Melanie,

I grew it for one season. Not all that impressive. It grew to about 1.5' tall and had, if I am remebering correctly, small whitish flowers. I think it is an annual and can re-seed a bit although I don't recall it seeding for me.

Now, S. forskaohlei and S. lyrata 'Burgundy Bliss' reseed all over my garden.

SG

I think I confused this with another species ...OOPS!

SG

Salvia fallax (possibly the correct Botanical name is Salvia roscida) is actually a great winter-flowering species, but is frost-tender. Great for a conservatory or greenhouse. This grows (in the UK) up to 5 ft. tall, it is a very upright Salvia, and has long stems with millions of tiny pale blue flowers, impressive when in flower. Tends to be susceptible to whitefly and other aphids.

Robin.

I saw this blooming today in UCB Botanical... nice. It was huge! And it was growing in nearly full shade. Nearby there was another salvia that was not tagged, even taller, with nearly identical flowers and foliage shape... but with very dark purple stems, calyces, and the undersides of the leaves also purplish. Does anyone have any idea what this could be?? I didn't take photos, alas.

Perhaps it is Salvia caudata, which has many of those properties, and is closely related. It has deep amethyst colored flowers, though.

Or Salvia myriantha? Similar form to fallax/roscida but violet flowers with white on the lower lip. Leaves are purplish on the underside.......oh, and yes, they stink!

I think that it may have been Salvia caudata. Although, photos of that plant vary quite a bit on the web. This is the closest to what it looked like, however the stems and calyces were MUCH darker (nearly black):

Here is a link that might be useful: S. caudata