Even so, here's what I have:
- Salvia 'Perfect Profusion' from Bluestone Perennials in 2024
- Salvia 'Windwalker Royal Red' from Bluestone Perennials in 2023
- Salvia farinacea 'Texas Violet' - Texas Mealycup sage from Waterwise in 2023
- Salvia 'Raspberry Purple' from Waterwise in 2023
- Salvia Midnight Purple from Payne's in 2022
- Tender (annual) salvia 'Radio Red' from Newman's in 2023
In 2023 I planted a tiny 'Windwalker Royal Red' salvia in the outer circle of the birdbath garden. Pictures of its size and form are hard to come by, but it gets bushy and can be brittle -- limit water for a more compact plant. The flowers are supposed to be a clear, true red. If it isn't what I need in that spot I can plant out the tender 'Radio Red' salvias if they overwinter ok.
In 2024 I got a blue 'Perfect Profusion' salvia to plant next to it, and that should stay smaller and tidier.
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| What Windwalker Red and Perfect Profusion should look like |
In 2023 I got two Salvia farinacea 'Texas Violet' - Texas Mealycup sage, and put them around the birdbath. Tall and elegant.
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| Texas Mealycup sage in 2023 |
In 2023 Salvia 'Raspberry Delight' was planted in the driveway strip where the puny agastache Sonoran Sunset hadn't done anything and was taken out.
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| 'Raspberry Delight' in 2023 |
In 2022 I put Salvia nemerosa 'Midnight Purple' from Payne's next to the Summer Love clematis vine. In 2023, with lots of water, it looked great and bloomed forever.
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| 'Midnight Purple' in 2023 |
And for annual salvia, in 2022 I got 'Roman Red' for pots around the sundial.
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| 'Roman Red' annual salvias |
In 2023 I replaced the red potted salvias with 'Radio Red' perennial salvias and they were great. I overwintered 6 pots of them in the garage to try to bring them back for 2024.
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| 'Radio Red' in 2023 |
Here's the story of other salvias I lost:
Salvia sylvestris 'May Night' from Waterwise plant sale in spring 2018 (removed)
Salvia greggii 'Furman's Red' from High Country Gardens in spring 2018 (removed)
Planted 'Marcus' in fall 2020, a deep blue dwarf similar to May Night but smaller. I put it in the potting bench curve but it did not come back after winter.
Planted 'May Night' in spring 2018 from High Country Gardens. In 2018 it was limp, no growth at all, and just never looked good. I think it didn't get enough hot dry sun in this partly shady spot in the potting bench curve bed.
2019: moved 'May Night' to the kitchen courtyard garden, but it declined further and I took it out.
🌱 'May Night' was robust, dark green, with early purple flowers in my old garden. Here in Santa Fe it was a problem plant, barely hanging on, with constantly droopy wilted leaves, failure to grow and the whole thing just looked like wet paper towels. I could not get it to grow. It was in the kitchen courtyard, in sun, watered well. I gave up finally.
'May Night' was a workhorse in my old garden in CT, and it spread around a bit too. Vivid, deep purple spikes of blooms that looked good with red.
'Furman's Red' is a cold hardy red sage that dies back in this zone but regrows from the roots. It's smaller and shrubbier than the tall "Lady in Red' that I grew as an annual and loved. But I did not love it planted here -- the flowers were too cherry red. The young habit was rangy. I took it out.
There was just something about the cherry red color that I really don't like.
My mental model is the annual Salvia coccinea 'Lady in Red' that I grew in Connecticut. I bought starts at the nursery and by fall, the plant was big and gorgeous and the flowers were sparkling red. Then form was elegantly upright.
But the seeds I started inside in 2019 did not germinate. Zero success -- they were already a year old, and apparently not viable.
Salvia sylvestris 'May Night' from Waterwise plant sale in spring 2018 (removed)
Salvia greggii 'Furman's Red' from High Country Gardens in spring 2018 (removed)
Tried one more time in fall 2020 with Salvia nemorosa 'Marcus' from High Country Gardens. (gone)
(Salvia pachyphylla -Mojave Sage - all died)
From Payne's Nursery spring 2019
(Salvia arizonica - Arizona blue sage - did not make it)
From Waterwise plant sale spring 2019
Here are my frustrations with sages from prior years:
Planted 'May Night' in spring 2018 from High Country Gardens. In 2018 it was limp, no growth at all, and just never looked good. I think it didn't get enough hot dry sun in this partly shady spot in the potting bench curve bed.
2019: moved 'May Night' to the kitchen courtyard garden, but it declined further and I took it out.
🌱 'May Night' was robust, dark green, with early purple flowers in my old garden. Here in Santa Fe it was a problem plant, barely hanging on, with constantly droopy wilted leaves, failure to grow and the whole thing just looked like wet paper towels. I could not get it to grow. It was in the kitchen courtyard, in sun, watered well. I gave up finally.
'May Night' was a workhorse in my old garden in CT, and it spread around a bit too. Vivid, deep purple spikes of blooms that looked good with red.
'Furman's Red' is a cold hardy red sage that dies back in this zone but regrows from the roots. It's smaller and shrubbier than the tall "Lady in Red' that I grew as an annual and loved. But I did not love it planted here -- the flowers were too cherry red. The young habit was rangy. I took it out.
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| July 20, 2018, but I removed in in 2019 |
There was just something about the cherry red color that I really don't like.
My mental model is the annual Salvia coccinea 'Lady in Red' that I grew in Connecticut. I bought starts at the nursery and by fall, the plant was big and gorgeous and the flowers were sparkling red. Then form was elegantly upright.
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| 'Lady in Red' Salvia coccinea in my old garden -- what I wanted here. |
But the seeds I started inside in 2019 did not germinate. Zero success -- they were already a year old, and apparently not viable.
Here is a great example of an annual red sage -- Mexican sage? growing at Plants of the Southwest. The key is to interplant it with lots of other tall rangy things. Doesn't this look great? But I don't have the room or the wild open style this needs.
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| At Plants of the Southwest in September 2020 |
I did, however, get some annual Summer Jewel red salvias to do well in pots in 2021 and I put them around the sundial with some deep purple angelonias and yellow hairy goldenaster. They looked great in early August.
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| mid summer 2021 |