Hi Becky,

I grow or have grown several S. African species (see list below). I have not grown S. runcinata.

The seeds might take a week or more to germinate.

S. africana-lutea (aka S. aurea) can be root hardy here in the PNW. It will grow to about 3' tall. The flowers are large and an orangy brown similar to the color of a paper bag but with more orange.

S. chamelaeagnea was't hardy for me but the friend from whom I recieved my plant has had it survive the PNW winter in the ground. It has blue flowers and grows shorter than the above.

You should have excellent results if you grow these in containers. This way you can bring them indoors for the winter, they will make good house plants for the winter. By growing them in containers you will also get larger plants over time.

Some other good S. Africn species are:

S. africana-caerulea
S. aurita
S. dentata
S. disermas
S. muirii
S. namaensis - one of my favorites for a container.
S. lanceolata
S. repens repens
S. scabra - another excellent container plant
S. stenophylla

I hope that helps,
SG

Hi Becky,

I also ordered some seeds from Silverhill seeds, mine arrived late last week.I have got salvia runcinata flowering at the moment, they have tiny pink flowers.I have also got salvia chamelaeagnea flowering at the moment, it is a beauty.Salvia runcinata flowered 4 months after germinating.

Happy Germinating,

Annette

Here is a link that might be useful: Salvia Runcinata

I grew s. scabra last year, 3 in a pot. They did much better than when they were in the ground the year before.

Nice picture, Annette!

Helena

Becky,

Your salvias are in the mail and on their way to you!
Hope yours do well for you.

This is an interesting and informative discussion. I haven't ever planted any of mine in a pots, other than when I put some in my back yard plant sales. Although I do start mine in pots, they go out into the garden as soon as the soil is warm enough and any threat of late frosts have ended. I grow all mine in the ground (I am in zone 6b/7a right on the line).

I am a 'Naturalist" and pretty much let my plants grow where they will. They know where they prefer to grow better than I do and I am seldom sorry for letting them have their way. Sometimes little salvia plants even magically appear in the large pots of my tropicals or cactus and end up wintering-over in the greenhouse. They bloom all winter. Such a lovely sight to go out there and see the colorful blooms when outside there is snow on the ground.

I will add this speculation:
Where you live and what kind of summertime and wintertime climate you have will determine how well your Salvias will grow and whether they thrive or not. Obviously, a Death Valley salvia that enjoys growing on steep, rocky slopes, of alkaline soil and summertime temperatures that can exceed 120 degrees daytime temps and occassional near freezing temps at night, growing them in Georgia on moist, lowland acid soil, with hot, humid weather, you may not get the results you want. Most Salvias need full sun, but some need filtered light or shade, and some are marginal plants and like to grow best at the edge of a shaded area. Most like alkaline, rocky soil, but some enjoy moist soil with good drainage. You have to keep this in mind. What kind of soil you have (or use in your containers), your annual rainfall, and whether or not you have a lot of pollinators in your gardens will also make a big impact on their growth and ability to flourish.

Thank you all for this discussion. I will purposefully grow some in a nice big terra cotta pots this year. Will be kinda nice to be able to set them where I want to add some salvia color, like on the patio or near other plants that enjoy moist, acid soil :)

Back to CSPAN.
Have a great day!
~ Annie

SG, Annette, Helen and Annie:

Thanks for the encouragement and pics! Plus suggestions for next year, oh boy!

I should have enough seeds to put some outside and keep some in pots in case they can't tolerate the winter. So far this year our lowest temp was in the teens.

I would have gotten S. africana-caerulea but it wasn't on their current list. Other than africana-lutea, I hadn't heard of any of the others. If I have success with these, I will look for some different ones next year. I couldn't believe how reasonable their prices are.

The problem with containers in my house is that I don't have a really sunny room to put them in. The few plants that I did bring in the house are really struggling. I have a few in an unheated workshop (so far they are doing okay, they are dormant). My husband is tolerant but I don't think I can convince him I need a greenhouse.

Annie: Glad to see you on the Salvia forum! Looking forward to the seeds you are sending and hope you will enjoy the ones I sent you. My salvias have always been in the yard, too, mainly because I have no good place to overwinter them. A few are in an unheated workshop and so far, so good. I will have lots of new ones to put out this year.

Becky

Got Salvia radula from Silverhill last year.
Quite large white flowers and has not yet frozen to death.
Was able to collect 1 seed last year. Next year perhaps more. Possibly hardy in zone 7.

Jobreitsema:

I don't remember if salvia radula was on their list this year. I only picked three from the list even though I was tempted to order more. Our low so far was in the teens (I am in Virginia) and everything I have outside and in my unheated workshop has either frozen or looks very unhappy.

I hope your 1 seed sprouts for you! How many plants did you get from the seeds you planted last year?

Becky

My seeds arrived today, without any sowing instructions. Is the normal procedure of surface sowing, misting, using a heat mat and cover appropriate for salvia africana-lutea and the other South African seeds?

Becky

ramazz,

Follow the procedure I mentioned under the B+B seedling thread.

The S. African species I've sown took longer to germinate.

SG

I am interested in ordering Salvia africana-lutea seeds from Silver Hill. How many seeds did you guys receive from a packet of seeds from Silver Hill?

Another S. african-lutea question: I put in a 1 gallon a couple of weeks ago and it looks like its maybe 1 1/2 years old (or so). I've heard these don't last that many years. Any experiences with their longetivety? Any factors that will extend their lifespan.

This is for kal2002:

I ordered the larger size package of africana-lutea and I believe it had about 100 seeds in it. I had very poor germination from the seeds I purchased. I traded some and I still have some, so I don't have statistics on the entire package. I did not try smoke treatment, but after no germination, I used GA3 on some and I had one sprout. I purchased two other South African salvias and had no germination from either of those. So, I have 1 seedling from 3 packs of seeds. At least it is still alive, though, after being in a pot outside all summer. I know it will not be happy in the house this winter. I was afraid to put it in the yard because I don't think it would tolerate the winter here.

So, if there is someone on this forum who has seeds that came from their own plants, I would recommend those over the Silver Hill seeds. I don't know if the seeds were old or they are just very difficult to germinate.

Becky
ramazz

Hi Becky, thank you very much for your comments. Since I am new to germinating seeds, I think I would rather not take that challenge at this time. I will just keep looking for Salvia africana-lutea, plant or seeds, somewhere else. Thanks again.

When I used gibberelic acid to break dormancy, I put the seeds and the GA solution in a vial on a shaker table and agitated it for 30 minutes. This wore off the glutinous seed coat and acted as a gentle ball mill, bruising the seed coat enough to help the solution permeate it to the embryo.

And how would one go about doing this without a shaker table, which I assume is something that a scientist would have? Sandpaper before putting the seeds in the solution?

Becky

There may be some toys with a cyclic motion, or a pendulum (magnetically driven) that can be adapted. I still have my old Erector set motor which I plan to adapt.