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caribqn

What is the longest blooming salvia

caribqn
17 years ago

Would you know what the longest blooming saliva would be, for my zone (6, outside Philly). I am looking for a salvia that will put on a display all through the summer. The ones I am most familiar with are May Night and East Freisland. I have some Caradonnas in my garden right now, and am looking for more salvias. Thank you.

Comments (13)

  • CA Kate z9
    17 years ago

    S. involucrata "Mulberry Jam" and S. leucantha seem to bloom all summer in my CA garden.

  • salvia_lover
    17 years ago

    Indigo Spires and Mystic Spires. In my Gulf Coast zone 8 garden them start in April and go til frost, which for us is usually December.

  • laceyvail 6A, WV
    17 years ago

    I grow Indigo Spires in zone 5/6 as an annual. I get it from Select Seeds as a plant--very reasonable--in April, move it inside every night until I'm sure frost is over. It starts blooming in Une and doesn't quit until frost, at which time it is 4x4. A great, great plant.

  • robinmi_gw
    17 years ago

    I would suggest that Salvia meyeri has a pretty long blooming period...early June until frosts. Problem is that the French expert, Christian Froissart, now suggests that this is not meyeri at all, and that it is Salvia rhinosina!!! Must we change all our labels again?

    Robin.

  • stargazie6
    9 years ago

    Russian Sage is a spring to Late fall bloomer in my area. It is so beautiful. Loves the sun and a dry environment once established.
    This sage is a perennial in my area. I also love the smell of the foliage.
    To answer Iisasmall's question, a light cut back will help re stimulate this sage's blooming vigor if it seems to be sluggish during the blooming season. Remember, this is a good drought tolerant plant to once established don't overwater..not enough sun has a tendency to make Russian Sage sprawl and have limp stems.

  • rich_dufresne
    9 years ago

    Russian sage is a Perovskia species, so technically, its not a Salvia. Perovskia is a closely related genera, though.

    It does well in sandy soils in western Massachusetts (zone 5), and will persist in a hay field for years with no weeding.

  • wardda
    9 years ago

    I have a garden with lots of salvia in the Philadelphia area. Salvia greggii and microphylla usually start blooming sometime between late April - mid May, earlier after warm winters, and continue through moderate frosts until a good hard freeze. A couple of years ago they bloomed for 9 straight months. This year after our hard winter it was around the first of June.

  • rich_dufresne
    9 years ago

    Here is a comparison between S. microphylls San Carlos Festival at the J C Raulston Arboretum taken this last Friday

  • rich_dufresne
    9 years ago

    And for comparison on on October 19, 2013.

    Note that last winter did not faze this microphylla, and that it blooms best in the autumn.

  • wardda
    9 years ago

    One of the great things about San Carlos Festival is how bushy it gets forming a lush thick mound with little or no breakage. It is the oldest microphylla in my home garden having lived through several very cold winters during the decade plus I've had it. It was very slow to return this spring and for a while I thought it might be lost. Shouldn't have worried.

    Not all microphyllas appear equal when it comes to this kind of lush growth. I have a probable cross between Raspberry Delight and San Carlos with the same kind of growth habit and wonder if there are others with a similar trait. Salvias that can hold their space like these are very useful for those who have large gardens since they provide their own weed control.

  • robinmi_gw
    9 years ago

    I have always if San Carlos Festival is actually a hybrid???

  • rich_dufresne
    9 years ago

    Robin, it was collected by John Fairey and Carl Schoenfeld when they ran Yucca-Do nursery and could travel in Mexico.

    I am hoping to write an article on the sages of Yucca-Do fairly soon. This will certainly include those that they have collected, and probably many they distributed out of their Hempstead, Texas nursery

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