theloud:
You should try some salvias like S.jurisicii,azurea,forskauhlei,glutinosa and koyamae.
I saw jurisicii in Victoria BC very different look from
most salvia's these should be perennials.You maybe able
to try S.Cherry Queen as well.
Art

Salvia reptans from west Texas and S. greggii x Plum Wine are hardy in USDA Zone 5 in western Massachusetts.

Many Eurasian sages will do better in zone 5 and colder than they will in the subtropical southeastern USA.

What state are you in? It makes a difference, because the total weather patterns form part of the climate to which your native plants have evolved to thrive in.

Soil types and exposures are also relevant to success with Salvias.

Salvia reptans the West Texas forum and Salvia Azurea does well here in western NY. This past winter Salvia darcyii came back for me like gangbusters. It was one of the very first plants in my garden to come back and it was one of the longest and coldest winters I have experienced since living up here in NY. I have also had Salvia greggii 'Cherry Stampede' survie with some protection

Penny

Salvias do cross, but with most species it is worth trying seed as they are quite likely to be all or mostly OK. The exception is the S microphylla/greggii/x jamensis group, which is why there are so many varieties of these.

Where I live is nominally zone 7 or 8 depending on who you believe, but with high winter rainfall, which makes a lot of difference. S jurisicii is not hardy with me and S azurea only comes through occasionally - about as often as S aurea, which is generally considered tender. You might try S candelabrum and/or S interrupta, which are both quite hardy, the former more wet sensitive than the latter; but I don't know if they would be hardy in Zone 5. S. forsskaolii, pratensis and glutinosa would be; the first two are very pretty though not particularly aromatic; the third, which is large and pale yellow, is more of an acquired taste but personally I like it! S microphylla is hardy with me but not S greggii; some S x jamensis cultivars are and some aren't. S lavandulifolia is like culinary sage but smaller, and showier in flower, and I would have said hardier, but I lost it last winter (along with all my culinary sage) in the unusually cold weather, so the jury's out on that. Unfortunately the big, bright sages are mostly pretty unreliable in places with cold winters, but the ones which are dormant in cold weather mostly only need to be kept frost-free and fairly dry, so they work well in big pots which can be dragged under cover for the cold months. I often lose things in the spring because it takes so long to warm up that they lose the will to live, but if you have good warm springs you may well do better even if your winters are colder.

Thanks for the advice. I'll check out these species.

Sorry I didn't give more info about my garden. I'm in central NY, gardening in a well-drained mix of rocks and clay, on a west-facing slope. I have both sunny and shady spots to fill. We get a lot of snow, but it's not guaranteed that we'll have solid snow cover all winter. There's ridiculous deer pressure here, but I've noticed that they don't eat fragrant plants, so I'm planning an herb garden that will hopefully be both ornamental and edible.

A problem is that we leave every winter, starting in October, so I can't do any late-autumn care like mulching or taking in plants for the winter. I don't want to ask the housesitter to do anything too complicated.

Oh, and drusilla, in response to your comment:
"Salvias do cross, but with most species it is worth trying seed as they are quite likely to be all or mostly OK"
I wasn't inquiring about the reliability of salvias breeding true, but instead hoping that some creative plant breeder has crossed the showier species with the hardier ones in order to create varieties that combine the best qualities of different parents.

theloud
I am in western NY state. More specifically, between Buffalo and Niagara Falls. I have S. azurea planted on the west side of the house where it gets all the wind and snow from the northwest and then I have three more planted in a whide open island bed all six have come back every year. I don't mulch them nor cut them back. Salvia reptans was new for me last year so it has only gone through one winter. It is in a south facing bed close to my front porch. Salvuia darcyii was out back in an open bed but with a fence behind it in sandier soil but again no much and no other protection. All of my S. azurea were grown from seed as was the Salvia darcyii.

Penny