I have a question regarding purple majesty salvia for all of you who live in Michigan ~ WHERE CAN I FIND IT?!! lol. I've been around to 5 nurseries today hunting it down. I'll try more places tomorrow, but I just can't seem to find it around here. Last year I was never able to get any. Does anyone know if Telly's carries it? I've been to Lowes, Home Depot, Weigands, Hessells & Deneweths. If someone could let me know if they found any and where, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Joy
Michigan Zone 5/6

Joy
I am not in Mich. but I have never found Purple Majesty locally. I did grow it last year from a cutting that was sent to me from Houston. It is a later bloomer so I didn't take cuttings for this year. It is a truly magnificent plant and if I lived in a warmer zone I would definitely make it a staple in my garden but being in the Great Lakes region, I need plants where I get more bang for the buck....long season bloomers.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Purple majesty looks fantastic and I was considering it for a spot in the back of my east-facing garden bed next year. However, this spot only gets sun from about 8am-1pm. I've also been reading past discussions about it being brittle and a late bloomer. I'm guessing a lot of our northern hummer gardeners would recommend I not try it... at least in this particular part-shade location?

Zone 5a
East-central Iowa

It does bloom better with more sun but more importantly it can be a very late bloomer. Sometimes it will bloom before the hummers leave and sometimes it won't. The flowers are magnificent and if you are a purple lover it is worth trying at least once. It also gets HUGE. I think the one year that I grew it it was over 6ft. tall and at least 4-5 ft. wide. BTW, mine was grown in afternoon sun. Even though it was close to the west side of the house it didn't survive the winter here.

Penny
Niagara Falls, NY
USDA zone 6a/6b
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Hello Joy,

I'm here in Nebraska and there are no nurseries that carry the 'Purple Majesty' here either. I placed an order for it at Sweet Nectar Nursery online. You can call and place the order by phone too. Her prices are very reasonable. I ordered several other plants with the 'Purple Majesty' on my order last Spring and the plants were very large and healthy. I am a VERY satisfied customer!
Here's the link to the specific page for the PM Salvia. Maybe if you view her selection of plants you might see a few others that will make the S&H worthwhile for you...just a suggestion and trying to be helpful
http://tinyurl.com/yzsyptu
Here's a pic...



Susan Louise
from Branford CT/ live in Lincoln NE
Zone 5

Joy,

We are in Wisconsin, but have never found Purple Majesty locally either (although our local nurseries have gotten so much better about carrying hummingbird plants in the last 10 years.) Although there are many fine online nurseries that carry this great plant, the cheapest place we have found is Select Seeds Antique Flowers and Seeds. Here is the link:

http://www.selectseeds.com/cgi-bin/htmlos.cgi/0257.1.2181128932718190018

They send small but very beautiful plants that are well packed and we've never had one of their plants die. We would highly recommend then and I know that they are very highly rated by the Garden Watchdog site.

Sometimes you just have to go the mail order route to get what you want and need.

The nice thing is that this particular salvia can be very easily propagated through cuttings, so you can easily create more plants that will bloom that season.



Kathi and Michael Rock
Madison, Wisconsin
Zone 4/5

Joy,

Yes, viewing the Garden Watchdog is a must when ordering online. I'm glad Kathi mentioned that for you. Additionally, you will see Sweet Nectar Nursery there too! I even wrote a review myself for it...
Here's the link...
http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/6662/

Susan Louise
from Branford CT/ live in Lincoln NE
Zone 5

Joy and Susan Louise,

Sweet Nectar Nursery is a wonderful nursery and we ordered quite a bit from them this season. The plants are so huge and beautifully packed. They also have unusual hummingbird plants that you cannot find anywhere else. It's also nice to support a smaller nursery.

I had only suggested Select Seeds because the shipping costs on this more easy to find plant could be much cheaper for someone living in Michigan.



Kathi and Michael Rock
Madison, Wisconsin
Zone 4/5

Perhaps I should have started a new thread instead of responding to an old one because Joy's original post is more than 2 years old. She may not even check this forum anymore.

Kathi, I read on your site that in 2004, your first year growing purple majesty, it first bloomed on August 28th. What has been the approximate bloom date in 2005-09?

Zone 5a
East-central Iowa

Hello Dan,

OMG!!! Thanks for the "heads up"...LOL
Well, I don't think it's all for nothing though. i'm sure others will find the info useful

Susan Louise
from Branford CT/ live in Lincoln NE
Zone 5

If I do try purple majesty I would have to buy it online, so I do appreciate the links. I have already checked out Kathi's link to Select Seeds via her website's flower gallery. I've spent quite a bit of time viewing Kathi's site.

Zone 5a
East-central Iowa

Dan,

I didn't even realize that Joy's original message was that old!! Thanks for the heads up.

Anyhow, I'll have to check our records on this, but I know that we had Purple Majesty blooming a lot earlier for us this year than late August (despite our very cool summer). It's a great hummingbird plant that we would never be without. The sheer size of the flowers (much larger than Salvia guarantica!) makes this plant a beacon for hummingbirds.

It needs to be grown in full sun and we've had even more luck growing it in a container on hot cement (despite the plant's large size).



Kathi and Michael Rock
Madison, Wisconsin
Zone 4/5

One big negative for plants like purple majesty is it would cost about $15 to get it through the mail... and I think I'd have to rebuy it every spring. I would like to buy as many perennials and overwinterable(in my ~60F basement?) annuals as possible.

Kathi, does your PM also reach 6 ft tall x 4-5 ft wide? I was thinking it was a little smaller than that. I may be able to find a sunnier spot, but 6 ft is too big.

Zone 5a
East-central Iowa

Dan,

Purple Majesty plants are only $5.25 a piece from Select Seeds (and cheaper than that if you order 3 or more plants.) This is the most cost-effective way to go. As I mentioned, you can also easily create even more plants by taking cuttings (this can be done almost anytime after planting the initial plant.)

Purple Majesty does not grow to 6 X 4 feet in Wisconsin but probably does in warmer climates, but can be a very large plant for sure. We did have it successfully work out in a large container and this will encourage earlier blooming (along with with Bloom Booster fertilizer.)



Kathi and Michael Rock
Madison, Wisconsin
Zone 4/5

Thanks for the info, Kathi. I don't mind paying $5-$7 for a plant, but shipping more than doubles the price.

Zone 5a
East-central Iowa

Do you think it is worth a mention that lots of us have had trouble with this plant in the past. Vague memories of other forum messages make me think I am not the only one. It is stunningly beautiful, but these are a few drawbacks, especially for those with limited space. It suffers from breakage, often just as it is about to finally bloom. It doesn't bloom reliably in the north before August. It is fairly tender. There is a reason it hasn't been in this yard for some years. The plant took too much effort and most years gave a very poor return for the investment. I hear of similarly colored full species Salvia guaranitica but have never been able to get my hands on any. It is such a killer purple.

I grew Purple Majesty for a couple of years but I gave up on it because the stems would break which Ward mentioned. The blooms were beautiful and it started blooming in early August for me but whenever we would get some rain or wind, the stems would break just as they started to bloom. I grew several plants on different sides of the house hoping that they would be more protected on at least one side but they all broke. I would love to grow them again if I could figure out how to keep them from breaking.

Gary
Napoleon, OH
USDA Zone 5b