SALVIAS FLOWERING IN WINTER

Many of the Winter flowering Salvias are tall with large leaves. To keep them  flowering during the cold months, they NEED protection from frost; by planting them under deciduous trees, using large trees as shelter and  among  large shrubs..  Most of these beauties like to grow in a sunny protected area but are just as happy in a  semi shaded positions.T hey all like a little water during the hot dry months.

Most of the large involucrata types now begin to show off their gorgeous pink flowers, expanding to put on a wonderful display for all the birds. There are so many wonderful colours during these frosty mornings that shine in the sunlight.

Of course there are plenty of other medium Salvias still flowering such as S. curviflora, ‘Phyllis Fancy’, ‘Waverly’ and ‘Hadspen’. Although many of the small greggii/ microphylla types may have been pruned and cleaned out, many would still be flowering  if left untouched, such as ‘Mesa Azure’, Hotlips’, ‘ Angel Wings’, ‘Navajo Red’ and many, many more. This is the time that some of the S. disermas varieties like to show their spires of white or palest pink flowers. The purple and pink varieties prefer the summer time to flower.

The Frosty days are perfect for the herbaceous Salvias which are underground waiting to come up in Spring. The tough grey leaf Salvias, including the Sth African tribe perform very well during these cold mornings, but make sure they have good drainage to prevent rotting if there is lingering dampness and too much  rain.

Many of the early herbaceous Salvias begin to stir and flower, to take advantage of the early pollinators. Salvias such as S. eigii and S. heirosolymitana emerge now with their beautifully  marked flowers of pale pink and maroon.

SALVIAS FLOWERING IN SPRING

Spring is the time when so many Salvias burst into  new growth and flowers. It’s the time  for the herbaceous Salvias to begin to shine  rising up from winter into bright new leaf growth and their wonderful array  of blue/ mauve/ purple/ pink and white flowers, all attracting bees and other insects. The suberba and nemerosa types begin to flower in October and  continue until late summer. Whilst many other large leaf herbaceous and clumping Salvias flower late spring and summer, continuing until autumn. Salvias such as  superba ‘Maynight’, ‘Snowhills’,  nemerosa
‘Amethyst’, ‘Rubin’, viscosa, put on an excellent display.

Salvia eigii and hierosolymitana are among the early herbaceous salvias to begin flowering, from late winter through to early summer. These Salvias take advantage of the insects and bees without too much competition from other flowering plants, to ensure that they become pollinated and set seed.

There are still a number of tall, large leaf Salvias in flower, just finishing or just beginning such as S.dorisiana , ‘Amistad’ and S.gesneriiflora ‘Red Rambler’, ‘Timboon, S.karwinskii ‘Cyclamen’ and ‘Costa Rican Blue’.

Spring is also the time when the new flush of  growth and flowers appear on the greggii/microphylla types. All attracting bees, hover flies and butterflies.  Although ‘Hotlips’, ‘Mesa Azure’ , ‘Angelwings’ and others would have still flowered through winter, they do need cutting back and cleaning out to continue through the summer months. They all need a good feed and new mulch applied to keep the root area cool for the hot dry summer.