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Substitute for Black and Blue Salvia?
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Posted by
jennypat Zone 3b NW MN (
My Page) on
Mon, May 9, 11 at 8:38
| I love Black & Blue Salvia, but it's not hardy in my area. Every year I spend mucho $$ buying them, only to have to buy them again the next year. I think it's time to find a substitute. Whatever I do must be hardy to zone 4. I have thought about May Night salvia, I have some, but it's just not right. It's the dark blue and the form of Black and Blue that I like.
Anyone have some suggestions? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Substitute for Black and Blue Salvia?
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| Have you ever tried to overwinter them in the garage? I heard others say they had done that. I don't believe there is a good substitute. How many plants are we talking about? If it's not too many, they would be very easy to dig in the fall. |
RE: Substitute for Black and Blue Salvia?
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| Thanks, I have tried to overwinter them a couple of times, with no luck. I don't have a garage, so I tried keeping them in the basement. Didn't work, so the next year I tried rooting cuttings and keeping them with my house plants. Might have worked, except when I went away for 6 weeks mid-winter, the gal watching the house forgot to water the plants, and they didn't make it. I will just have to bite bullet and buy them again, if I can find them locally that is. THanks
Jenny P |
RE: Substitute for Black and Blue Salvia?
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| Your choices are rather limited in zone 3. Maybe Delphinium grandiflorum or Veronica teucrium, both come in deep blue and should be hardy in your area. |
RE: Substitute for Black and Blue Salvia?
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| I know this isn't as tall and the color isn't the exact same; however, Amsonia "Blue Ice" is supposed to be hardy to Zone 3. I have been planting these in mass. The color is very nice. The leaves also change to yellow in the fall which is another plus. They are short and only get about 12 - 16 inches tall. 
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RE: Substitute for Black and Blue Salvia?
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I know you are not asking for echoes, but I have to chime in here as I could have worded my post exactly as you did. I just bite the bullet and buy new salvia b&b every spring. There is NOTHING like it, and I can't live thru a summer without it. Besides it's a favorite of hummingbirds, so that's another reason it is a must-have. I was leaning over looking at it in its container on the deck 2 summers ago, and a hummingbird came absolutely eye to eye with me. Wondering why I was invading his territory, his salvia b&b. This is the second winter that I have tried to overwinter it in my unheated mudroom, but disappointment was in store once again, as it seems to be dead -- dormant as in eternally so. Ah, well. It's a plant I feel is worth every penny. You too?
lucia |
RE: Substitute for Black and Blue Salvia?
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OH yes, it is worth it, but I have the hardest time finding it locally. One of the two places I have found it in the past is not carrying it this year. The owner told me as much as she loves it too, it just didn't sell for her.
The second place I have found it, I can't get hold of, I am not sure if they are out of business or what. The phone has been disconnected, and it's a bit of a drive to see if she is open or not. I might have to go check and see. I dislike ordering plants via mail order, as I have not had good luck in the past. Jenny P |
RE: Substitute for Black and Blue Salvia?
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| My BB in basement hasn't shown any life yet :( |
RE: Substitute for Black and Blue Salvia?
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| I can't seem to envision a garden without Black and Blue Salvia since the first time I saw it about 4 years ago. It is such a stunning color, and is a favorite of the hummingbirds at my house as well. I have had it reseed in pots and it seemed to come true, and I have overwintered it in the house, but it looks pretty bad when I do. I have read somewhere that you can store the tubers like glads or dahlias, but have yet to get myself organized enough in the fall to dig them and try it. So far now I keep buying new plants each spring and trying to find the ideal way to overwinter plants. My next plan is putting some pots in my cold cellar with the potatoes and onions after a killing frost and planting some against the foundation and then covering them with a heavy layer of insulation after frost to see if I can overwinter them in-ground. |
RE: Substitute for Black and Blue Salvia?
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| I buy new each spring also as it is only annual here. Hard to find locally but so far I have managed. There were flats and flats of Salvia BLUE FORTUNE at our local nursery this past weekend but when I asked the lady working there about BLACK AND BLUE, she said there were only afew flats and they went like hot cakes. |
RE: Substitute for Black and Blue Salvia?
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| One possible substitute for S. guaranitica "Black and Blue" is Salvia transylvanica, which some report success with as far north as zone 4a. So maybe with good drainage and/or a sheltered spot you'd be able to overwinter it. Otherwise, S. guaranitica makes a good annual/temperennial. |
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