For anyone that is still growing SL411 what is the status of your plant(s). Blooming, not blooming, growing, not growing?

Mine grew very little last year so I kept my two plant in small 4 inch pots and brought them inside for the winter. This spring I planted one on the east side of the house and one on the south side. The one on the east side is about to bloom (this week end). The one of the south side which was planted later hasn't bloomed yet but has gotten quite bushy and expect it to bloom in the not too distant future.


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

Penny,

We had really good luck with this salvia last year. Donald kindly gave us two plants that were quite mature in early July and they both bloomed by late July and were well used by hummers.

This year, we ordered a few from Richard Dufresne (we decided to not overwinter our plants from last year given that we were trying to overwinter at least 50 other plants) and one is in the ground and the other is in a pot. They are still small, but healthy and growing fast. We hope that they will bloom by the end of this month (provided we get some decent weather.)



Kathi and Michael Rock
Madison, Wisconsin
Zone 4/5

In spite of the cold and wet weather we have been having my first SL 411 has bloomed! I have 4 blooms this morning. Patience really has paid off with this plant. The other one isn't ready to bloom yet but hopefully with a little sun that will change.

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

Penny, Well I am just going to have to do something about mine...I have not yet planted it out but have been meaning to. It is tall and bloomed last year when it was half this tall. The blooms fell off however. It hasn't even thought about blooming again...but I need to pay more attention to it I guess.


Carol
Milford, CT
Zone 6

Carol,
I think I did read that it like moister richer soil than some of the other salvias. The one that is blooming was planted a week or two earlier than the other one which hasn't bloomed yet. Neither of mine grew hardly at all last year and never did bloom. The one that is blooming is on the east side of the house . The soil has a couple of years worth of compost and leaf mold in it and it is in sun until noon or 1 o'clock. It was pretty floppy when I first planted it out so I put a wire cage around it to hold it up and it has filled out nicely.

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

We have very rich, heavy soil in our yard which is maybe why this salvia works out so well for us.

We've learned that not all salvias require the same hot, dry conditions. We are trying a new salvia from Annie's Annuals this year called Salvia wagneriana. We have noticed that if it's not getting enough water, the leaves will curl up and the entire plant will even droop. Here's a link to Dave's Garden about it:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/112315/

We'll let you all know how it works out.



Kathi and Michael Rock
Madison, Wisconsin
Zone 4/5

Another very pretty Salvia, Kathi. Do let us know how that one does work for you. So many salvias and so little space!

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

Well, we have some bad news to report about this plant. We have one in a pot, which is doing great and one in the ground, which suddenly started looking funny. I thought it wasn't getting enough sun, so I moved it to a new full sun location and it's half dead now!

We had such great luck with this salvia last year. But this year has been very challenging with fall-like weather until today. We have been in one arctic cold front after another---summer is half over and we feel like it hasn't really even been here yet (they've even closed public swimming pools and canceled outdoor events due to the cold weather, which is unheard of.)

Anyhow, I think this poor plant fell victim to a fungal disease that it may not have gotten had the weather been warmer.

I still think this is a great little salvia though and would never discourage anyone from planting it.





Kathi and Michael Rock
Madison, Wisconsin
Zone 4/5

Kathi I am so sorry to here that the one didn't make it. I can certainly relate to the weather you all are having. We are having similar experiences here. I nearly lost my million bells this year because it has been sol cold and then the thunderstorms that last several days at a time water logged the plants. I had to cut them all back and put them in the garage just to dry out. The flower buds just shriveled up before they opened and a lot of leaves turned yellow. One is making a comeback but the other still is waining. If I am able to get any seed from my one SL411 plant that is blooming I will send them to you. The other plant is still just sitting there.

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

Afraid Im very much in the dark about this plant, sounds like it can be hard to grow. Is it possible for someone to post pics of this plant in bloom.

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

Steve, click on the link Kathi posted above. There are pictures on the right side of the page at Dave's Garden.

Carol

Carol R
Tennessee
USDA Hardiness Zone 7
Heat Zone 7

Thanks Carol--- I did click on Kathi's link and also looked at other photos online, interesting plant.

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

If it likes moisture then that explains why it did so badly for me a couple of years ago - it is too dry in the yard.

Ward I have noticed that the more I water it the bushier it gets and the more it blooms.

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

When I am on a full drought watering schedule it takes about a week to water all the beds in the yard. That may not have been often enough for the plant.

I managed to get 1 seedling going from some seed Don sent. To my surprise, it seems to be doing fairly well. The only problem is that it seems to have a rather weak stem. Is that normal? Currently, it is about 8 inches tall. It just went outside in a 20 gallon container with a Manettia inflata. They can both get good watering where I have them.

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Nancy L Newfield
Casa Colibrí
Metairie, Louisiana USA
USDA Zone 9

Nancy,

The stems on this plant are very fragile and that is normal. In your wonderful climate, I'm sure that it will grow fast and bloom right away. I've heard it likes hot weather and to be kept evenly moist.

Our SL411 in a container now has flower buds (and it has not been warm here this summer).



Kathi and Michael Rock
Madison, Wisconsin
Zone 4/5

Kathi, no one before has referred to our steamy Louisiana climate as 'wonderful'! The SL411 I put out a couple of days ago looks happier and healthier already. Staked, it is growing more upright.

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Nancy L Newfield
Casa Colibrí
Metairie, Louisiana USA
USDA Zone 9

Nancy,

If you experienced our weather here for even one day, you would be yearning to get back to Metarie as fast as possible. Wisconsin was the coldest place in the nation today and even Alaska was warmer. Today was overcast with a high of 66 degrees. Many of our tropical plants will probably not even bloom this season (although our Salvia SL411 has buds on it right now.)

Last fall I just about broke my back hauling over 50 tender plants into the house so they would not be killed by the cold. I guess everyone has a different idea of "wonderful", but I would like to be comfortable and be able to grow decent hummingbird plants that I wouldn't have to dig up every season (or spend $1,000 purchasing new plants every spring!) I think other members in the north and midwest can relate to what I'm saying. Every region of the country has its challenges and I'm just complaining so don't mind me.

Nancy, enjoy your Salvia SL411. Great that you got it to grow from seed---my SL411 seeds unfortunately never germinated. We'll post some photos of ours as soon as it blooms.






Kathi and Michael Rock
Madison, Wisconsin
Zone 4/5

Kathi
can I relate to what you posted to Nancy! I feel like I am the only one that complains about the weather up here. I would give anything for a few days of that nice hot sultry weather right now. Granted it is nice to have a short break from it every now and then. I can always coold myself off if I got too hot but when I get cold I can't seem to put enough clothes on to warm back up. Of couse it does take its toll on the plants too. Not only are my tropicals struggling but some of my perennials and spring bloomers never even bloomed this year. Our temps are at least 10 degrees below what they should be for this time of the year.

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