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hummersteve

Cant find guaranitica black and blue seeds

hummersteve
17 years ago

I have been to every outlet than I could find on the web for the b&b seeds and any place that had them was sold out of them. Truly a hard one to find even on ebay, over there I did find the "purple majesty" which seems to be related. So I guess I will wait till spring and Ive seen several posts where people have said the plant is readily available at lowes. But then again I have read where the plant doesnt come true from seed , that you need cuttings. Any input on this?

Comments (18)

  • kruch72
    17 years ago

    I haven't had any luck finding seeds either. We got one plant from Ball seed three years ago and were able to get seeds from plant. The last two years have got plants from local nursery and have had no luck getting seeds. I also tried to over winter the tubers with no such luck. The seeds I collected were easy to grow.

  • Salvia_guy
    17 years ago

    S. guaranitica does produce seed. It is just difficult to collect as the seeds drop out of the calices early. I have to check the plants everyday or two to collect seed.

    I have S. guaranitica, S. guaranitica "Black and Blue' and a few of my 'own' or should I say the humminbirds creation.

    It does tend to come truebut some variation can occur.

    I have some that are different from the parents. One is "Chartruese Beauty'. It grows to 5' tall flowers all summer and sets many seeds. It has the black stems and calices and the leaves are chartreuse all summer. It is a larger plant than 'BnB'. I think it is a cross between the species S. guaranitica and S. guaranitica 'Black and Blue'.

    I have an offspring of the above which is an even better plant. I call it 'Joseph'. It grows to 5' tall and also has the black stems and calices. It is covered with flowers all summer up until frost. I gave a division of 'Joseph' to a fellow gardener and he says it is better than 'BnB'.

    I have another seedling with olive colored leaves, it is yet unnamed.

    SG

  • rich_dufresne
    17 years ago

    Salvia guy, have you run a comparison of your new forms versus the Van Remsen form? I have reposts of this one doing well in Houston, San Diego County, and even Buffalo, NY. I need someone in your area to cover your part of the country.

    Seed set on guaranitica and leucantha is really rare here, and greggii and microphylla are stingy.

  • wardda
    17 years ago

    I'm glad someone is having success with seeding guarantica. B&B has been in the garden it seems like forever and has produced vertually no seed nor has there ever been a stray seedling. This spring and summer a few microphylla and greggii seedlings appeared and now are experiencing the ultimate test, surviving the winter. Longwood Gardens grew out of bed of guarantica 'Kobalt' last year. We saw the bed in July and the plants were only about 2 feet tall. Could this be a good choice for situations requiring a smaller cultivar? It was very tempting to light-finger a couple of cuttings, but somehow that seemed wrong without asking first.

  • Salvia_guy
    17 years ago

    Richard,

    >...have you run a comparison of your new forms versus the Van Remsen form?I have not. Do you want to send me one?

    How does it differ from other forms of S. guaranitica?

    I forgot to mention that my S. guaranitica 'Joseph' also sets loads of seed.

    SG

  • hummersteve
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    to anyone whos interested I just got sal. g. b&b seeds from ebay and I assume they are from the forementioned, and I will probbably receive flak that they wont come true but I really dont care for they will be guaranitica of some strain and I have been searching so hard that Im really happy to have what so many want and cant find. the photos that were shown that these supposedly came were the best ive seen , drop dead gorgeous. now I can relax and gloat just a bit.

  • Salvia_guy
    17 years ago

    hummersteve,

    I am not the one selling on Ebay. I have my own site.

    Do you know who was the seller?

    SG

  • hummersteve
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    SG--I was not referring to you , but to my original post. I note that you admitt you have plenty of what I was searching for , but did not offer at least to me, fine. The seller does not have a listing for this at present , but will be offering within the next few days, so they say.

  • Salvia_guy
    17 years ago

    HS,

    >I note that you admitt you have plenty of what I was searching for , but did not offer at least to me, fine.Ah, excuse me but I never said I had S. guaranitica 'Black and Blue' seeds. I have plants, forms of S. guaranitica, that are crosses with S. guaranitica 'Black and Blue' and the species, one of which I call 'Chartreuse Beauty' and its offspring which I call 'Joseph'.

    ALSO:
    If I remember correctly, this forum's rules prohibit me from using it to promote my website.

    FYI;
    Salvia 'Purple Majesty' is a sterile cross between S. gesniiflora and S. guaranitica 'Black and Blue'. It won't produce seed, look for plants.

    Sorry for any confusion,
    SG

  • nuthatch_mo
    17 years ago

    hummersteve, are you still looking for B&B seeds. I could send you about a dozen seeds that I collected from my plants this year. The only thing is B&B does not always come true from seed. Let me know by email if you are interested.

  • hummersteve
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    Nuthatch-- your offer is very much appreciated, but I did receive a few seeds of B & B. You are correct in what I have read about the seeds not coming true, besides that it is said that some dont germinate , some dont bloom and some dont seed, so it seems its not worth the bother but if you can get a couple maybe its worth while. Thanks again for your offer---Steve

  • annebert
    17 years ago

    I find black and blue very easy to propagate from cuttings, so I just take a couple in late summer and overwinter in the house. I recommend this method over seeds.

  • hummersteve
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    Nuthatch if still have a few seeds of the b&b I would accept them and yes I know that they may not come true

    annebert--if you take cuttings like that will they come true and if so exactly how do you take the cutting, having never done it before

  • penny1947
    17 years ago

    Steve
    The cutting of B&B most definitely will come true and it is the only guaranteed way of getting another true B&B for the average gardener. Even though I do collect what seed I can and sow them for kicks, just to see what develops, I also take cuttings of my orig. plants in late summer/early fall while they are actively growing and blooming to insure that I continue to have B&B's for the following season. I also break down and order one occasionally as a back up from A World of Salvias

    Penny

  • hummersteve
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    Thanks Penny, I will have to look into it for next year in case I get lucky with what I have or maybe someone will send me a cutting of a true black and blue.

  • kal2002
    16 years ago

    So I am not the only one who cannot find seeds in the Black and Blue salvia. On my plant, the calyx falls off the plant soon after the flower dies. Is this normal?

  • rich_dufresne
    16 years ago

    Yes, all Salvias do this if there is no fertilization. Persistent calyxes are a sign of fertilization, especially if the mouth of the calyx opens up. If you see any of these, be quick to inspect for seeds, because they fall out quickly after ripening.

  • kal2002
    16 years ago

    Hi Rich, thanks for the info. Based on what you said, I should be getting a lot of pineapple salvia seeds since there are a lot of persistent calyxes on the pineapple salvia thanks to a little hummingbird.

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