So - having only a little space in the car, I bought a couple. Now I'm trying to decide the best way to use it.
What do you think...
- have a small round planting bed, about 3 and a half feet in diameter. Put one (or both?) in the center, and surround with other annuals? (Full sun, can be exposed to fair amount of wind)
- put in a largish container (18 - 20 inches) surrounded by other annuals (mostly sunny, again, somewhat windy).
- put in one of the perennial beds

Also, any particular recommendations for what to plant near it? My first thought was yellow...

And - when will it start and finish blooming? Will it go until heavy frost once it starts? WIll it take a month or two to get started?

Thanks in advance for any insights!
Beth - Z5 - Northern Michigan (near Traverse City), where we don't expect to be frost-free until about June 1...

I'm two zones warmer than you (central Arkansas) and mine is almost ready to bloom. I noticed flower heads straightening up this morning which means they're about ready to being opening. Mine will bloom pretty much throughout the summer. They get sun from late morning, a bit of dappled shade mid day and then full sun until sundown. I do deadhead as each flower head finishes blooming. They like heat and will tell you if they need watering by wilting a bit but they're very fast to recover if given a good drink.

Mine are very hardy and very easy to start from cuttings; from sprouts that show up out a bit from the mother plant or from tip cuttings taken in the spring/early summer. The clump will gradualy spread but mine are not aggressive and easily kept in check by simply pulling up the new stray babies in the spring. To my knowledge, I've never seen seedlings so don't know if the seeds are sterile or even if they put out seed. I have taken plenty of cuttings or dug up baby sprouts attached to shallow underground runners.

One of the prettiest true blue colors you'll ever see in a flower and of all the flowers I grow for the hummingbirds, this plant is the one they prefer and come back to again and again.

Yellow, red and purple are all lovely in and around the B&B. I think you're going to enjoy this plant but don't know about it overwintering in your area. If you're not going to pot up some over the winter, I'd try covering the in ground plants with a big pile of leaves. That might keep the roots alive. We had some day and night temps into single digits this winter and mine came back. However, we don't experience those temps over a long extended timeframe.

Mary

I'm always excited when I have a new plant - can't wait to see how it does!
Beth

I started out with a pot of the black and blue salvia about eight years ago and planted it. The hummingbirds loved it, so I bought it again the next year, then realized some leaves in the bed where the salvia had been planted the previous year were up and they looked a lot like leaves of the plant I had bought. Good reason, it was black and blue salvia. (I gave the other pot to a good friend).

It is a true perennial here and has come up every year since the initial purchase.I took this picture this morning. I don't think it grows to this size everywhere, but it will likely be up to 3 to 5 feet tall by summer's end here and will have bloomed until frost or later. It shares this bed with Navajo Salvia and Hot Lips salvia, (Not so tall, but hold their own) but Black and Blue is what the hummers really love. Mine is in full sun. I occasionally pull out some from the edges to keep it from overflowing its place, but it is very easy to pull up...no problem.

Enjoy your new plant.
kay

Linda

Anyways, here is a B&B I took in Wisconsin September of 2009.