In your area they are probably all perennials... at least they are in California. Some are more tender and might not survive an unusually cold winter. I lose more tender Salvias to our summers' heat and dry conditions than cold.

Does DFW stand for Dallas - Fort Worth? There are many broad-leafed American subtropicals that would survive in a well-managed cold frame.

Few Salvias are monocarpic, that is, they die after bearing seeds. Others are perennials grown as annuals because they are tender.

Greggiis, microphyllas, guaraniticas, farinaceas, involucratas (including puberulas) are hardy for you in central Texas.

rich & westelle ~

Yep, DFW = Dallas & Fort Worth. Central would be more Austin & the Hill Country. We're North Central, in some ways more similar to Oklahoma. Different weather, different soils, different music, etc. That rumor you may have heard about the Texas annexation clause that we could split into as many as five smaller states is true.

Anyway (non-working history teacher - sorry about that), so are y'all saying Salvias are annual/perennial based on my climate rather than the plant itself?

Yes, the climate is the major determinant. Different parts of the country are better for different groups of Salvias. For instance, steppe sages from Turkey and central Asia do best in the Front Range from Wyoming down through New Mexico, Chinese sages do best along the Pacific coast, from central California to Washington state, the common European sages are best in the Northeast and westward, and the broad leaf subtropical sages of Latin America do best in southern California. Mediterranean sages (including most South African ones) thrive best in coastal California, and xeric (desert) ones also do well in the desert southwestern USA.

You have to be familiar with your own climate to determine which sages are optimal and which others can work with a little more effort.

Freshair
The Ft.Worth Botanic Gardens has a nice collection of
Salvias that would be a good place to start.I have grown
some of Rich's Salvias here in Austin S. microphylla
Cherry Cheif does well here.Dark Dancer will do better for
you it really likes the water poured to it for bloom time.
Some others I have seen at Ft Worth is S.greggii "Pink
Preference" S.farinacea "Augusta ,Henry Duelberg". Stay
away from S.Farinacea "Victoria" and the Evolultion Series
the performance as perennials is dismal.The Jamensis Hybrids (Sierra San Antonio) as a whole cannot take our heat. S.guarnitica "Black and Blue" works well too it needs lots of space to run and shade from afternoon sun.

hybridsage ~

a) shoot! - just bought a bunch of "victorias" and a couple of "evolutions"

b) what is the point of having a salvia named "san antonio" if it can't "take our heat" - doesn't that seem a bit oxymoronic?

c) thanks for the list

~ amy

Freshair
Good Point! Whats in a name ? The name refers to the location where the plant was found in Mexico. I know
this plant is sold in San Antonio too.The odd thing
is it winters over fine and produces good viable seed.
The seedlings do great because they are hybrids from
plants that are from lower elevations making them more heat Hardy.

Of course the plants are either annual or perennial (or biennial!) regardless of where they are grown but everyone has assumed that you mean 'Which ones will come up every year in my garden?'. That probably IS what you mean and I can't answer the question since I live a long way away and have a very different clmate.

However, some of the true annuals do work quite well in various climates, adapting their growing and flowering times to local conditions. If your summers are very hot, you would probably need to sow autumn or winter and let them do their thing in spring. They would probably self-sow (reseed?) freely and give you a nice display each year without much input on your part.

I particlarly like S algeriensis (syn. maroccana), pretty smoky blue-mauve colours, and S roborowskii, primrose yellow. S viridis (syn S horminum) is grown less for its flowers than the striking coloured bracts at the top of the stems - pink, purple, white. I would avoid S tiliifolia, which has a certain charm despite its tiny flowers, but produces seed by the ton and really is a weed!