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 !!
September 2005
September has arrived with a heatwave, and last night a thunderstorm deposited nearly an inch of rain in my garden,
which was most welcome. Although Autumn is just around the corner, September and October are the best months for Salvias here.
I am including 4 pictures of my garden taken on 4th September, and the mass of late-summer colour can be seen.
It is evident that I do not only grow Salvias, you may notice Canna, Ipomoea, Gaura, and Nicotiana mutabilis. I cannot
imagine being without the Nicotiana. (Maybe one day, the correct name of this plant will be found, mutabilis not being
botanically correct.) Unlike most Nicotianas, this one does not droop in hot sunshine, and will flower from June until November.
Red, pink, and white flowers all occur on the same plant. There are, however, two problems with this Tobacco Plant. When it
gets rained on, it stinks! Once dry again, the flowers emit a gentle fragrance. The other problem is that each plant will drop
millions of seed, which will germinate all over the place. Easy to pull them up where they are not required, but this can be
time-consuming.
Back to Salvias! I have been overwhelmed at the feedback from my website. Thanks to all who have emailed me with such positive
comments, also to those who would prefer it to be alphabetical or separated into geographical areas. Bear in mind that I am a
novice where computers are concerned, and that the site has been created by Stuart Hodgson, to whom I am immensely
indebted. Changes may occur, we will wait and see.
I am continually being asked when the next pages will be available. Currently, I only
have 3 Salvias in flower which have not yet been included. However, I am visiting California next week, and hope that Peter
and myself will be able to get good photos of many more Salvias to enable the creation of a couple more pages. We will be
visiting Ginny Hunt, Strybing, and Cabrillo College. Then we will just chill out for a few days....maybe Monterrey or Yosemite.
There has been both pleasure and disappointment with Salvias this year. My Salvia friends around the UK have had similar
experiences. I will start with the negatives!
S. meyeri has proved to be totally hardy, also seeds around, but has become rather unruly. The flowers are a good colour,
pale blue with a white tinge on the lower lip, but there are never many on the plant at any one time.
The giant S. splendens has been very late to flower this year, although it has been treated in the same way as in previous
years. But it should provide pleasure for the next few weeks.
I was sincerely hoping to show pictures of the elusive Chinese S. evansiana this month. Masses of flower buds, which all
got eaten by earwigs!!! And I am sure I have the real evansiana!
S. albimaculata was fabulous when in flower.....but it died shortly afterwards. I collected some seed, but they have not
germinated. Some of the Turkish species are really difficult plants, even when grown in dry, gritty conditions.
S. regla has grown well but has refused to flower so far. Last year there were lots of beautiful, huge flowers, this year,
not one.
S. striata just grows too large for its own good, the flowers are stunning, but just two at any one time on a massive
sprawling shrub makes me swear at it!
S. corrugata, one of my favourites, is usually in full bloom by mid-August. This year it is only just showing signs of
flower-buds.
S. amarissima has gone a bit mad....plenty of flowers early morning...by mid-day they have all dropped off! Nice colour,
a bit like S. reptans which also tends to throw a strop at mid-day.
S. 'Van Houttei' has been decimated by capsid bugs this year. I doubt if I will get any flowers. Such a pity, as this is
a great plant. Capsid bug has also affected several other species, particularly S. guaranitica 'Argentine Skies', but
the flowers are looking good above the decimated foliage.
S. sagittata is flowering, but nothing like as well as it did last year. I still cannot grasp what conditions this Salvia
wants. I have tried it in shade and sun, and it is always temperamental. When in full flower, it is stunning, provided
something in front can mask the untidy foliage.
Now for the positives!!!
I am thrilled that after 4 years of bad luck, I have S. penstemonoides in full bloom. This is a superb species, quite unsuited
to our climate. This year I planted it in a raised border, which is very fast-draining. Now it is flowering really well.
Salvia 'Phyllis Fancy' is a gem! Better than 'Waverly'. Masses of flowers since last week. This is supposed to be hardier
than 'Waverly'...we will have to wait and see. I have rooted cuttings just in case.
One of the highlights of this year's Salvias has to be S. involucrata 'Joan', kindly received from Sue Templeton,
from Australia. I am convinced that this is a hybrid of involucrata x microphylla, but I could be wrong. This has been
in flower since early June, and just gets better! It is compact, just 3ft. x 3ft. and the whole plant is a mass of lovely,
pink flowers. So much better than S. 'Mulberry Jam' with which it has been compared.
S. darcyi is exceptional this year. It really does require some staking. It is so healthy and has produced huge stems with
gorgeous scarlet flowers. The plants all survived the winter outside.
S. atrocyanea has gone berserk...my old plant (6 years outside) is now 7 ft. tall and still growing. I love the architectural
formation of this Salvia. Seems to have coped with the few very hot spells this year better than before.
As for going berserk.....S. stachydifolia is now 10 ft. tall! This is also hardy, I wonder if it is related closely to
S. meyeri? You can see this Salvia above my head on one of the pictures, where I was apparently inspecting S. gilliesii
for seed! By the way, S. gilliesii has become a lunatic, thinks it is a tree! I will have to seriously cut this back soon...
but the mass of pale blue flowers is incredible.
S. microphylla 'Hot Lips' is just great! OK, it goes white during mid-summer, but it is without doubt the purest white of
any Salvia. Now, bi-coloured flowers are re-appearing.
S. fulgens has been very good this year. I have experienced die-back problems with this in the past....a fungus possibly?
The huge, furry flowers are magnificent. Last year when I was in Holland, I purchased a plant named S. gesneriiflora 'Los
Azufres' and another named S. fulgens 'El Azufe'. Well, they are the same thing. To my way of thinking, this is a form of
S. fulgens, since it started to flower in mid-summer. Initially I was not impressed with this, but suddenly the compact
plant has masses of flowers, and although later-flowering than the species, it is something special. This has been shown
in a recent French book about Salvias 'Le monde des Sauges'.
Two other very rare Salvias which have excelled themselves this year are S. graciliramulosa and S. styphelus. Both are
compact plants with flowers much larger than one would expect. Neither are easy to grow, but a little TLC has paid dividends.
S. microphylla 'Robin's Pride' has been exceptionnal this year. Probably very similar to 'Huntington' in the USA. I had an
important visitor from the RHS Garden at Wisley, recently, who was really impressed with this plant. It will be on display
at Wisley next year. So, maybe I have achieved something at last!
S. dombeyi is always a very difficult Salvia, but we must persevere with this as it is undoubtedly one of the most spectacular
of all Salvias. Initially all the flower buds tend to abort here, but in early September, the huge flowers appear.
Such a straggly, ungainly plant...just tie the stems up on sticks...wait for it to flower..best usually in October,
and you will have the best Salvia flowers of all!
p.s. Just noticed a few new buds on S. evansiana....no earwigs in sight! I gave a cutting of this to a friend earlier this
year. She has had flowers...brilliant yellow...don't you just love it when your own plant gets eaten, and your friend's
plant flourishes?
Best wishes to all who read this,
Robin
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