My choice, Eric, would be Salvia 'Eveline'. For me, the best perennial salvia I have grown as an all season garden performer. Listed as reliably perennial in z5 though it hasn't been through a winter here yet. From 2" plugs, numerous plants planted out this spring started flowering in midJune, with tall (20"+) spires of bicolored light pink/dark pink flowers. Even without any deadheading at all, it produces a continuous sequence of new flower stems throughout the growing season. And with even some minimal deadheaing it does even better -- much better than any of the S. superba cultivars.

The other great thing about it is a very neat upright appearance, attractive slug resistant foliage, and a great habit of shedding spent flowers so that the old flower stalks are not unattractive. Very vertical effect for the front or mid-border.

From Piet Oudolf in Holland. There is apparently a similar purple flowered plant, 'Rhapsody in Blue'. If it is anything like Eveline it will be a real winner.

Salvia Mystic Spires was new to me this year and was wonderful! It's a hybrid of farinacea and Indigo Spires and has the best attributes of both: the bloom form of farinacea, but the bloom size and color of Indigo Spires. It has not flopped, but has reached about 30 inches high and nearly as wide.
I love Salvias and try something new every year, so will put both of these on my list. Has anyone tried Limelight? I've seen pictures and it looks great. The chartreuse foliage would be a big plus.

I have grown S. mexicana 'Limelight', Donna, and it is jut about to start blooming in my garden, and in a large pot where I have another plant. It is a spectacular Salvia, but a disappointment most years for a gardener in the cold north. A single rooted cutting will make a very large shrubby plant in one season. In fact, it can be positively invasive in how much real estate it takes up -- the one in the little walled garden I have grew to 6' tall and 8 - 10' across from a single rooted cutting planted out in late April, totally smothered every plant around it! It is covered with flower stalks just about to start blooming right now. In this very unusual warm fall, I am probably going to be lucky and get to see it really bloom well for the first time in the garden. We aren't expecting any freezes for the next 2 weeks, so here's hoping!

I grew it 2 other years too. Same deal -- it grew to be a huge shrubby plant by October, only to be cut down by a hard freeze just as it started to bloom. Unlike many of the tender salvias commonly planted in the north as "annuals", it just doesn't bloom early enough up here to be a good garden plant. And it is tough to grow as a container plant, for me at least, since a tiny cutting wants to be huge by the end of the season when it will finally start blooming.

I would think this would be a great plant for the deep south with your long mild falls, but don't expect it to bloom before October even there.

I am going to look for Mystic Spires. I have always loved Indigo Spires but it tends to be a floppy plant for me, so something more upright would be great.....

BTW, I forgot that I did take a picture of 'Eveline' last week, here after months of bloom and no deadheading at all. In the background is my other top performer of the year, Agastache 'Purple Haze'

{{gwi:277217}}

One other pleasant surprise this year has been Salvia verticillata v. asiatica. I grew it from seed and planted it out next to a popular S. verticillata cultivar ("Purple Rain").

{{gwi:277218}}

S. verticillata v. asiatica is in the foreground. The plant is a bit shorter than "Purple Rain", just about as floriferous (steady bloom all season if deadheaded) and otherwise nearly identical in appearance (the foliage matures to the same shade of green). Nice plant.

"Eveline" looks good in David's photo. Maybe it'll outdo the various other S. x superba/sylvestris hybrids I've tried and which eventually got shovel-pruned for not living up to their billing.

I am not sure of the breeding of all these plants, but I think Eveline and Rhapsody in Blue are basically forms of S. pratensis. They don't really look like S. superba cultivars at all -- much taller, different foliage, much more continuous bloom.

I am envious of your S. verticillata forms Eric, for me that has not been a very good plant. They do bloom pretty continuously, but I find that unless you deadhead regularly they just don't look very good. Mine also seem beloved of slugs. I need to grow them drier maybe.

I will mention one disappointing Salvia this year too -- S. glutinosa. It is a pale yellow late summer bloomer, but I found that it just didn't have much presence in the garden and was kind of floppy too. I am going to try it in a drier spot next year, and if that doesn't work, out it goes.

Donna, I did forget to mention that Limelight does not have chartreuse foliage. It is the bracts and the calyx around the brilliant blue corolla that are chartreuse, giving the flowers and inflorescences a 2-tone effect. The foliage itself is a rich green, somewhat gray green color. If the cold holds off and my plant really starts to bloom I will post some pics of it.

Salvia leucantha is becoming one of the most common plants in S. California, but the all-purple 'Midnight' is still my top performer, followed closely by S. elegans. They aren't as spectacular, but I still prefer my native sages like S. apiana, mellifera, leucophylla and clevelandii (sorry, no pics).

