Make a beeline
Salvias can provide months of colour – and their nectar will create a buzz, writes David Overend.
More than 40 years ago, I asked a well-known TV gardener what he thought about salvias. He admitted that he liked them and grew them every year – as annuals, and evergreen and deciduous herbaceous perennials. He also wondered why they weren’t more popular in the UK.
It has taken me more than four decades to eventually come around to his way of thinking; salvias in virtually all their forms are plants worthy of growing and capable of providing weeks, if not months, of colour.
And they are easy to cultivate, so there is really no reason not to grow at least one or two varieties.
The annual salvias have always been popular – particularly S splendens, the scarlet sage, which is renowned for its vibrant red growth and much used to dominate architecturally-designed bedding schemes – but it is the herbaceous perennials that are now coming more into fashion.
It’s not difficult to see why; their blue or violet flowers may not be as vivid as the likes of the aforementioned annuals, but they are long-lasting, easy to grow and beloved of insects as a source of nectar.
Grow them and the garden should be alive with butterflies and bees.
Normally, the blooms of most appear in late June and continue through to late August, although some varieties begin to flower in May. Container-grown specimens can also be persuaded to bloom before those planted in beds and borders.
Well-drained soils suit them best, but what helps them thrive is sunshine – so pick the sunniest spot for the best blooms.
To prolong flowering, remove the flower spikes as soon they start to fade. Apply a generous 5-7cm (2-3in) mulch of wellrotted garden compost or manure around the base of the plant in spring, which is also a good time to lift and divide established clumps (although some gardeners prefer to do the deed in autumn).
To propagate, take shoot tips (three inches long), stripped of their lower leaves and push them into pots of sandy compost in August. Pot up the youngsters once they are well rooted, and overwinter them in a cool greenhouse or frost-free room.
Although some salvias are considered too soft to survive a British winter, many are surprisingly tough. However, it pays to mulch or lift – like dahlias – half-hardy varieties known to be susceptible to frost damage.