I'm still here, Mark, and I just got a new S. wagneriana. It is really late in blooming, which is why I recommended it for the coastal SE US. It can be a pain to root, so I'd take cuttings from a plant in rapid growth.

It appears to be very similar to S. involucrata bethelii in habit. Wagneriana has a maroon band around the stem near the nodes.

I have both the wine red(or dark pink?) form and the pink/white both from UC Berkeley. They have rooted very easily for me but spider mites seem to be attracted to this plant like a moth to a flame. So much so that I almost want to give up on S. wagneriana. The pink/white bract plant grew to 10ft last winter but then the mites came and obliterated it to the point that it had only 3 inflorescences of flowers. When healthy the foliage and flowers are beautiful.

I don't know of another Salvia that is more mite prone than this one. For us, if we do not control the mites, the plants we grow will not survive. For us, it starts bloom in about October and is still going. The white bract form starts a bit later.

Thanks for the warnings on spider mites. I've had really bad problems with them on certain plants in the past. Interestingly, although I had heard that S. dombeyi was also a big mite magnet, they mostly left that plant alone. This is in spite of the fact that it was adjacent to (and touching) a couple Passifloras (Tacsonias, P. antioquiensis hybrids) that were badly attacked.

I'm still curious though, whether anyone has planted Salvia wagneriana in the ground in a place like Galveston or Miami, with lots of heat and humidity. Do the plants thrive? Do they need special care (shade, morning sun, etc.)? I always wonder this about highland tropical plants that are mostly grown in the coastal regions of California.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tropicos specimen list (including elevation) for Salvia wagneriana

Interesting. I was not aware that its range extended into Panama. The La Paz, Bolivia collections must be garden escapes.

It does seem to be easy to root. I started 4 cuttings eight days ago in perlite with bottom heat. They all look good. I potted up one in a soil/perlite mixture a couple days ago after I noticed roots. Here are the remaining three, after 8 days:

Salvia wagneriana is rather hopeless in the UK...needs a HUGE greenhouse with more heat than other Salvias require.

Such a pity, as pictures indicate how spectacular this species can be. I have an "alleged" hybrid of wagneriana x involucrata, from Argentina, this is spectacular, if difficult.

Interesting that wagneriana and hybrids do not have such square stems..........