That's a great Purple Rain pic. I'm glad you posted it, as I have 6-7 seedlings I'm just thinking about putting in the ground. That shows me I need to space them a little wider than I had planned.

Eric_oh, S. greggii returns in our state year after year...

Those who "push the zone" are finding that many plants are hardier than originally thought.

Don't pull it out....wait to see what happens.

Yes, I'd planned to mulch it and see what happens (a previous S. greggii planting in a partially shaded spot did not overwinter). I'm not sure why S. greggii might not be hardy, when S. guaranitica does overwinter even without protection.

I've held onto to S. Purple Rain for two seasons, and it just doesn't light my fire. It just looks pale lavander, and lax.Help me imagine its use in your garden, or how to set it off better, or how to use it to set off other plants. I really want to like it....

Funny that you should say that, idabean, because I have grown this plant for quite a few years and it has never lit my fire either. It does bloom for a long time, but, well, who cares if it looks pretty dull even in bloom. And to me it does. I did see a planting once when I was out at Heronswood in the old days in the fall, with S. verticllata 'Purple Rain', Geranium 'Buxton's Variety' (Rozanne would work better for most people), and a very pale ice blue aster 'Porzallan'. It was a study in purples of different hues and very appealing. But I haven't found any combinations in my own garden where it adds much.

Thank you, David for the tips on Limelight. There's just nothing like talking to someone who has grown it. I have some lovely clumps of Salvia guarantica, Black and Blue. In your opinion, would Limelight be so similar as to not be worth the bother? I am not concerned in the least about the late bloom time, as we rarely have killing frost much before Thanksgiving. I was hoping, though, that the (not) chartreuse foliage would give some extra zing to my blue and yellow border.

I'm also thrilled with your picture of Eveline. I have a mystery salvia given to me by a Master Gardener friend, and I do believe that's it! I have wondered and wondered what this super plant is! Thank You! Thank You!

I'd be surprised (but pleased) to hear that any variety of Salvia mexicana flowers in zone 6 on north. When I grew the straight species in southeast Texas it was often the latter part of October before plants began to flower. I've had the experience of taking great pains to protect late-flowering Salvias from frost (as with S. 'Anthony Parker' a couple of years back) and I'm not sure it would be worth the bother for a week or so of bloom.

Salvia mexicana (including 'Limelight') is a much bigger plant (in leaf size and height) than S. guaranitica, reaching 5-7 feet. The flowers aren't all that different, but you can't have too many blue salvias. The cutoff for root hardiness is somewhere around 20F for 'Limelight', so good siting and protection would be a good idea for zone 7b.

Salvia guarantica overwinters here?!!! Now I'm really kicking myself for not picking up a few when I had the chance!

I know that this plant is old news, but I was absolutely delighted with my salvia 'Caradonna' this year. The flower stem color really does nice things to the look of the plant, and it flowered almost as long as 'May Night' did last year, even with my neglectful deadheading.

I also like salvia lyrata 'Purple Knockout' more and more the longer I have it. The color of the leaves just combines so well with so many other plants in my garden.

Funny - I love salvia "purple rain", it goes with everything in my garden and is still blooming now in mid October. It has heavy, dark purple bloom (not lavender at all). After a a couple of months of bloom, I cut back and it immediately blooms again until frost.

I also love the old standbys - May night and caradonna for almost continuous bloom and dark purple spires.

I really liked the look of eveline and will try to find that next year.

Here's purple rain pairing very well with lychnis coronaria and lamb's ear.
{{gwi:277219}}

{{gwi:277220}}

Nice photos and garden.

Salvia lyrata "Purple Knockout" behaves here much like another plant I see in your second photo - Verbena bonariensis. I don't make a special effort to have it, it reseeds in the same general spot year after year and is modestly enjoyable.

Furman's Red is new for me this year, and the hummingbirds love it!!!

My favorite perennial salvia is 'Pink Delight'. It looks very similar to the picture of 'Eveline' that David posted, but a bit shorter. I bought mine from PDN a couple of years ago, and I have been really happy with it. I've collected quite a few seeds from it, and it has had a couple of volunteer plants pop up beside it. Next year I plan on wintersowing the seeds and moving it around the garden. I like it because even when not it bloom, it keeps a nice looking foliage all summer.

Now if your talking about tender salvias there are several that I really love. I agree with Donna on 'Mystic Spires'. It is a beautiful plant that blooms non-stop, and isn't a flopper like many of the larger Salvias.

Another one I really like is 'Dancing Flames'. I wasn't sure about it when I first saw it at the greenhouse, but I took a couple home and I have really enjoyed them. It is a red-flowered variety, but the leaves are a beautiful variegated green and yellow. They really pop in the border.

