Just wondering if anyone is growing this again this season. I didnt get any thru the winter here. But the plants I got from vincent gardens seem nice and healthy with nice foliage. They seem to have more foliage that what I had last season. This season Im trying one in the ground and two in pots.

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

Mine didn't flower last year. Maybe this year's a charm!

Bay Area, CA

Steve,

Salvia oxyphora has been in flower here since April 2011. Without a frost last winter, the plants are 5 feet tall and almost as wide. I will be cutting them back soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nancy L Newfield
Casa Colibrí
Metairie, Louisiana USA
USDA Zone 9b
http://www.casacolibri.net/

Nancy - All these different cultivars of Salvia are very interesting to a salvia newbie. I can't imagine a salvia that large! Geez! I sure wish I could see a photo of some of yours and others here to get a perspective on size and shape of these plants. Your yard sounds like it would be a hummingbird hotspot with so many different plants!

Becky

I dont have any real good photos of oxyphora from last year but here are a couple.









Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

This one is new to me too, Becky. The flowers are beautiful! Another one to add to the list!

Linsey
MN
USDA hardiness zone 4b
Heat zone 5
Sunset zone 43

How much hummer activity Nancy and Steve? It has a color that similar to mulberry jam, no?

Hi Steve,

We have three plants and are trying it this season for the first time. They seem like very tall, vigorous plants, but of course no blooms yet. I asked Susan at Sweet Nectar Nursery how this plant does for her in the Pacific Northwest and she says it blooms very late and gets limited hummer use, so we shall see.

Beautiful photo of the S. oxyphora and S. guarantica together. It's nice to get that perspective of the plant.

It's always fun to try new things---I guess that's the stuff of life.



Kathi and Michael Rock
Madison, Wisconsin
Zone 4/5

I believe I planted a couple of S. oxyphora seedlings last year & they have very small plants emerging again from the roots. I left the dead stems in place so I'd spot them.

I'll be happy if they bloom at all, even if late - I'd like to see what my over-wintering Anna's think of it.

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

I made a bunch of winter cuttings from a mother plant. One of those cuttings planted in early May is about to open its first flowers. It had two flowering stalks but one wilted the other day. The mother plant went into the garden last week and it is looking a bit rough. As far as I am concerned the jury is still out on this plant. A while back Nancy mentioned she was not seeing much action on hers and my original plant bloomed too late last year to be of much use. We'll see, I have a half dozen or more plants in ground and in pots and several were passed along to friends to try.

Ward,

You are correct that Salvia oxyphora received only minimal attention last year, the first time I'd had it. It is a beautiful plant, one I will always want to have and it has an excellent nectar value:

Salvia oxyphora - 1 flower yielded about 18 microliters [µL] of 31.0% nectar.

It may draw more interest at different times, under different circumstances. I have 4 plants. One is planted in a too shady spot in back. That one hardly bloomed. However, 3 others are packed into in a large Salvia bed in front. There may be just too many good choices there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nancy L Newfield
Casa Colibrí
Metairie, Louisiana USA
USDA Zone 9b
http://www.casacolibri.net/

As Nancy N. has shown the nectar content is right there with salvia guaranitica. But as others have said I saw very limited hummer use last season but this is one unique flowering plant and I love the look of it. I tried cuttings but they didnt make it thru for me. I gave last years plant in the ground every opportunity to revive itself but it just didnt make it so I ordered more this season. You can see from the photos above with ants draw to it that its quite sweet. So the hummers lack of interest seems to be a mystery. But for anyone new to this plant it loves to be watered and fed. I use 12-12-12 and water fairly heavy especially during the hot summer days.

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

I spread mine around this year too. One is out back in full sun in relatively lean soil. Another went in a bed in the front that gets morning sun only, shaded by the house. That one has a bloom which is much earlier than last year's August opening. Lastly a pot of 6 rooted cuttings was put into a pot with an established Elephant Ear. This is a very nice salvia species and maybe I am slow, but unless I get lucky or the plant is extraordinarily easy it can take me several years to figure out what it like best.

Thanks for those hints Steve. I always fertilize with a balanced, slow-released fertilizer when I plant. I discovered that one of our S. Oxyphora plants already has a flower bud on it (just planted a few short weeks ago). I am so relieved that this will not be non-bloomer (like so many salvias often are) for us or blooming in October when most of the hummers are gone. Let the fun begin.



Kathi and Michael Rock
Madison, Wisconsin
Zone 4/5

Nan

Thats what I was thinking too maybe I had mine in a place that there were too many good choices for a rookie plant to be used. That is why I put two of these into pots for placing where they just might work better. But it will be awhile before I have any flowers on these.

Im wondering about growing S. oxyphora in containers. I have two in pots this season and wonder how they will fare compared to my inground plant.

