casi:
Some Salvias can be floppy their first year. I would
say based on my experience with other salvias is not
to give them extra water or fertilizer so the plant will
support its own growth.Excess nitrogen in your soil can make Salvias leggy.So some questions would be 1)How much sun are you Salvias recieving? 2)what type of soil are your salvias growing in? 3) what are the 3 numbers on the fertilizer you are using, is a granuleor water soluable type fertilizer?
I will let others who are closer to you and your Zone 5 garden answer. Down here the growing conditions are very different.
Art

Art, you bring up some very good points. Some of my second year salvia are in poorer, dryer soil. They are more compact. They get pretty much full sun. My newer plants are on the West side of the house, are in rich soil, plus DH threw around some granular 12.12.12, I believe. So hopefully they will do better next year. Appreciate the input.

A different location question. Normally I place plants together for nice color combinations, but now I am starting to think of placement based on which salvias might make a nice new hybrid. Does proximity really matter for this, or is it sufficient that they are in the same garden? Is there a recommended link where I can read up on which salvias will tend to hybridize with one another? Yes, I do have plenty of pollinators. thanks!

voodoobrew:
We can start with the obvious,greggii,microphylla,darcyi,
karwinskii,lycioides and chamaedryoides. Another set is farinacea and blue chiquita(S.longispicata). Different set guarnitica and gesneraflora and hispanica.Yet another coccinea,splendens and vanhouteii.Then leucantha and rutilans(elegans). Then you have all the california
Salvia hybrids also apiana,mellifera,columbariae,clevelandii and sonomenis
one never knows what may hybridize with what. Proximity
does help at least in Texas.