I have been growing this is England for a few years. It did not come from Yvonne, I think seeds were collected in Brazil, but it is more or less identical, from what I make out. Here I have to treat it as an annual, as it will not stand any frost, and the plants are too big to over-winter under glass. Cuttings root easily but are difficult to keep alive in the glass-house as they get attacked by mould and aphids.

In a warm year, from seeds sown late Feb/early March, I will have a 5 ft plant by August. Flowering usually starts here sometime in July. Last year was much later, as it was overcast for most of the summer. This Salvia likes heat and seems happy in sun or part-shade. It is very thirsty and needs a lot of watering, especially if kept in a pot. It also has a large root-system, and appreciates a regular feed.

I would imagine the Central Valley of CA to be extremely hot and dry? This may be too much for this splendens. It needs some humidity. A typical summer's day here will be about 73 degrees....occasionally high 80s or low 90s. At night, the lowest will be 50, the highest 66, I guess. Rainfall is spread throughout the year, and is never reliable.

Hope this helps, and hope the plants will succeed.

Robin.

westelle,

I am in Western MA. Zone 6. I got the original seeds from Yvonne, who also lived in Western MA.

I start the seeds every year, indoors, under lights, in mid-February. Plant out, in a compost enriched bed, by the end of May...sometimes a week sooner, if I feel like tempting the weather gods! By August, I have 5-6 foot plants.

It does not survive the winter in my zone. I start new each year, with collected seeds.

Water needs are average. Once established, it has been a very "tough" plant here, withstanding windstorms that snap other plants.

If I remember to, I will feed it once in a while, with 20-20-20. I know Yvonne used to use "Miracle Grow."

In the years since I have been distributing the seeds, when people report back, I notice that this plant has not done as well in the extremely hot zones (ie: S. Texas, FL). It may be temperature, it may be soil type...I don't know. I think it does better with afternoon shade in those zones.

Emily

Robin kindly sent me some seeds of his over a year ago. As he said last summer was cold and wet and it took some time to get going. It was shredded by the very first frost in October.

I took some cuttings in November, from a plant put under glass before the frost, and raised them in a light box. The parent plant was flowering at the time and the cuttings had plenty of flower buds. I cut off as many as I could, but they appeared faster than I could cut them off. The consequence is that within two weeks of taking the cuttings most of them were flowering, and have continued to flower to this day (4 months). The plants are now about two and a half feet high. Most are still under glass, but a couple are outside in flower where the tempeature has recently been down to 34F at night, and appear to be unaffected.

The above comments reflect what I remember of larger discussions about Yvonne's - that they really don't like dry desert heat and that some folks in the deap south also reported problems. Here in New Jersey it will be three or four feet tall and half as wide by August. For full growth it also seems to require pretty rich soil and regular water. My attempts to try it in more zeric conditions were complete failures. I have never grown ones as big as those in the picture of Yvonne and her plants. It might be fun to force feed a few and see what happens.

Do Yvonne's Giant Salvia seed require light to germinate?

Should they just be pressed into the soil or covered?

Mary

I think heat is more important than light.

* I used one of those really big strawberry containers they call a clamshell... it makes a great mini-greenhouse.
* Then I filled the bottom with sterile soil, sprinkled on the seeds and put a light coating of soil over them.
* I watered from the bottom to saturate the soil, then let drain in the sink.
* I kept the closed box on my kitchen counter over the dishwasher to help them keep warm.
* They sprouted in about 10 days.... and continue still.
* I have tried to keep them warm and in the sun since sprouting. They are now spending their days outside and come in at night in case it gets too cool.

Hi
I am Yvonne in Mississippi. I've just recently been introduced to salvia and love it. I only have one variety, but I am impressed.
I also just recently heard of "Yvonne's Giant Salvia" and since my name is Yvonne also, I would love to add it to my garden.
I was wondering if someone might have some extra seed they could share? I'll be glad to send postage or I have daylilies I can trade.
Thanks so much!

I recently planted Yvonne's salvia after winter sowing it. I had wintersown it back in Feb (much too early - I should have sown it around April) but it and my other Salvia survived in the containers outside. I covered them when it was cold, or too much rain.

Since being planted outside, Yvonne's salvia has taken off. It is already bigger than the other salvia, altho they were all the same size when planted.

This is my first time, so I will let you know later how it does.

ellen

Mine went in last weekend, more plants than usual in memory of Yvonne. They will front a row of the unright Salvia macrophylla and should look good come August. I forget exactly when the put out their first flowers, but recall they tended to be considerably earlier than the pink flowered big splendens from Ginny Hunt's garden.

We just returned from an emergency two-week trip to Oregon to find that my garden caretaker allow "the babies" to sit out in the horrible heat and sun of a weekend ago and all but 5 died.

I guess these 5 are Survivors! and just may have the best chance this summer.