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

The one Kate gave me last year never left its pot. It grew to about 2.5 feet and began blooming in mid August.

Hmmm, well oxy has the rep of being slow. My inground one last season had its first blooms on 7-12 but I will keep the potted as such.

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

Im starting to get my answer on an previous post. Im seeing bulbs forming on my potted oxyphora and my inground. The potted bulbs appear larger than the inground ones. But any blooms/flowers are a good ways off as yet.

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

I have my first oxy bud today on my inground plant a little behind last season but I guess its understandable with this extreme heat. My potted oxy should soon follow. We broke another record yesterday and most likely will again today already 101° according to my accurite which is quite accurate.

We did get a little rain here yesterday for about 10min. strange seeing mud puddles down the street but not at my house.

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

My blooms haven't been lasting more than a day in this weather - they open and a short time later fall to the ground.

Having problems this year in the UK where it has been SO wet and cold. Many flowers, plants having been over-wintered in the greenhouse. Lush growth, but flowers all dropping off, so sad.........but warmer and drier weather allegedly on the way!

After a brief rain shower I did a reinspect and found I have two buds on the inground and my largest potted oxy has two pink buds also.

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

Sorry to hear about that Robin. Sometimes, well more than sometimes, it seems we gardeners lurch from problem to problem. Usually something wonderful is happening that attracts our eye, but sometimes.... As you have been hearing constantly from us: if you can't stand the heat get out of the garden. How cold have your highs been? Are you still dressed for winter?

Well, next week supposed to warm up as the jet stream moves north, so maybe low 70s as opposed to high 50s...heating been on for the last month, and wearing thick sweaters! SO much rain and strong winds, gardening has been a bit of a nightmare! Many new buds forming on S. oxyphora.

Robin

Glad you are going to be warming some next week and that you have several buds in the works. I also am hoping mine pick in the next few days as we are getting slight reprieve from the present heat to high 80s and then back we go again to near 100.

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

Robin - We are having droughts here and high temps! Hard to believe anyone else in the world is having cold and damp weather! LOL! I hope you get some warmer and dryer temps soon!

~Becky~


Click for weather forecast

Robin,

Interesting that the UK has such opposite weather of the US. Hopefully, this pattern will change for you soon. I remember being in the UK in June a while back and it was very cold and raining and there were only one or two days of sun and 70 degree weather. Such a really different climate.

We have one Salvia oxyphora that has been blooming for a while now. Interesting and striking flowers, but unfortunately no hummer interest. Hopefully, our other two plants (in different locations) will bloom soon and hummers will visit.



Kathi and Michael Rock
Madison, Wisconsin
Zone 4/5

Last year, if I remember correctly, it was quite warm in the UK. I seem to recall my cousin telling me how warm it was there and I was still wearing jumpers here. It seemed to take forever for my poor plants to finally take off and start growing much less blooming.

Penny
NY
USDA hardiness zone 6a
Heat zone 4
Sunset zone 39

Concerning hummer use: Last season I was a bit disappointed at the lack of hummer interest which to me was surprising. So this year I have more 1-inground and 2-in pots. Two of the three have several buds showing so should have blooms shortly. There was use last season but it was very light and I only had the 1 inground plant. Im hoping for more interest this season once they get blooming well. I have the 2 pots right up front where they will be more exposed and hopefully will draw their interest more. I will be hopefully watching with great interest. But regardless of the hummer use I want to keep this unusual plant in my garden.

Its nice to see these guys finally go into bloom, actually have my first fully open blooms of this season.

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

My first open oxy blooms in pots







Plus this invader went all the way around the feeder not sure what it was getting but the finch has been in my salvias searching for seed also





Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

I have just recently had any open blooms but two days in a row now I have viewed a hummers using the inground plant which is an upgrade already from use last season. Without going outside I cant view the potted ones so maybe some repositioning is in order.

What was so interesting about todays viewing is that the hummer appeared to be resting on the leaf below the flower of interest as it fed from it. This plant is right below my window but I was late in looking that direction.

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35

Already this year I have seen more use of my oxy than all of last season which Im happy about, but I do notice they hit the inground one much more than the potted ones. Please bear in mind these shots are on the blurry side as they were taken thru the screen. But they are the best I could do even using the enhance feature but you get the idea. Bob please ignore these as a pic of the day.





Ok I tried a couple more shots that might be some better with the lens I have to work with

Very nice Steve. I'm glad to hear that the birds do in fact enjoy using this plant. Your oxy looks very healthy. I just love her blossoms.

Patti
Pewaukee, WI
Zone 5A

Patti

It just goes to show if the birds dont use a plant at first dont give up on it especially if you like it. And I really like the looks of this one.

Steve
Martinsville, In
Heat zone 6
Sunset zone 35