That's a pretty plant! Hope there are some seeds circulating :)

Thanks Karen.

I've been wondering about that.

Are the pictures of your Yvonne's Salvia this year?

Mine aren't very tall yet, and not blooming either.

wantie: Yes, those are from my plants, taken this morning. Most of mine aren't blooming much yet either. Some are really small.

These were taken today.
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Anyone else having more spectacular results on WSown ones?

Karen

is that a hydrandea??
my yvonne's salvia did turn out good, so far, i got mine from mngal?? she sent some to tabor and talla, they are one of the things that got taller. YAY!!! LOL ~Medo

How big are they? Are they blooming?

I just measured mine. They range from 13" to 33".

I had an email from Emily about a week ago and hers were nearly 4 feet then! She'll have giants again this year. Hers are started indoors under lights. If I ever try that route, it will be Yvonne's salvia that motivates me.

Karen

Mine are small, like 6-8" small, no blooms. Hopefully soon though, and when they do I will save seeds but next year I'm going to baby them and bury them in compost.

Karen,

Can I get on that list for some Yvonne's Salvia seeds?

What list? There is no list and I have no seeds, or hardly any blossoms yet for that matter. If I do I will post an offer at the appropriate time.

Karen

I received some seeds from Emily in a trade this winter. I was trading for Asclepias curassavica, I didn't even know that Emily was one of the Yvonne's Salvia gurus. Her seeds germinated very well, and I have about six seedlings planted out. Two of them were late-sprouters that appeared after I had planted the other four out, and they are smaller. They range in height from 8 - 16 inches. No buds or blooms yet, but they look very healthy after a slow start and some nibbling by slugs or something. Very exciting!

Thanks for the info on their seeds - I will be sure to save some, if I get blooms and seeds, that is!

Hi Karen,

I was a beneficiary or your seeds last winter. The ones I did indoors look almost exactly like yours. Hardly any blooms at all. I only had about 5 take. I did them under lights since the ones I winter sowed are so tiny that I potted them up. So far too small to plant out as I have something nibbling on almost everything not well established.

Thanks for the info regarding saving seeds. Will certainly try to save seeds to pass on.

LaDonna

This is weird but true. Despite a good 4 to 6 inches of leaf mulch last fall, I got hundreds of Yvonne's Salvia volunteers. They grew faster and healthier than my WSown ones. Most of the ones I kept were volunteers, and they're still the biggest ones.

I think everything got a slow start for me this year, especially annuals, which I attribute to unusually cool and wet spring. (I still have a couple of coleus and angelonia only about and inch tall! Some are bigger, though). I thought it odd that the volunteer salvia have done so much better than the WSown ones. It's not the transplanting that was an issue because the volunteers were transplanted too, to form the rows shown above.

This makes me wonder if Yvonne's salvia is best grown (if not indoors under lights) from volunteers or even direct sowing. Last year's WSown ones did reasonably well for me (topped out around 48 to 50 inches by fall), but last year was exceptionally hot... I guess time will tell which method gives me the best result.

Nobody can argue with indoors under lights though which gives Emily 6 to 7 footers.

Karen

After reading so much about Yvonne's Salvia, I planned a little section for it, WS the seeds and planted out the seedlings with great anticipation. Like yours, Karen, they have stayed small. We had a cold, long spring too and I have many undersized seedlings out there! I've not even gotten the dusty miller in the ground yet as it is barely an inch high and have a few other annuals that, while healthy, seem like they may not be inclined to flower till very late in the season!

I have a light stand and if NEXT spring seems cold and long, I am going to use it for the seeds that have seemed take forever!But I will still WS everything else.

Nan: in my experience seedlings will grow much faster after planting out. I plant them out when very tiny. It's do or die now I think for annuals as the season is almost over. What are you waiting for?

Karen

There's been absolutely no "waiting" going on here-- I just have to prioritize planting somehow (with limited time and WAY too many containers) and tend to grab the containers where seedlings look bigger and more squished first (smile)!!! I know there is little hope for this dusty miller so late already.. I think I will just put it in patio pots tomorrow.

I agree that popping the tiny seedlings in just as soon as possible makes sense and I did do that with many seedlings that are looking great in the beds right now. Last year (my first) I had done a TON of potting up the seedlings/ growing them on and THEN planting. So time consuming and so not in the plants' best interest - they really do prefer the bed.

That I understand. I got the impression that you were waiting for them to grow bigger before planting out.

Karen