Salvia darcyi should flower the first year, if the seeds are sown early in the year. I sow my seeds in Jan. - Feb. S. darcyi blooms in late summer here.

It is hardy here in the Wet Zone 8. Resprouting from the roots in spring.

It is definetly worth growing! I usually propagate mine by cuttings as it sets few seeds.

The one pictured below is growing on the east side of my house. It gets maybe 4 hrs of sun. As you will see by the date on the photo it does bloom late. This plant is at least five years old now.

SG

Here is a link that might be useful: Salvia darcyi

Thanks for the reply Salvia Guy. Your's is one of the better photos I've seen of the species, now I really want to grow it. Maybe I should just order plants and be ahead of the game, but I'm a cheep SOB at times.

Some sites indicate Darcyi is an all summer to frost bloomer. You say your from seed plants bloom in fall, but what about established ones? I'm thinking of using this plant as an impact plant at a local nature center where I grow a hummingbird garden. So a long bloom period would be good. Also, how much progress will a small cutting make during its first summer? Should I grow them out for a full season, then bring them to the garden?

That's a lot of questions - sorry about that.

This is a terrific plant. Like many salvias, bloom time appears to be day length sensitive. Mine bloomed in the early spring in a warm greenhouse in Northern VA. It is still in the greenhouse so I'm anxious to see if it will bloom under similar light conditions this fall although my garden plant never bloomed at all last year-maybe it was too young. Unfortunately, it did not survive the first hard freeze. It will probably act differently depending on your lattitude. This might explain the variance in info on the web as mine bloomed only a short time.

I was really hoping it would survive in zone 6/7. There were several reports of perennials in North Caroline that gave some hope. There seems to be only one way to resolve the conflicting information out there - plant it and see what happens.