Return to the Salvia Forum
| Post a Follow-Up
Salvia gesneriiflora
| | |
Posted by drusilla UK (My Page) on Thu, Oct 16, 08 at 17:53
| I'd like to pick up a bit more info about S gesneriiflora. I have a huge one growing by my front door - it's tied to wires and is about 2.5 m high by 2 m wide (say 8ft x 6ft). It's a stone, south-facing wall, but it doesn't get a great deal of sun due to shading by trees, and the house (it's in a corner). We have very wet winters but the house obviously provides some shelter, and the plant is in a big clay pot, though the roots have long since gone through the bottom and through the concrete underneath! We don't often get frost and this close to the house the temperature probably doesn't drop below freezing more than a couple of times a winter, and then only by a couple of degrees. The plant normally remains evergreen and sometimes shows frost or wind damage on the leaves.
Last winter we had some harder frost and it was denuded, but the woody stems sprouted again over about two-thirds of their length (or the bigger ones did). It normally flowers between February and April (in a mild spring Feb, if really dismal can be June) but has a fairly short season - 6-8 weeks. I had no flowers this year after the hard winter.
It looks wonderfully exotic in wet, windy old N Wales and causes me to lock the back door (which is actually at the front) when it's out, so people have to use the front door (which is actually at the side....never mind! It's an old house, 1575, they did things differently then), just for the pleasure of seeing their reactions!
Does any of this surprise anybody? How does it behave elsewhere? All info gratefully received! |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Salvia gesneriiflora
| | |
| Mine is now in flower, I have mine in a large pot in a shady spot as that is what it likes here, I have sown seed of Gesneriiflora 'Red Rambler', this is a sport of the normal ges and all red (calyx and flower), this plant appears to be coming into bud and doesnt look like a ges so will have to be patient and see what eventuates, I am getting a plant of the Red Rambler should be here next week and this will enable me to do a side by side comparison, the gesneriiflora and its cousins pubescens,sessei and regla all like the same conditions here, shady morning sun. Cheers Annette 
|
RE: Salvia gesneriiflora
| | |
| Hi Annette, thanks for this. This is about equivalent to flowering in April here so that seems about right. I note shade is OK with you but I assume your climate is much hotter and sunnier than mine? Do you have to give it buckets of water? I seem to need to water mine quite regularly in summer. I particularly like the contrast between flower and calyx so probably wouldn't like the all-red version as much, but would be interested to see a pic in due course! |
RE: Salvia gesneriiflora
| | |
| Yes lots of water, live in the tropics, lots of heat, humidity and rain during summer. I am curious to see the all red version, something different. I will post pics as soon as mine appears in flower. I havent met a salvia that I didnt like. Cheers Annette |
RE: Salvia gesneriiflora
| | |
| No, I wouldn't say I'd ever met a salvia that I positively disliked but some are a lot more interesting than others!! I have awful trouble with some of the ones I like the best because of my climate but I really do like this gesneriiflora and am so pleased it grows well for me and seems happy. I expect the all-red job is gorgeous but at the size they are I haven't got room for both so would prefer the one with the contrasting calyces (I also prefer ordinary S leucantha to 'Purple Velvet' for the same reason - maybe I'm just weird!). |
RE: Salvia gesneriiflora
| | |
| I love the 2 toned leucantha, just reserving judgement I have just purchased the pink flowering and the white flowering leucanthas, the pink is in bud and ever since the pink is my favorite colour in salvias I have a feeling I am going to love it. My Iodantha is in full flower at the moment, this is so beautiful, got right away from the subject oh well here is my iodantha. 
|
RE: Salvia gesneriiflora
| | |
| Gosh, that's gorgeous. I did grow S iodantha once from seed but it didn't get to flowering size the first year and I lost it in one cold night that caught me out the following winter. Must try again! I didn't even know there were pink and white forms of S leucantha - don't know if you can get them over here! I am a bit isolated so get mine mostly from seed, all the specialst nurseries that are likely to have these things are a long way away from me. Certain things seem to catch on and become available at non-specialist nurseries quickly, while others never do - it's odd! This seems to be a duologue - guess nobody else grows S gesneriiflora! But I have discovered at least that it's extremely adaptable, if it will grow in a tropical climate and a cool, wet temperate one - wish they were all so user-friendly! |
RE: Salvia gesneriiflora
| | |
| I grow gesneriiflora, but as I get more frost than Drusilla, I have to keep them in the greenhouse in winter. I have 3 forms...the species, with green calyces, Tequila, with black calyces (my favourite), and one recently collected in Mexico, which is supposed to be a compact form. It is not!!! Have not seen the flowers on this yet. |
RE: Salvia gesneriiflora
| | |
| If you need some seed to try Drusilla just send me an email and I will send you some, just collected a few with its first bout of flowers during winter. |
RE: Salvia gesneriiflora
| | |
| Robin: I've learned something from you as well, as mine is obviously 'Tequila' as it has the sexy black calyces - didn't know there was a green-calyx sort! Can't remember where I got it but most likely Yoke. Annette: fantastic offer, yes please! (I wasn't hinting, but since you offer...!) I need to build up my collection again as it is quite low at the moment. I don't want to scrounge seed from people in the US because of not being able to send any back but I just might be able to send you something some time, since as far as I know it's OK to send seed to Oz. It's just a question of whether I can ever lay hands on anything you might not have! |
RE: Salvia gesneriiflora
| | |
| My plant ("Tequila") seems to prefer to grow horizontally. What shall I do to get it vertical? The stems are already quite woody, so I'm a bit afraid that if I try to tie the plant up, they will break! Still waiting for flowers on this one... |
RE: Salvia gesneriiflora
| | |
| I have the "Tequila" version of this salvia and it's about 6' across and 5' high. The main trunk seems to have split in recent winds - should I prune it back hard? Wait a few months? Try to stake it? Move it somewhere sheltered? Help! |
RE: Salvia gesneriiflora
| | |
| Has yours bloomed yet? Mine hasn't. So, if it were me, I'd stake it and play wait and see. As in, see flowers, and see what (if anything) dies back. You may also want to take cuttings and eventually plant them against a fence which is sheltered from the wind. I can't imagine how you are going to move your current "beast", LOL! |
RE: Salvia gesneriiflora
| | |
| It is a beast - and I bought it in a 1 gallon pot just 5 months ago!!! It was blooming then. Does one normally cut these back in the winter? |
Post a Follow-Up
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Salvia Forum
|
|
|
