I went to our closest year round garden center today to look for a 21 inch plant saucer. While I was there they were just finishing unloading a truck of plants. Well naturally I had to walk out there to see what came in beside the common variety of alpine perennials and icicle pansies. Much to my surprise I found Salvia greggii Furman's Red and Wild Thing. I didn't get Wild thing but did pick up a Furman's Red. When I got home I did a search on the forum for this plant and resurrected a post I believe from Priya from 2007 where she listed Garden Crossings in Michigan having it and Ward made the comment that the nursery had it rated zone 5. Well wouldn't you know that whoever supplied these plants to our local nursery also had it listed as a zone 5 plant. I don't think even with protection it will survive a zone 5 winter but I am hopeful that it will survive my zone 6 with extra protection. It was a bit pricey ($6.99) for a smallish plant but I figured if I ordered it online the shipping would put me over the 6.99 price so I broke down and got it. I may have to do a couple of cittings before I plant it out. So I have made my first local plant purchase of the season

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

Penny, I have grown Furman's Red for the last two years and so far it appears hardy in my Zone 6b garden. Last spring it didn't die back to the ground, but this year it appears to have since the base is the only area I see little green shoots.

Jeff

Thanks Jeff.
I consider this winter a real test in plant hardiness for those of us in the northern states whether it is PNW or all the way across to the North East since we were all hit pretty hard this year.

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

Penny, my Furman's Red didn't do well last year. I had it in a large pot next to the house. I had intended to bring it in for the winter, but got busy and didn't. I figured it was no great loss, since it never did much last year.

BUT... I happened to check the pot, and it is coming back up. We did not have much snow over the winter, but we did have very cold
temperatures. It should not have survived in a pot. So now I have to find a better spot for it.

Laura
Elsberry, MO
Zone 5b

Good luck Penny.

Dianne
Southeast Alabama
Heat Zone 8
Sunset Zone 31

Penny,

I am getting four of the Furman's red. I have asked a local nursery to get it for me. Lucky, you are already finding yours locally. Ward has assured me that the Wild thing handles a zone 6 climate well. If you check the high country gardens site, they are also tend to list the Furman's red as a possible zone 5 plant.

Good luck!
Suchie

Penny,

That's a great find! Hopefully it will do well for you...and with the added cuttings you'll be making, you can make a nice hedge row of them...

Would love to see pics of your gardens this year!

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

Penny,
Did you find this at Menne? I looked it up and it seems like a nice plant. High Country Gardens rates it as zone 6.


Carol WNY
Amherst, NY
Zone 5

Well everyone it does sound promising. I do believe that I read that it is one of the hardier greggiis and if that is the case then it should do well here at least if the soil drains well and it gets full sun and possibly a little protection over the winter. It should at least come into bloom sooner than my seedlings and my inground overwintered plants.

Carol,
Yes I found it an Menne's. They NEVER get good plants in this early and they haven't had any greggii's in a few years until very late in the season. I was totally shocked when I went out there after they had the truck unloaded to find it in fact I started talking to two people inside looking at bulbs and they asked what the plant was. I told them and explained why I wanted it and they both asked me to show them where they were and both people picked up two each So instead of selling one plant to me Menne's ended up selling 5 plants in as many minutes. They weren't even piced out yet. Sally had to go look up the prices for us.

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

Penny, your so very lucky, what a find! Our zones are very similar, but we generally don't start seeing those kind of plants around here until late April/May. I was at Telly's the other day, don't know if you remember the place, we met up there when you were in town in July a few years back. They did have a gorgeous iochroma, royal queen. I was so tempted to get it, but it looked so happy there in the nursery, and I knew if I brought him home he would surely suffer. It's cold and rainy here. So alas, I left it there. I've all but given up on checking our Lowes and Home Depot. They never get anything different for the hummers. Sigh.

kathy t.
shebly twp., MI
Zone 5/6

Kathy,
The nursery thzat I found the Furman's Red at never gets any good hummer plants and the few I have found were in July and August so I have always had to do seeds or order online. This was such a fluke. It was also from a different wholesaler than they have ordered from in past years. They used to order their plants from Sunny Borders in Ohio but they never delivered them until late. The one year I found Agastache Tutti Frutti was in September...way too late. Maybe they are using a different wholesaler and they will actually get some decent plants in so I don't have to drive to every gzarden center in a 25 mile radius. Yes I do remember Telly's I wish we all had more time that day to spend together. It was fun being able to meet you and some of the other forum members.

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

Hi Kathy T...I'm surprised to hear of a nursery carrying Iochroma! As you may know, they are a very close relative to the Brugmansia. I have 3 Iochromas that I got as small mail order plants from Kartuz in So. Cal. They each took a year or two to get established - in fact, I nearly lost them over their first winter. But last year they really took off. They had a little hummer activity, but are not nearly as showy as brugs and they aren't fragrant. A word of caution - I bought them in 2 different years & each time they soon had an outbreak of mites. I liked dealing with Kartuz, but I would be watchful for "bugs" on any new plants received from them.

My favorites so far are I. 'Plum Beauty' and I. fuchsioides. Mine are still stuffed into my garage with most of my brugs...I hope they're alive and about ready for another season.

Patrick
USDA Zone 8b
Heat Zone 3
Sunset Zone 5
SeaTac, WA...one cool place

Hi Penny! Hope it works well for you.

I stopped by my local nursery too and they had 'Navajo Bright Red'.
http://www.monrovia.com/learn/plant_catalog/detail.php?item_number=2311

Here it is potted up.






I'll hang it on the arbor for the summer and plant it in the ground in the Fall.



Diana
Upstate SC
Zone 7b

Well Done Diana! I have 2 seedlings of Navaho Purple (I think that is what they are) that I found on a plant last summer. I managed to locate 3 seeds before the nursery pinched back the spent blooms. I can't believe I didn't lose them between browsing the nursery and getting home and then manage to save them all winter without misplacing them. All 3 seeds germinated but I lost one during the transplant process but still have the other two growing well in their own little pots.

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

Hi Patrick, thanks for the response about the lochromas. I really didn't know that much about this plant and tried researching here and on the net and still didn't come up with a whole lot. So you didn't see much hummer activity with yours? It was such a beautiful plant and sure looked like it would get a lot of action. I might just have to get it if it's still there when I go back. Never knew about the bug problem. Thanks for the tip.

kathy t.
shebly twp., MI
Zone 5/6

I have to say I have been truly disappointed in the furmans red I have been growing. The plant I had a couple of years ago that was similar to it but I cant seem to recall the name of it at present. It was skylights something or other but it did a real good job of blooming . Wish I could find more of those.

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

Diana,

That is a lovely plant...looks just like the 'Maraschino' I ordered from HCG...
Funny how some salvias look almost alike...

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