Ward:
I know what you mean. Most of mine plants are on my own
property.so I have some control but my neighbors behind me
throw some big parties. Well long story short is my Salvias get abused. If not mowed down by a car or someone who cannot walk a straight line.The trash and etc..get caught up in the plants. But it does give a testament to the abuse some of our Salvias can take in the urban environment.
Art

I noticed a couple of really nice new bi-colored greggii hybrids being offered by Plant Delights. They are listed as 7b possibly colder which is probably just Tony Avent being careful. My fingers are itching.

Yes, it is amazing how others will treat gardens. The only way I can do the public gardens is with help, and I have to be careful how I react for fear of being left on my own. This kind of shoddy work also makes me have to call in favors from those I rely on in the middle of winter. It is no time to be raking out mulch and otherwise disturbing vulnerable plants and the wonderful voluteers that make it all possible.

Isn't it amazing how some greggii can be run over by trucks in mid winter and still find some way to recover to grow again another year. It happens to a section of Wild Thing every year and so far only one has been lost.

All this still doesn't answer the question of lime timing.

Actually, I have always heard over on the Compost/Soil forum that composted oak leaves have an almost neutral ph. I also read that it really takes a while for garden lime to influence the soils ph, at least a season.

I wonder if it depends on the species of oak. One year I over mulched with less well composted oak leaves and many plants were killed and burned. I only suspected acidity as the culprit, so maybe I am wrong.

I know that live oaks take a long time to break down, but I live in a post and blackjack oak forest (25 trees on my city lot) and mulch heavily with chopped leaves (not decomposed) each fall under the wood mulch. My salvias, although not exotic varieties, seem to dig the treatment. I grow microphylla, guarantica, mexicana and Indigo Spires as well as annual coccinea very successfully. IMO, the leaves feed the soil well.

Pam

I had to go and look at the Plant Delights Salvia offerings, and now I am spellbound! There are even more "Web site" only selections and I am drooling on my keyboard as I type.

I don't believe that oak leaf mulch has that much acidity in it. But perhaps I am wrong. I know a lot of the California growers used it for their begonias and probably still do. I'm not talking about the bedding type but rather the exhaustive list of begonias other than bedding. It may be richer than most Salvias prefer.

Susan

I think I said before that I expected the greggii and microphylla to be ok. The site is very barren sand and the heavy mulch may allow them to grow more lushly, like they do at home. It is their companion plants that are more of a concern. Plus there is the fact that more of something isn't always better. It usually isn't.

Aren't a lot of those begonias adapted to a forest habitat? We have just one hardy one here in NJ and that is what it likes.

Yes, Plant Delights always has really interesting stuff. I am pleased to support the nursery with an order at least once a year, the problem is staying within budget.

Most begonias, if not all, do prefer a shady, rich spot, and a forest certainly would provide that. I don't think any Begonia is native to the US. They have been collected from many countries. I grow Begonia grandis ssp. evansiana, hardy begonia, which is hardy in the ground to Zone 6, and have had it for several years. It is native to Malasia, China, and Japan. Another one that is proving to be more hardy than originally thought, is B. boliviensis (obviously not from here). It likes Meditarranean conditions, so would not do well in humid Oklahoma. I think they have now established it to be hardy to zone 7b. Another is B. sutherlandii, supposedly hardy to Washington, D.c., but that is pushing it really hard. All of these grow from small tubers that can be dug in colder zones.

I would guess you have B. grandis ssp. evansiana growing in NJ since it is the most commonly grown hardy begonia in your zone. Hardy to zone 6.

Budget? Did someone mention a budget? As in staying within a certain amount of $ to spend? What a concept! LOL!

Susan

Yes, grandis is what I grow. My yard is a bit too dry for it. Over the past 20 years I have let it have its way and find its own place - the northeast side of the house.

We're hot and humid here and in the past several years I've seen some nice pots of boliviensis so the climate must be OK. Recently quite a few nurseries have been selling it.

A budget is a baseline, something to be violated.