An occasional report on all things Salvia !!!
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My previous reports are stored HERE
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Starting with that all important thing - the weather !!
SALVIAS IN THE UK, 2005
August 2005
This has not been the easiest year for growing Salvias in the UK. I could blame myself, but I really do have to blame
the English weather. We have had an extraordinary summer, so far, everything has been in fits and starts! For example,
after a reasonably mild May, with enough rainfall, we had three days of exceptionally high temperatures in the high 80s,
then two weeks of very cool days, with hardly any sunshine.
I feel that this weather indicated to the Autumn flowering species that daylight was diminishing, and encouraged them to
start flowering much earlier than normal. This has been
a very pleasant surprise with species such as S. gilliesii and S. 'Costa Rican Blue' which normally do not flower until
September. Conversely, my favourite Salvia of all, S. dombeyi, had lots of buds, and they have all aborted. Usually,
this great species flowers best in Sept/Oct. under glass, having been sprayed with insect-repellant.
We have had quite a lot of rain this last week, and temperatures in the high 60s or low 70s. This has spared me from
watering everything 2 hours each day! But, we have had gusty winds, which is a major annoyance for any gardener. Due
to lack of space, I am obliged to grow many of my large Salvias in huge pots or tubs. This afternoon, my 5 ft. tall S.
splendens. 'Peach', along with a tub of Sweet Peas, collapsed onto pots of smaller Salvias and broke most of the stems.
My language was interesting, and my neighbours were interested to know what the hell was wrong!
For me, lack of rain is annoying, as is frost, too much direct sun ...yes this does happen here...occasionally...but I
get thoroughly bad-tempered with strong winds. Salvias can be so brittle....and so can I!!!
Robin
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