I'm in zone 6b and mine winter over on their own. I have learned that with salvia, don't cut the stems back until spring. They are hollow and water will collect in them and freeze the root.

Mine did not bloom as well this year as other years. I guess they didn't like our weather.

I bought Black & Blue Salvia at the end of last season for 25 cents each. They wintered over beautifully and now they look like shrubs. I hope they survive again this year.

Good luck.

You could try collecting some seeds, which you could sow in March, and they will flower by mid-summer....just as an insurance!

Thank you! I really hope they make it!

Blue angel is a selection of Salvia patens, which should definitely not be hardy in USDA Zone 6b. Are yoou in the arid southwestern states? That's the only way I can imagine they make it through the winter.

They certainly won't make it through Zone 6b wet, subtropical southeastern US weather

Also, they have tubers, and forest critters like pine voles will feast on them. Tuber and rhizome-bearing plants arise where there are no significant underground predators, such as in arid soils, with scree conditions (lots of crushed rock and drainage)