Salvias

Now that we're into Summer the Salvias are starting to bloom.

I usually can't help myself when I see a different one and will buy it and worry about where to put it later.

I was on a quest to get Megan's Magic at one of the flower shows and thought I had succeeded. I had chosen a plant which was unlabeled, but close by to a display pot of Megan's Magic and looked to have similar leaves. The guy taking the money agreed it looked to be that one.

It has since flowered and quite obviously is a different Salvia. So far it has stayed smallish and I find it to be brittle. In real life the flowers are a richer colour and I wonder if it might be Magenta Magic.

Ahh  Salvia Semiatrata. This one is a favourite with its unusual pink calyx and bluish flower with deep blue lip. I read that it has a sprawling habit so it is surrounded with a metal stand to support the main part of the plant, and so far this has been very effective. A pretty plant best viewed up close.

Salvia Canariensis is a bit different with its woolly leaves. I wondered if this would make it through our winter frosts and it surprised me by being so hardy. It has grown fairly quickly and I'm not sure it will have enough room where I put it. Lambley's suggest it is not easy to propagate, but that won't stop me having a go, as I would be pretty happy to have more of this plant around the garden.

  

Salvia guaranitica is best out on its own where it can't invade other plants. We moved some soil a while back and now it is coming up in the vegie patch. Despite that it puts on a brilliant display, lots of stems of  lovely deep blue flowers

Poor Salvia Hot Lips. I bought this one in just a tube size and straight away planted it out. When I went to check one day the whole plant was gone, I couldn't find a trace of where it had even been. I'm assuming the rabbits were to blame even though they supposedly don't eat salvia. Some weeks later I was surprised to see some stems emerging from the ground in the area it had been planted. I found some mesh to protect it, and away it went. One tough little plant that is flowering for the first time.

This is another one I find to be invasive, Salvia Uliginosa. Very pretty sky blue flowers for months. Now that it has its own place away from everything, I'll have a job to get rid of it from original spot in the garden bed.

Pretty sure this one is Salvia Forskaohlei. I would grow this even if it didn't have the pretty flowers. The big leaves are interesting with their rough surface, and have looked good planted next to the water trough all year. It seeds lightly near to the parent plant so I seem to have just enough odd ones around. 

And happily I did find Megan's Magic not so long ago. It is growing and flowering very well already, so I'm pretty sure it will be a good performer for me.