Pleased to report all 3 of my Salvia gauraniticas (not Black & Blue...just Blue) have survived along with Salvia "Raspberry Delight" and it's mid-season layered cutting. It looks like Salvia "Hot Lips" may have croaked.

As for gauranitica, I cut them back in the late fall and put some mulch and a plastic tarp over them thuruout the winter months as a protection idea and it may have helped keep them drier in the freezing months.

Zone 6b New Jersey

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Stephen that is great news. I have toyed with the idea of tarping my plants for the winter but haven't done it yet. How far down did you cut your guaranitica back? That would work really well in the large bed in the back yard I am also finding that pea gravel mulch works extremely well. I've done that in a few small spots and and it has proven to be very successful

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

Penny I cut them down to about 6" above the ground and then stuffed a small pile of shredded leaves in and around the branches. I just used bricks to hold the small tarp down over everything. I uncovered and pulled the leaf mulch away about 3 weeks ago. I hope this helps , I will do it again next winter !!

Zone 6b New Jersey

visit my hummer photos athttp://www.flickr.com/photos/38829896@N00/

Stephen,

Did you have any Greggii's in your garden that did not make it?

Suchie

Thank you Stephen, I am definitely going to do that this winter. Donald's method was very similar but probably a bit more extreme than what I would need to do. That being said anything we can do to bring some of these good plants back is well worth the effort.

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

it looks like it was a very bad season for Hot Lips, so far about 20% have returned. Remind me when you come down Stephen, I should have extra Ark Rd Pink which is probably a cross of Raspberry Delight and San Carlos Festival. It is proving very hardy. The hybrid Clay Sutton and another currently call Ark Rd 3 are also very hardy.

I'm jealous. Wish I could say the same about my Black and Blues but still nothing and we've been getting soooo much rain lately. Hope they don't rot. I had two clumps of species guaranitica but only one has returned so far.

Found a nice surprise this week. Two of my Cerro Potosi seedlings have some growth coming from the base. I didn't expect that since the mama plant didn't make it through the winter the year before.

Christie
Missouri
zone 6

Stephen -- Now you and Donald have had success with this so I also plan on trying it next winter. I already have about 4 large bags of mulch that I racked up from last summer saved so I can use for cover. Ive not had a guaranitica survive a winter yet so its worth a try.

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

Christie,
None of my B&B have broken ground yet. The one that I dug up was full on new growth so I hope I didn't damage it when I plopped it back in the ground. The other 5 I can't budge so I am hoping some of those may still have life in them too. We are also getting a lot of rain.

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

I am in Wilmington, Delaware (Zone 7a) and I've had 3 salvias return reliably, year after year. One is Salvia greggii "Furman's Red":


Another is Salvia microphylla "San Carlos Festival":


Close-up:


Also, (not shown) Salvia greggii "Maraschino" has come back year after year.

The above are all sub-shrub type Salvias so they do not die down completely like Salvia guaranitica "Black and Blue".

I think the key to growing Salvia greggii and Salvia microphylla plants in the East is to plant them on higher ground (i.e. well-drained soil - I add some sand) and of course, in a warm microclimate. My survivors are mostly all on the south side of my house. They do not survive nearly as well on the north side of my house.

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

Ron,

Your Furman's red photographs have really motivated me to fill up some spots in my yard with it. How tall and wide do they get in your yard and apporximately how far apart did you plant them? I have them in a spot with sharp drainage and excellent sun and 'am wondering if with winter die down they will reach their full height and width. Also, compared to the other Greggii's they do appear very compact.

Suchie

Suchie,

My "Furman's Red" are planted only a foot apart. Probably, I could have spread them out a little more. But they do seem more compact by nature than my "San Carlos Festival" for example, which gets maybe 3 feet wide by the end of summer.

In this south-facing location, I do just about nothing for my "Furman's Red" in terms of protection. This year, after our rigorous winter, there is more dead on them than usual but still more than 2/3 of the stems are green now with new leaves.



Here is Salvia X jamensis "Maraschino", which for me is about as hardy as "Furman's Red" - it needs a little more room than "Furman's" as it gets more like 2 foot high and wide.



In this same south-facing micro-climate, I have also successfully grown Texas Firecracker (Aniscanthus wrightii) as a perennial:



And Diclyptera suberecta:



And California Fuchsia (Zauschneria) - shown growing at my old house, where it was successful in front of a south-facing fence:



In any empty spots, I stick in some Tropical Milkweed - which is not perennial for me but self-seeds from the previous years. Here is "Silky Red":



And "Silky Yellow":



I jam all these nectar-producing plants in my south-facing flowerbeds (along with cannas in the back and "Orange Profusion" zinnas in the front) and by the end of the summer, it's quite a jungle - some of my neighbors think it looks over-grown - but very it's attractive to hummers and butterflies - and that's all I care about!











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

Ron,

thanks for the photo tour. I have my Furman's red about 20 inches apart and I think that should give them enough room to grow. I also have the anisacanthus and dicliptera, but have put them in large pots. Given how well they are doing in your yard maybe I should stick them in the ground. Are they browsed by deer? If not, I'll make some room for them in a south facing bed. Does the anisacanthus self sow and spread a lot?

Suchie

Thanks for the excellent info Ron and great shots ! Your gardens are beautiful !!

Zone 6b New Jersey

visit my hummer photos athttp://www.flickr.com/photos/38829896@N00/

Ron,

All those lovely nectar rich flowers in that picture and there the sugar junkie sits contently on the feeder. At least you can get the flowers IN the picture! Maybe YOU should have a plant Swap or garden party at your home this season, you certainly are an experienced gardener....HInt Hint!



Pam NJ 6B