Re: Salvia advice sought.

Glenn,

Betsy Clebsch(sp?) has a book out on Salvias which is a great reference book, as it has both pictures and geographic origins as well as her own experience with growing salvias.  The descriptions and blooming times I list are based on my cool maritime mediterranean , climate of Berkeley, California, where it rarely frosts but it also rarely gets hot either.

You have made it difficult in restricting this list to only 10 varieties, as there are probably 150 or more available in the trade these days in California.  I suggest this list as being some of my personal favorite salvias, and it tends to emphasize showy and long lasting bloom, with carry over into all year bloom as the characteristic which appeals to me, so here goes;

Salvia buchanii- screaming lipstick red/magenta flowers with very dark green glossy foliage, needs more water than many, shrub is very refined looking but is also very brittle and branches are easily broken around kids and animals.  Can remain in bloom all year

Salvia chiapensis- will take part shade, stays low and spreads, deep glossy green foliage, purplish pink flowers in bloom almost all year, which give a soft dappled color effect in the garden, also superb in pots. A cloud forest plant from Central America.

Salvia clevelandii- very sun and drought tolerant, beautiful scent to the foliage year round, flower spike is architectural/sculptural in effect, but fairly short bloom season for the blue to lavender flowers.  also many hybrids available.

Salvia greggii hybrids; Annie(Red), Cienega del Oro(pale yellow), San Ysidro Moon(pale peach-yellow), Sierra de San Antonio(coaral and pale yellow), all are almost ever blooming and very drought tolerant for sun or part shade, but can tend to be short lived and straggly unless cut back from time to time.

Salvia x 'Indigo Spires'- a 1 to 3 year short lived herbaceous shrub which is never out of bloom, and has beautiful and quite showy blue purple blooms, on a plant which gets to be 1 to 1.5 meters tall.  Best as a mid border or back of the border shrub, and cut back from time to time to force new growth

Salvia leucophylla 'Point Sal Spreader'- very large growing with beautiful whitish gray foliage and lavender flowers in midspring, another coastal chaparral plant in Southern California which gets to be 2 to 3 meters across by 1.5 to 2 meters tall.  Will take full sun to light shade and beach exposure.

Salvia madrensis- a winter bloomer with pure yellow flowers at the tops of 2 to 3 meter tall stems, great as a herbaceous shrub at the back of the border, will bloom simultaneously with Senecia tamoides.  The leaves are also showy, and very large and coarse in texture.

Salvia semi-atrata- another high elevation grower from Central America, with both interesting small foliage and beautiful two toned blue and purple flowers, which are small in size but do give a lot of color in the garden.  Tends to bloom all year long in waves.

Salvia uliginosa- a very blue flowering salvia which is less shrub like and more like a spreading herbaceous perennial, it blooms from mid spring through fall with clear sky blue flowers on 1.5 to 2 meter tall stems, and is more refined looking if it is cut back mid season to force bushiness.  Watch out, it spreads around in a well watered garden, and needs irrigation to look it's best.

Salvia wagneriana- another cloud forest salvia from Central America, which gets quite large, 2.5 to 3.5 meters tall, and blooms in winter with pink flowers with showy bracts.  This plant is frost sensitive, so we don't always get to see it bloom in Berkeley, California, but it is spectacular if you have the room to grow it.  Probably not a good choice where windy, as the stems will break and the large leaves will tear, but it blooms at the same time as the Tree Dahlia, Dahlia imperialis, and is almost of the same scale in a garden setting.

I'd be interested to hear which varieties are available in South Africa...

Regards,

David Feix, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Berkeley, California

Glenn Breayley <valhalla@iafrica.com> wrote:

Hi all

The Salvias are rather underused here in SA compared to elsewhere. I am
rather confused as to which ones to best go for though. Would anyone be
prepared to make any recommendations as to what would be the 10 best to try.
? I'm in a frostfree winter with about 550mm rain & hot, dry summer. Frost
hardiness is therefore not a factor, but wind damage is.
I have S.leucantha flowering magnificently at the moment & also grow the
S.involucrata, which does well for me, & the S.farinacea varieties, which I
find very prone to mildew & short lived.
Any recommendations appreciated.

Regards

Glenn Breayley. Ragnarok & Valhalla Research.
POBox 26158, Hout Bay, 7872, Capetown, South Africa
PhFax SA 021 7904253 E-mail valhalla@iafrica.com
Wholesale nurseryman & Tillandsia specialist wholesale & retail grower.


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