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, SUMMER OF 2007
In the September 2006 Newsletter, I started by saying: "It has not been a normal summer this year".
Neither has summer of 2007! A complete contrast to last year. We had a mild winter, and the sunniest, warmest April on record. This encouraged
the winter-dormant Salvias to sprout exceptionally early, and thoughts of a late frost were not far from my mind. Thankfully this did not happen.
May was fairly mild but not very sunny. Then it rained for two months! June and July were exceptionally wet, and there were widespread and damaging floods.
Luckily I live on a slope, so there was no major damage to my garden.
The majority of residents in the UK were depressed and bad-tempered about the weather, but many Salvias were ecstatic. The early sprouting species,
such as S. atrcocyanea, all forms of S. guaranitica, S. involucrata, S. darcyi, S. uliginosa, and S. 'Indigo Spires' grew extremely well, and were all
flowering earlier than usual. Some species had to be cut back to avoid the appearance of a jungle. The large forms of S. splendens have been magnificent
this year, enjoying the cool, cloudy conditions. I grow these from seed each year, and was annoyed to find that S. splendens 'Peach' had reverted to having
scarlet flowers, which upset the intended colour combination. Salvia oxyphora seems to be unaffected by whatever the weather throws at it.
My garden - August 2007
Click picture to view larger
Salvia madrensis can be difficult here, as it usually is just about to flower when the frosts arrive. Well, this year it had its first flowers at the end
of August! This is delightful. I reckon that the continuous, dull weather confused it into thinking that the days were shortening, and that it was October.
Although the S. greggii and S. microphylla types are known to be drought-tolerant, they seem to have enjoyed all the rain immensely. They are more lush
than ever, millions of flowers, and have not drooped as they did in last year's heatwave. A spectacular new cultivar has been called S. 'Peter Vidgeon'.
It is a brilliant, steely, vibrant, pale lavender, and is a good, compact plant. This will probably take-off in a big way.
The lack of sun did, however, affect some species which have grown well, but are still refusing to flower. These include S. gilliesii, S. haenkei, and S. regla.
Hopefully they will pick up soon. It is the end of August, and rather cool. We are hoping for an Indian summer in September.
There were a few casualties. Some of the Turkish and Middle Eastern species just drowned or got washed away. Luckily I kept the delightful S. albimaculata
indoors, along with a couple of Californian Salvias. S. hydrangea died in the winter, and I have not been able to replace it yet. I never saw it flower.
Salvia dombeyi flowered very early this year, then almost got killed by spider-mite.
The Chinese Salvias have generally been good this year, with the exception of S. castanea and S. digitaloides, which did not flower. Probably my imagination,
but these seem to flower in alternate years, I do not know why.
My garden - August 2007
Click picture to view larger
I can comment on a couple of new Salvias which I mentioned last year. S. chienii has been delightful, and flowered for 2 months in early summer. It is like a
small, compact form of S. plectranthoides, white flowers, red foliage, and vastly superior. Of the winter-flowering species, last winter's highlight was the
Peruvian S. heerii. This has to be one of the best short-day Salvias I have grown. Masses of large, scarlet flowers which lit up the greenhouse. I had also
mentioned a new Salvia from Ecuador, with purple colouration on the underside of the foliage. This has turned out to be a different form of S. macrophylla.
The flowers seem identical, but the bud formation is completely different. When I asked if this really could be a macrophylla, I was told that it is a very
variable form, and that there are black cats, and ginger cats, but they are all cats! One way of explaining it, I suppose? I have decided that I don't
particularly care for this Salvia (or cat) as it has grown very large, and there are never many flowers at any one time. I also placed it badly in the garden.
Last November, there was an expedition to Mexico, to hunt for Salvias. Many seeds were collected, and I was kindly sent some. Germination has been excellent,
and a couple flowered within 3-4 months of sowing. A very pretty one is probably S. curviflora (not to be confused with S. curtiflora), and another which may
either be S. oaxacana or S. stolonifera. This sprawls, but has huge, dull orange flowers.
A new form of Salvia patens was introduced at the Chelsea Flower Show last year It is called 'Dot's Delight'. It is almost as vigourous S. patens 'Guanajuato',
and it is blue and white. Very appealing, but it appears to be sterile. It has probably crossed with 'Guanajuato'. The leaves are ivy-shaped.
Whilst I wish for some long-awaited sunshine in the UK, I sincerely wish that the drought-stricken areas of Australia will receive some long-awaited rain soon.
Greetings to all, Robin Middleton.
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