Plant guide: Salvia
Salvia viridis ‘Blue Monday’
A glamorous, statuesque plant, salvias bring a hit of intense colour to the garden in late Summer.
The tubular flowers are an excellent nectar source for pollinators, blooming from mid Summer to Autumn, with some varieties flowering right up until the first frosts. You can find salvias in all different sizes, and with almost every flower colour imaginable; combine this with its low maintenance needs and there’s an argument to find a spot for a salvia in every garden!
Botanical name: Salvia spp.
Plant type: The salvia genus is a large one, with more than 900 different varieties.
There are many different types of salvia; some are annuals, some herbaceous perennials and some are woody perennials.
Salvia growing with chives and Erigeron karvinskianus
Salvias are a great source of nectar for bees
Growing underneath roses
Growing conditions:
All salvias will do best in full sun and well-drained soil.
Avoid wet or boggy locations. Salvias prefer poor soil to thick clay. If you have heavy soil, dig in plenty of grit at the time of planting.
The height of the plant varies according to the variety, so check before planting what the ultimate height will be and choose a spot in the bed accordingly. Most salvias would do well in the middle of the bed, though some grow very tall and can be placed towards the back (for example, Salvia ‘Black Knight’).
Salvias are generally low maintenance plants that can cope with little water, so they do well in gravel gardens and drought-tolerant planting schemes.
How to plant:
Annual varieties can be grown from seed in the Spring.
Perennial types are usually bought as container plants in pots. To plant into the garden, dig a hole twice as wide as the pot and the same depth. Remove the plant from the pot, place into the hole, back fill and water well.
Care:
Generally a low maintenance plant, salvias do not need much in the way of watering or feeding. Weed around plants throughout the year, especially in the Spring and Summer.
Deadhead regularly to encourage repeat flowering.
Perennial plants can be pruned in early Spring, before the new season’s growth starts to appear.
Grow with:
Salvias look great growing alongside other herbaceous perennials that are in flower at the same time. Try them with achillea, verbena or erigeron.
They also pair well with grasses, where the feathery, strappy foliage contrasts with the bushy salvias. Stipa and Pennisetum are both excellent grasses to grow with salvias.
Uses:
The kitchen herb sage (Salvia officinalis) is a member of the salvia family and its leaves are, of course, good to use for cooking.
Some varieties of salvia make great cut flowers. If you’re not sure how well yours last in the vase, cut a bloom or two to experiment.
Our favourite varieties:
· Salvia nemerosa ‘Caradonna’ is our favourite. Often called the woodland sage or wild sage, this is a tough plant, that’s easy to grow, flowers for months at a time (its purple blooms usually on show from June all the way to October) and is popular with bees and butterflies.
· Salvia officinalis, the sage used for cooking, is invaluable tucked somewhere in the garden. The big, fuzzy grey-green leaves look just as good in the garden as they taste on food!
· Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Blue’ is a stately plant that can reach up to 1.5m tall, covered in spires of deep blue tubular flowers on black stems. It’s a frost hardy perennial that can cope in colder winters, but would still appreciate a mulch in the Autumn for protection.
