Salvia Black and Blue

Libby · Post by **Libby** » May 21, 2007 9:09 am

After a week I'm still amazed by the color!

nanny_56 · Post by **nanny_56** » May 21, 2007 9:58 am

I want that so bad but have not found it here anywhere. I think it looks sooo cool!

Claudia

Nathalie23 · Post by **Nathalie23** » May 21, 2007 10:11 am

Wow for the plant and wow for the picture!

renaldo75 · Post by **renaldo75** » May 21, 2007 10:50 am

It's sold as an annual in 4" pots around here at the 'nicer' small family-run greenhouses. I see it every year & love it, but have never gotten one. Very nice pic, Libby!!

Libby · Post by **Libby** » May 21, 2007 3:56 pm

Thanks! Too bad it's a little pricey and not hardy in zone 5

I only bought one plant and it about killed me to pinch it back to encourage more blooms!

toomanyanimals · Post by **toomanyanimals** » May 23, 2007 7:18 am

Claudia, I finally found this plant last year at an expensive local nursery.
I barely kept it alive over the winter. If anyone has any hints on how to take better care of it over the winter, PLEASE let me know.

I hardly see any hummingbirds in my yard, but saw one several times last year at the Black and Blue Salvia.

Oh, and after searching several years for it and paying big bucks last year ... Guess who has it this year ... Lowes!

Libby, please don't tell me I have to pinch it back! Ugh, I hate pinching things back.

If you like hummingbirds, it is worth the price and overwintering.
sharon

Libby · Post by **Libby** » May 23, 2007 10:40 am

...thought you had to pinch back with salvia! Don't tell me I didn't HAVE to do it.

nanny_56 · Post by **nanny_56** » May 23, 2007 2:01 pm

It is sold here as a annual, but I thought I might try overwintering it in garage It is just so pretty, figured it is worth a try. I will have to check out Lowes!! I have seen it through mail order, but was not going to much that much for it to have it die!!!

Claudia

nanny_56 · Post by **nanny_56** » Jun 01, 2007 8:21 pm

Woohoo!! Finally got one of these today. Our Lowes finally got them in. Nice size plant, already blooming too, $5.98. I wanted to get more than 1, but I also found another Nepeta Walker's Low (love the one I have!!) & a Green Eyed Coneflower since I had no pink/purple Echinacea(every other color though

). Forgot, I also found a May Night Salvia on the half off table. Cut of the dead flower stems and good as new!!

But that makes the front border done. It's not naked anymore. I have to make another shade bed this weekend. And the sunny side border on the WNW side of the house will need some tweaking in the fall and I will be adding reblooming Iris in there as well.

As long as DH doen't add up what I have spent on plants, I'm good!!

Claudia

Squash Blossom · Post by **Squash Blossom** » Jun 01, 2007 10:01 pm

I have a yard full of what I bought as Salvia Guarantica (sp.?) that is a lot like your Black & Blue but slightly different. Mine is a gorgeous bright blue and I really do enjoy the plant.

I've been growing it for over 10 years. The first winter I was so afraid I'd lose mine that I actually built something like a plastic tent over it!

Boy! Was that not necessary in Zone 8! It is pretty aggressive around here.

I'll bet I've given away a truckload of plants to friends and people who have stopped by to ask what the plant was?

When my plants finish their first blooming, I take electric hedge clippers and "mow" the whole bed down to maybe 12" tall. Within a couple of weeks new growth is coming on and shortly thereafter it will bloom again...and in early Fall, I repeat the process and it'll bloom a third time before frost.

Hummingbirds seem to love these gorgeous salvias - the Black & Blue is really more dramatic than the blue I have, which I've been told was Brazillian Blue or Cambridge Blue.

Ann

newtohosta-no more · Post by **newtohosta-no more** » Jun 05, 2007 3:25 pm

What a gorgeous plant!! I don't know if I'd get one if it isn't hardy in Zone 5, but I might be tempted if I do see it out at Lowe's. I'm a sucker for those impulse buys!

And Ann.....a hedge clipper, huh? Sounds drastic,but it obviously works for you. Great tip...if I could bring myself to do that.

nanny_56 · Post by **nanny_56** » Jun 05, 2007 3:50 pm

Joan, I am in 5b though very close to 6. Have read somewhere else of people over wintering in their unheated garage or keeping the tubers over winter like tender bulbs. If you keep the plant in a pot you are just supposed to guve it a little water every few weeks so it doesn't dry out.

I figure it is worth a shot! Don't know if you don't try!!

Claudia

impatience · Post by **impatience** » Jun 05, 2007 6:49 pm

I got two of these last week. The tag said that it got to 4 feet tall. I have them in a protected place so I'm hoping that it will live on.

toomanyanimals · Post by **toomanyanimals** » Jun 09, 2007 5:03 am

If you choose to overwinter it, be ready for it to drop a ton of leaves. It was very messy.

Squash Blossom · Post by **Squash Blossom** » Jun 10, 2007 9:25 pm

newtohosta-no more wrote:What a gorgeous plant!! I don't know if I'd get one if it isn't hardy in Zone 5, but I might be tempted if I do see it out at Lowe's. I'm a sucker for those impulse buys!
And Ann.....a hedge clipper, huh? Sounds drastic,but it obviously works for you. Great tip...if I could bring myself to do that.

Here in Zone 8, this salvia grows easily to 4 ft. tall...including the blooms. Mine is 4 ft. tall now.

When these blooms eventually fade and the stems look bad, I guarantee I take the electric hedge clippers to them.

The plants will leaf out again and bloom again within a few weeks and ordinarily I'll repeat the process again in early Fall and get one more round of blooms before frost.

Each time I cut the plants back the new growth will get shorter and shorter...but, personally, I wish the plant wasn't quite so tall to begin with.

Ann