I tried putting a piece of white paper behind it thinking that might help, but it still isn't really right.
You'll just have to take my word for it - "in person" it's REALLY nice!
I've grown it here before but it isn't always winter hardy here in zone 6/7 Maryland.
Joseph T. tells me that you can dig the fleshy roots and store them over winter for replanting. I might have to give that a try because (if you couldn't tell) I really like this plant. I was thinking about trying crossing with the red-flowered Salvia roemeriana (which is reliably hardy here - at least against a wall) but I'll have to wait until Salvia roemeriana comes back into bloom. Right now it's got so much seed setting that it's stopped blooming.
Love this sage too. Very unlikely to cross with S. roemeriana, however. I've not been able to get it to cross with ANYTHING, and S. roemeriana (along with lyrata and a couple others) is actually more closely related to the European sages like S. nemorosa than the other new world sages. I've been able to cross it with S. involucrata, and I think there are recorded crosses with S. splendens.
ReplyDeleteJust realized my phrasing in that comment was ambiguous... I've not been able to cross S. roemeriana with anything, S. guaranitica, as I said, does cross with some stuff, though it is a pain. 100+ pollinations for one stinking seed.
ReplyDeleteHi Joseph,
ReplyDeleteAha!
So have you had any other successful Salvia crosses yet? I've tried a few crosses before but haven't even gotten a single seed. I sure hope your "one stinking seed" germinates and grows! I'd love to see hybrids from this species.