salvia wishes collection overwintering help

hi
This is my first year growing salvias. I have read a few articles that say I would be fine leaving them outside if I mulched them. I wonder if this is true for the Leeds area of the UK. Also, is this the same for Salvia Amistad?

 

Depends on which salvias you've got. Some are very hardy others require a frost free greenhouse.
Down here I take cuttings of Amistad or put the pot in the greenhouse, I take cuttings of S involuctra and S confertifolia. S guaranitica "Black and Blue" has lived outside for the past 10 years, but sometimes doesn't reappear above ground until June. S vitifolia, S corrugata, S minata and S blepharophylla tend to come through in an unheated greenhouse. I find S atrocyanea, the various S microphylla and S greggi to be hardy with good drainage.
I've had mixed success with S stolonifera this year it took until mid Seotember to appear and shows no sign of flowering, might lift a bit and pot up for the greenhouse.
Sometimes I find it's the winter wet rather than the cold is the problem also in spring I have to keep an eye on slugs and snails munching the new shoots and that's why Amistad lives in a pot.

 

I see you refer to Salvia wishes collection in the title, I haven't grown any of this series; from what I can see they should be hardy in a mild area with a thick mulch (note mulch makes a good shelter for slugs)
In a colder spot (like Leeds) the advice is to lift and overwinter in pots, frost free and fairly dry until growth appears in spring.

 

Thanks for the reply.
I'm thinking of mulching half lifting the other half and potting up to hedge my bets. And see what happens.

 

I had no luck in overwintering Wendy's Wish here in Gloucestershire. Unlike the greggii types, the slightest hint of winter wet and that was the end of it. Personally I would lift it and overwinter in a coldframe or similar if you can .

 

I had no luck in overwintering Wendy's Wish here in Gloucestershire. Unlike the greggii types, the slightest hint of winter wet and that was the end of it. Personally I would lift it and overwinter in a coldframe or similar if you can .

 

Wendy's Wish is one of the few that I have lost over winter here (Doncaster, so not that far from Leeds, but possibly a bit less rain because we're further east). I haven't tried any of the other "Wish" ones.

Amistad, on the other hand, has been pretty reliable both in the ground and in pots pushed up against the house wall for winter. I do have free-draining sandy soil, which helps because they're not sitting in waterlogged soil even if it does rain a lot.

A mulch won't hurt if it's something dry like a pile of dead leaves, or straw. I don't think I'd put anything that holds much water over the crowns.

 

Wendy's Wish and Love and Wishes aren't hardy in my garden in SW France but Amistad and Black and Blue have survived 2 winters.

 

I think I read somewhere that some of the "Wish" series were bred (or discovered?) in Australia. It's possible that they're more hardy there.

 

I have a Hot Lip plant in my flower bed that lives happily there all year and have just taken my hedge cutter to it which I do every year at this time.

 

No salvias in the ground here as they get munched to oblivion. Amistad in a pot, under an overhang to avoid the worst of the winter wet, will last 2-3 yrs. Salvia Oceana is doing better and seems a bit more robust. Time will tell.