Super salvıas

They’re rich in nectar, easy to grow and free-flowering – but beware, salvias are highly addictive

My addiction started, as these things so often do, with just one purchase – a small pot of a dark purple salvia, ‘Amistad’. It grew beautifully so I took cuttings, which rooted in a flash. Before I knew it, I was hooked and spending far too long online tracking down obscure varieties of salvias which I simply had to have.

Salvias are terribly tempting plants. This huge and diverse family has more than 900 species and many are easy to grow and tolerant of drought, making them ideal for a low-maintenance garden. They are rich in nectar, loved by pollinating insects and, best of all, they flower from June until the first frosts, mingling cheerfully with other late-summer plants like dahlias, cannas and chrysanthemums.

The best known salvias are culinary sage, S. officinalis, and the gaudy red S. splendens, beloved of park bedding schemes. Look beyond these and you’ll find towering salvias with flowers of inky blue, like S. guaranitica ‘ Black and Blue’; ot hers with spikes of russet- coloured f lowers, such as S. confertiflora; and low-growing salvias in pink, white, apricot, yellow, lilac or purple, which will fit into almost any planting scheme. If salvias do have a fault it’s that some of the showiest ones won’t tolerate frost, but they are easy to propagate. As long as you take cuttings in the summer and tuck them away somewhere frost free over the winter, you can keep them going from year to year.

For salvias that will survive all but the coldest winters, t ry the shrubby, plum- Above: Salvia

‘Amistad’. Left: S. confertiflora.

Far left: ‘Black and Blue’

coloured S. x jamensis ‘ Nachtvlinder’ or pillar- box red ‘Royal Bumble’. For something really showy, there’s the very popular ‘Hot Lips’ – a combination of red and white. If you want a really imposing variety, there’s S. guaranitica ‘Blue Enigma’, which reaches around 120cm (4ft) and has long, elegant blue flowers. The toughest salvia in my garden is S. microphylla ‘Cerro Potosi’, with f lowers of a glowing magenta pink. It spreads happily and is great for an exposed site.

Although it’s of borderline hardiness, it’s well worth trying the gentian sage, S. patens. The colour is a pure sky blue, and it flowers for an exceptionally long period. Another salvia which won’t survive a really harsh winter is my original crush, ‘Amistad’. Only available for sale since 2012, this is a splendid plant for a container or a border, with elegant purple flowers.

If you want to grow something really unusual try the striking Salvia leucantha, with small tubular white flowers which emerge from a fuzzy purple calyx. For a sheltered garden there’s S. involucrata, the roseleaf sage, a tall, branching salvia with vibrant cerise flowers which open in midsummer and go on right through autumn. But be warned – once you’ve tried these more challenging salvias, you’ll be eager to grow many more. Suppliers: hillhousenursery. com, crocus.co.uk.