Leucantha never disappoints me, unless there is an early frost. I am fortunate enough to have access to stock plants at work, so I have a big jump on the growing season. I have one Leucantha that is about 5' wide and tall right now, and it is just covered in blooms.

Black and Blue is also a favorite of mine. But the reason I like it so much is that it is an absolute magnet for hummingbirds. And I have had luck with a few of my plants making it through the winter.

I also like 'California Sunset', another PDN selection. The peachy/orange flowers are an unusual color for salvias.

Here is a link for a picture of 'Pink Delight' if anyone would like to see it. I don't have a picture from my garden, so it's a link to PDN's website.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pink Delight

Eric, I keep hearing these rumors that 'Purple Knockout' is a reseeder... but in my garden, they're just rumors. Do you think it just doesn't reseed for me because I want it to?! *grin*

Could be...but even in my garden it's not enthusiastic enough about reseeding to give me more than a few plants every year.

I got purple knockout in a swap and it has reseeded. But I'm not really crazy about it, flowers are nowhere near as tall as verbena b.

Where did you get "dark dancer", was it mail order? Our local nurseries don't carry much that is interesting. It sure it beautiful.

I've got black and blue and am hoping it will overwinter if it is mild. It has not made it in the past, but hope springs eternal.

Hi Flowerpower! Well, Pink Delight looks virtually identical to Eveline. Same breeding, and came from Piet Oudolf too. Anyway, a winner by whatever marketing name it is sold under. I think we should be looking for Rhapsody in Blue too, unless that one has a twin marketed under a different name.

Do you folks have Mystic Spires at your greenhouse? I have never seen it in Michigan but I will be making a trip down there for it come April if you do. When I came this year in May, many of the tender salvias were already sold out. I would love an Indigo Spires - like plant that doesn't flop.

I found S. greggii 'Dark Dancer' in the herb section of a local nursery. Someone evidently thinks that all Salvias are herbs (they stock other ornamentals including S. guaranitica there as well).

It's a good thing, since the 2 1/2 inch pots of "herbs" are $1.99, and the ornamentals in the annual and temperennial sections go for higher prices.

Just a note to you all about Mystic Spires. I only have three plants of it this year, since this was my first year to grow it. About two weeks ago, I took cuttings from it, stuck them in 1 gallon pots (no covering) and set them in the shade on my patio. (Remember, I'm in Mississippi, so we're seeing high eighties and nineties still.) Anyway, I have watered them every other day, and every single cutting has started making new growth. I plan to move them to my unheated basement under lights when frost becomes a threat next month.

I have had the same experience Eric. One question about S. greggii, has anyone in z 5 or 6 had luck overwintering any of these? PDN listed a white flowered form of S. greggii as z5 hardy (Can't recall the cultivar). Bluestone, in Mentor OH, sells and lists S. g. 'Wild Thing as z6 hardy, and I recall I think reading in Fine Gardening that people had had success with that cultivar in z 6a (which is why I went looking for it and found that Bluestone sells it).

I did get a number of 'Wild Thing' plants which I planted out last spring in protected places so I will be doing my own testing. And it was a great performer over the summer and is in relative full bloom right now. We'll see.....

I have a real winner this year in Salvia 'Marachino'. It's a tall plant 36" or so and has rather large vivid red blooms. I'm hoping it will return next year but it has put on quite a show thus far.

I also love Salvia 'Eveline'. A wonderful performer for me which returned with vigor this year.

I'm really liking 'Wild Thing' and I'm also hoping it lives up to the zone listings offered up at Bluestone and High Country Gardens (whose catalog says it's been living for years in St. Louis).

I'm in VA on the edge of zone 6/7 and received good advice from a nursery N of me in PA. For best luck wintering over salvias o the edge of their hardiness zone, first plant with excellent drainage in a spot which will receive sun in the winter. (I mix in coarse builder's sand or chicken grit around roots and at the base of the plant) Then be careful to mulch the roots but not the crown. Two years ago I wintered over greggii, guaranitica,leucantha and many others. I was able to heed the advice not to cut them back till active growth in spring. (hard when they are a 4' tall mass of dead sticks) This year, only greggii appeared to have made it but guaranitica either came back from runners or self sowed, and there are volunteers of other unusuals.

As for Mexicana Limelight, earlier blooms can be had if you grow it in a pot and cut it back after blooming to winter over inside as a small plant. Keep indoors in early spring till it gets going and put it out after danger of frost to enjoy an early bloom season. The bloom color is much like Guaranitica Black and Blue but the chartreuse calyxes add a great zip. I agree that it just takes too long to bloom in zone 6/7 to be worth it starting from a small plant, and you have to really like it to put up with it all winter when you could give the space to orchids or cyclamen. One nurserywoman told me her trick was leaving pots outdoors but turning them on their sides to keep plants dry.

