so I planted them, too. Any ideas on that, Danita? Do these actually set viable seed?

Chelle,
'Black and Blue' does set viable seed but in low numbers. They set so few and they fall out of the calyx so quickly after they ripen that it's hard to collect many. Salvia guaranitica seeds can also be hard to germinate for some reason. Usually, a few will pop right up and the others will just sit there doing nothing. Even "the experts" have issues with them. So, it is possible that you have Salvia guaranitica seedlings. However, you could also have seedlings of a more prolific seed-setter, like Salvia coccinea, coming up in the bucket. I've been duped by that before.

If you do have Salvia guaranitica seedlings they will no longer be 'Black and Blue', technically, even if they look very similar. From what I've read, they often favor their parent but can show some variability.

we already bought replacement Black and Blues. which is not a problem at all. they did SUPER DUPER for us last year so we were excited to replace them. the ones in the ground from last year have shown no signs of life so far. again, that's ok. but we may try overwintering these new ones once fall rolls around. thanks for the tip, Chelle


Danita - your assement of the "long, cold, wet winters" doing damage...? yep, that's us. we get cool/cold rain here in Gold Bar about 9/10 months a year. you can imagine how many plants we lose each year due to root rot issues...

Thanks for the info, Danita. If they survive the transplant I'll try to get pictures to post on the Salvia Forum. Leaves are long and slender, blue-gray and fuzzy...quite pretty little seedlings at any rate.

You're welcome, and best of luck to you, Jason.

@foraygardengirl Jeanie where did you get your brunnera Emerald Mist? I looked it up and it is telling me get me, get me. I had been thinking of trying some and since this one will last here in our climate it seems to be the perfect choice.