As I was out assesing the damage to my columbine and trimming back my Salvia reptans and Salvia Cherry Chief, I decided to pull out the stuff that was dead so I could determine where I would plant stuff. I pulled out the one black a& Blue that was planted in the corner of the bed and to my surprise it was loaded with new roots and runners. I quickly put it back in the hole and tamped the soil down around it and will hope for the best. The last time I did that my B&B didn't revive. Hopefully this one will as it has more new roots. So the moral of the story is don't rip out all thos plants just because the appear to be dead. As you all know I am in a colder zone 6 and with the winter we had this year it was more like zone 5 I am sure and at least one B&B has survived.

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

That's great to hear Penny!! We have never been this lucky in Wisconsin. I think your reliable snow cover and warmer zone really help. We often have periods of no snow cover and intense cold in Wisconsin that unfortunately kills any annual still left in the ground.




Kathi and Michael Rock
Madison, Wisconsin
Zone 4/5

Kathi
I was quite surprised because I relly thought it was dead. That bed is slightly recessed in front of my porch and doesn't get much snow cover but it is a straight on south facing bed with nothing to block the sun so it stays a little warmer than anywhere else in the garden. The soil in that bed is already starting to feel a bit warm too. I just hope I didn't kill it by yanking its little feet out. At least now I know that a B&B will survive here at least in that bed. If I had to make an uneducated guess I would say that bed is more of a zone 7 microclimate.

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

I wouldn't think digging it up and replanting it would kill it Penny, so it should eventually emerge. Just don't overwater it before it comes up. It's warm now so the only thing that might get it is rot or a late freeze after it emerges. I'm still waiting on mine and while I might be losing hope by mid May, I will still leave them in the ground and plant around them just in case. I know if I can get one through the FIRST year, it will be a little hardier the next. I also think a well established plant will come back earlier than one that was just planted the year before, so be careful not to compare to someone that's had it for a few years. At least that's been the case with a few other things that I've planted.

Christie
Missouri
zone 6

Thanks Christie,
Even if this one doesn't survive the shock of being plucked out of the ground I know that I can get them to survive in that particular bed so I will definiely put in at least one more. The soil in that bed stays nice and loose and doesn'r compact and it also drains much better than any of my other beds in back.

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

I still have high hopes for the ones I got at our Master Gardener sale here last year. The plants were donated so someone around here must be getting them through the winter well enough to dig, divide and give away. They were nice big chunks so I'm hoping I'll have better luck with them than the little pots I've bought elsewhere in the past that didn't come back for me.
I've wondered if putting a couple large dark colored rocks close to it would help - maybe hold some heat in. If I ever have enough to experiment with, I may try that.

Christie
Missouri
zone 6

Christie the one that I dug up was planted in a south facing bed close to the foundation of the house and I did have a large rock in front of it and some shredded wood mulch on top of the root ball. I am sure that helped tremendously. I have a couple of other plants including a black & Blue in an exposed raised bed out in the middle of the front yard also south facing they may also come back. I tried several times to pull it out and it is in tighter than this one by the house. I had one large rock on top of the root ball of that one but didn't add any additional mulch so we shall see if that one returns also. I have two out back that I can't pull out that only had some mulch and one on the west side of the house close to the foundation in a corner that seems to be holding pretty fast too. That one only had leaf mulch on it. Will post if any of the others return.

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

I'm ordering some from Rich D... as I don't know if they'll get them up here or not! Gotta have em!

glo
Zone 5 8500 ft up the Mountain in Colorado!

One nursery here said they would have them the end of May (too late) and so I will be checking another nursery on my way out to the gas station. The last two years they had them earlier and cheaper last year. Then tomorrow I will go to the farmer's market to see if there are any plant vender yet. Last year I did get one at the market and wen I went back to get more a week later they said they weren't selling what they had left. I think they found out what a popular plant it is and decided to grow them out a bit more for their nursery so they could charge more.

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

Penny-- Congrats to you on the B&B . The other day I was cutting back all my rupistris which were well on their way and also pulled out my b&b which I was sure were dead and saw no sign of life underneath. I had hopes though as that bed is facing north and braced against the house from south winds. But I do still have hopes for the one blue ensign and IM leaving it be for a while also in that same bed. I think its a lost cause too but cant make myself pull it up just yet.

glo-- You certainly bring back memories to me , as a teener growing up my family vacationed in the rockies and have tons of movie film of such and many such trout cooked over the campstove. Although I only got to go on two trips as I was working and then drafted after that. But the fresh constant smell of pine trees will linger forever,, ahhh I can smell it now!

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

I have seen all the green houses and nursury in Peoria and bloomington,ill that are carrying the black and blue salvias annuals.

eldon voorhees

Thanks for posting this, Penny...my B&B still looks dead here, and we hit 87oF today! Your post encourages me to wait it out. It better hurry up...my hummers are ready for it!

Zone 7B
North Carolina Piedmont

Matt
It will still be a while before it is ready to bloom. I always try and find a small pot of some blooming salvia as early as possible so that I have something in bloom for the hummers even thugh for the most part they use the feeders early in the season.