I had several Indigo Spires that wintered over 3 years running on the south face of a building under an overhang. It seems keeping dry in the winter was key. Now I'm hoping it's new compact cousin will come back. I agree S. Greggii Dark Dancer has been great--now if only I could get San Antonio to come back.

Enid in VA

Recently I have enjoyed growing salvia 'Silke's Dream' and salvia 'Mulberry Jam'. The last one great with old fashion roses. While S. 'Silke's Dream' in a large pot with other plants makes a wonderful combination for summer display.

Hey Enid, thanks for those great suggestions. Salvia m. Limelight IS in bloom right now in my garden, though yes we have had a very warm fall, and yes it is really only about 10 flowers open on a plant that is 6' tall and 10' wide. It is covered with lime green inflorescences that are pretty in their own right though they need the blue to really make a show. I do have another plant in a pot that is 6' tall and very potbound. Given what you have said, I may winter it over and try to get a bigger plant going for the spring. How early have you gotten it to bloom? We still do not have a killing frost forecast for the next week so I hope my outdoor in ground plant might put on a better show.

I have overwintered guaranitica here in z 5b next to my house in, yes, a winter sunny area. I have planted a bunch of others this year right up next to the house, so we'll see how they do......the winter is supposed to be mild too....

Salvia subrotundra was great for me this year.
Duane

I've grown 'Silke's Dream' and it's a very nice (tender) red Salvia. Cutting-grown plants overwinter OK indoors, unlike some Salvias which sulk under fluorescent lights.

Still no frost yet here, though a couple borderline nights in the upper 30s are forecast for early next week. This is the latest we've gone without frost since I moved here in '01.

Hello David, sorry I didn't respond to your post, I haven't had time to visit the forum lately. I was happy to see the salvia post still going.

I thought 'Pink Delight' and 'Eveline' looked the same. It makes sense that they would come from the same breeding program. 'Pink Delight' is such a beauty, I have really enjoyed it. The flowers remind me of S. patens, but a bit more delicate.

And yes we do have 'Mystic Spires' at the greenhouse. We have had it for two years now, and it is probably my favorite. It doesn't flop and from the time that you plant it, it has lovely purple/blue flowers spikes. I used it in a couple of containers this season, and they are still looking good. Can't say enough nice things about this one.

Cindy and I were talking about the salvias, and we are going to try to have more for next spring. The bird watchers have turned out to be some of the best salvia customers, and they buy early. Last year I did cuttings early, which we sold out of, and a second batch, which we didn't sell nearly as many of. This year we are going to do them all at once, and hopefully we will have enough for everyone. I'll make sure to take a few extra of Mystic Spires. Or if you like, you could place and order, and we could pull it for you.

Here is a link to a picture of 'Dancing Flames' from my garden. It's another of the newer salvias. A rose had snuggled up between the leaves of the salvia. I think it's the prettiest picture, I only wish it was actually a rose that had variegated foliage. It's such a pretty combination.

Lori

Here is a link that might be useful: A rose is a rose, (unless it's a salvia!)

"Dancing Flames" is marketed as a Salvia van houttii hybrid, but the habit is compact rather than tall and gawky. Maybe it's really an S. splendens with fancy variegated leaves (sshhh, don't let the plant collectors find out ;) I was please to see that cuttings root well so I'll have a chance to experiment with it further next year.

Here is a link that might be useful: 'Dancing Flames' in flower

Not in "full bloom" yet, and maybe won't make it, but over the past week S. mexicana 'Limelight' has started blooming. And yes, Eric, officially in z 5b late Ocetober. The plant I have is about 6' high and has sprawled out over 10 feet. It is backed by a stone wall in a relatively warm part of the garden. The limey green inflorescences are rather pretty in their own right
{{gwi:277222}}
but positively sublime when the cobalt blue flowers emerge
{{gwi:277223}}{{gwi:277224}}

Here's hoping the mild weather will continue.....dream on. I do have plant blooming in a pot too that I will try to overwinter to get to bloom earlier next year.

Nice-looking sage, especially with the showy green bracts.

Did you have your first frost yet, and if so what happened to the plant(s)?

We have had 2 light frosts here, Eric, one night to 32F and one to 30F. I doubt that the area where the plant above is experienced any freezing temps though. I have cannas and dahlias in my back garden that are still not only in bloom but have pristine foliage too -- even some coleus near the pergola shows no frost damage. That is apparently all going to change early next week. Then the forecast calls for temps down to about 24F. That would still be the latest date for a killing frost in this area that I can recall in 25 years of gardening.

My impression is that this plant will go through light frosts without a problem. I grew it once at the old place just to have it nailed as it was coming into bloom. We'll see about this year in this ultra-protected spot.....