SUPER SALVIAS -2017

Now is good.....I take cuttings from salvias up till the autumn but the best are taken in June, July and August
Easy......any new shoots about 2" or 3" long without flower buds. You can use hormone powder etc but salvias respond well in a mixture of mpc and perlite.
Look too for anything that may have rooted by self layering and you can pot these up.

 

I have one of the patens & black & bloom in my sights to take me through the rest of Summer & early Autumn. :rasp:

 

Mark, although they survive well enough down here I always take cuttings to ensure continuity of my salvias :rasp:

 

Salvia greggii "Blue Note"...............
Salvia greggii "Blue Note" by longk48, on Flickr

The latest of my seed grown S.dolichantha to bloom.............
Salvia x dolichantha by longk48, on Flickr

As you can see there has clearly been some hybridisation taking place (my guess is that it was S.forrskoallii) and it has resulted in a poor bloom. Not a keeper.

 

Sorry peeps but I forgot to write the names down, I'll name them tomorrow .

 

Salvia arizonica

Salvia ?

 

S.greggii "Blue Note" maybe? Job to say without seeing the rest of the plant.

 

1) Blue Note
2) ? ? ?
3) Senorita Leah
4) Peter Vidgeon
5) Icing Sugar
6) Hot Lips
7) Nachtvlinder

 

I just bought myself a Black and Bloom Salvia from Hampton Court FS. Had a look at the Dyson's Salvia stand that was featured on telly last night but nothing there took my fancy.

 

I purchased Black and Blue & then Salvia patens from William at Dyson's but was a little underwhelmed with the variety, mostly shrubby salvias. However, he's said he'll have different stock for Wisley Flower Show.

 

Thats a shame Mark......the shrubby salvias to me arent as impressive as the taller herbaceous varieties

 

I've grown Black and Blue for years and last year I bought a very large Black and Bloom and planted it next to Black and Blue. The blurb said better foliage and larger flowers which in all fairness is true so the idea was to discard the poorer plant at the end of this summer. The reality this spring was that Black and Blue came back earlier and grew far stronger. So much so that by mid May I'd had enough of it and it was gone. Obviously in milder parts of the country it will do better but that was my experience.

There are some outstanding shrubby Salvia though. Nachtvlinder is a mega performer, pink blush even better. Even here both will bloom prolifically from late April/early May through to the frosts.Raspberry Royale, Blue Note and Royal Bumble are also long blooming and quality plants. Possibly the real strength of the shrubbies is the aromatic foliage.

 

Oh yes, I agree longk Blue Note, Violin Music and some shrubby salvias are excellent but there are now sooooooo many of them. I once grew a whole bunch of shrubby ones from white to cream to purple....they bred a lot of Cornish varieties down here too. The herbaceous ones though, to me, have a whole lot more impact. However the shrubbies are hardier in most places so very worthwhile.
For scented foliage look no further than Elegantissima or check out the agastaches; these have amazing aromas .......coconut to citrus and others. I can tell the different varieties by smelling the foliage....useful if you lose the labels over winter as I often do

 

Salvia glutinosa............
Salvia glutinosa by longk48, on Flickr