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

Penny,

Good timing for the "pep talk" on the Black and Blue Salvias because I was just wondering if they were ever going to do anything(?) I will have to get down on the ground today and look closely for some sprouting. If the 90'F forecasted for tomorrow and Monday doesn't get them growing, nothing will! I sure would like them to come back on their own. I might give them a little Miracle Grow to jog their memories!

Some of my other Salvias took a worse-than-normal hit last winter. My Furman's Red, San Carlos Fesival, and another red variety all survived but the current re-growth is a bit spotty. These are all planted on the warmer south side of my house and normally make it with little damage - but it was a bad winter. I'll give them another week before I start trimming to see what branches will sprout and what will not.

I have a few big plant orders coming in the mail any day now. Among them, 10 David Verity Cupheas and 10 San Carlos Festival Salvias. They should liven up the place.

But still no hummers seen - but today could be the day!

Wilmington, Delaware
USDA zone 7a
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 32

Ron
That is exactlly why I posted right away when I saw new roots. I knew that many of us from zone 7 on are always aprehensive about the return of Black and Vlue and we do tend to pull them out too soon. I was very excited to see that mine was still alive and developing new roots and runners.

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

Wow Penny! That gives me hope for next year. I've only planted them in pots in the past, but this year am putting flowers in the ground. I've always considered salvia as annuals here, but now will be more hopeful!

Carol

Carol R
Tennessee
USDA Hardiness Zone 7
Heat Zone 7

Carol
The guaraniticas and the greggiis should do very well for you in the ground. You could mulch them in winter for a little more insurance but I bet your bottom dollar that they will return for you.

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

Hi everyone, I was just searching the internet trying to see when Salvia Black & Blues will sprout in zone 5/6 (I wasn't even sure they would overwinter outside, I overwintered one in a cool room the previous winter). Good to see there may still be hope! It's been really warm her (in the 80's) and I've been checking the damage from winter and trying to do some gardening. I've got some salvia Furhman's Red which haven't poked their eyes up yet either. Am thinking they might not have made it. Both were good hummingbird plants (especially the black & blue). Trying to decide if I need to order the Furhmans' Red, I already have ordered the black & blue. I even had a two year old b&b in a large pot in my garage, but nothing on that yet either. Is there still hope?

Thanks!

Hi Brenda
I am not sure where you are located. In zone 5 it may be a bit iffy unless you have extremely well drained soil and lots of protection. In zone 6 in the right conditions you do stand a better chance of your salvias returning. This is the first year that I have had even a little success but none have actually sprouted new growth yet.

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

Hi Brenda, welcome to the forum.

Maryjane
W Ga
Zone 8a

Well, I just gave up. We've had three scorching days here, getting up to 93oF on Sunday. So I figured if my B&B hadn't spouted yet, it wasn't meeting me halfway! So when I went plant shopping today I saw new beautiful B&B's and they were too gorgeous to pass up. Came home and pulled up the one in the ground...dead! But I did plant it in the early fall, so I don't think it had time to get established before our colder-than-usual winter. This new one will fare better, I hope.

So don't give up yet!...unless you see a $6 B&B that you can't resist....

Zone 7B
North Carolina Piedmont

Matt
Salvias and Agastaches for the most part do need to be planted early so that they have plenty of time to put roots deep into the soil. Agastache rupestris and posibly Salvia asurea can probably be planted later in the season but the others need at least a good 3 months in the ground before winter to be safe.

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

I have 3 clumps of B&B...they came thru our nasty winter like little troopers & I could see their little noses peeking out of the ground weeks ago. They've slowly advanced just a bit taller, but our colder-than-normal spring hasn't encouraged much growth.

OT, but I noticed yesterday that I have a few salvia seedlings sprouting in the flower beds. They may be old seeds from LIR or other annual salvias that finally got in a favorable sitch for germinating...or they may be seeds from any of the perennial salvias. I'll try not to disturb them and see what I get.



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

I did remove one this morning that I new wasn't going to make it. It was a late start and didn't grow a lot and it was planted in less than favorable soil so while I was cleaning up that bed I decided to just remove it now. The jury is still out on the other 5. I am trying really hard to be patient since I really don't have any to replace them with yet anyway.

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

Mine have not overwintered outside the last 2 years but then again, I didn't mulch well either. They always do so well & are the best color for the garden. I wanted them in mass this year so I just bought a flat of very nice ones. (They do overwinter well inside though). Got a biggie down there, too.

Penny..even though our winter was very rough this year, I found that the ton of snow we had before the artic freeze must have insulated some very well. I have more plants coming back than ever before. One's that didn't survive before. Glad to hear your reptans made it. I know you were concerned awhile back. I just saw signs of life last Saturday. Now that was listed as Zone 6, I believe, & also difficult to grow by HCG. Going on 3rd year now & it comes back for me with no effort!!

Joni
Elwood, IL
Zone 5

Some of the Salvia guaranitica Brazil came up at Palmyra over night.