[Charithea]

David your posting prompted me to post my photo of my Salvia roemariana Red Hot .... It was the only survivor of last Springs seedling.  I nurtured and kept it safe from my cats.  It  started to grow and it finally reached 18cm in height. It  has been flowering for the last two weeks but it is  such a disappointment.  On the other hand the unknown Salvia from Ioannis Gryllis has flowered and it is a joy.  It glows in the sun.  I believe it is Salvia cinnnabarina.  If anybody thinks it is a different Salvia please correct me.  I am basing the name on the order list  I had send to Ioannis.

[Charithea]

Here are two photos of my Salvia viridis.  They have not grown very tall or look spectacular but I am happy that they survived the seedling stage as our Hot weather arrived earlier than expected.  Some of the other seedlings grew just a bit, flowered and dried up. By the way the Salvia cinnabarina is still flowering.  I think I will get some more if I can, as they have proven to be tough, long lasting an attractive.

[Charithea]

I am not sure which proverb is more suitable for this posting. 'All good things come to those that wait' or  'Strike while the iron is hot'.  I am referring of course to the long time I have waited to acquire a Salvia sclarea var. turkestanica and to get it to flower. I apologize for the photo.  I took it early in the morning with the sun shining around everything.  About 3 weeks ago we took some Salvia cuttings ,which I grew on, for one of John's gardening friends. She had in her garden a large specimen  and a few smaller ones of the above said Salvia. I admired them and mentioned my failure to get mine to flower.  She offered me one of hers. She dug it up for me and on my return I planted it  among my drought tolerant plants and as you see it has now flowered.  The other photo is of my Salvia 'Indigo Spires' which is now coming to its glory.

[John J]

My effort of a photo of the above-mentioned salvia.

[Umbrian]

Salvia sclarea is a welcome self seeder with me so hopefully you will not be without it now. It makes a lovely statement plant to enhance lower subjects but need space at it's base to avoid smothering plants close by. Love the Indigo Spires and must look out for that - blues are always welcome.

[David Dickinson]

Just looking back through some old salvia postings. Interesting that your mystery arrow-head leaf shape salvia turned out to be Salvia cinnnabarina. Well worth the wait and the suspense. I wrote last year that I had taken cuttings of S lycioides. They obviously didn't take as I can't find them anywhere. But the parent plant is doing well. Must try again with cuttings in autumn.

[Charithea]

Hi David. Your Salvia lyciodes is a beautiful colour. I need to clear up this misunderstanding.  I am at times in a hurry and don't make sure that there might be ambiguity in my sentences.  The arrow -head leaf  Salvia that you believe is a  sagittata has not flowered yet.  The Cinnabarina which I identified by going through the order list I had send to  Ioannis Gryllis, does not have arrow- headed shaped  leaves.   Salvia cinnabarina  is worth having because it seems to flower continuously and does not wilt in the sun.  I will have to move it in the autumn,  in the ' red' area as it clashes with the purple  and blue salvias near it.

[David Dickinson]

Umbrian was kind enough to give me some seeds from her Salvia taraxacifolia.  They germinated and within a few weeks one has decided to flower. I didn't catch it at its best but the photo should give an idea of the subtle off-white colour. My photo doesn't catch the pink hue too well.

Thanks Umbrian :-)

[Umbrian]

Always difficult to catch colour well I think if not an expert. Glad the seeds came good - when the plant bulks up, which it does quickly, it makes more of an impact with the attractive leaves and multiple flowering stems that are also good when in seed.

[Charithea]

Here are my three seedlings of the Salvia taraxacifolia.  Thank you Umbrian.  I am keeping them in the pot until they get a bit bigger before they get transferred into the ground

[Charithea]

I have read articles on how to grow Salvias in magazines, read books, looked them up on the internet and advice from friends.  I selected Mainly ones recommended suitable for the Mediterranean climate.  I have managed to acquire the aromatic leaved Salvia clevelandii, Allen Chickering and Bee's Bliss.  I have planted them in well draining soil  etc.  They have produced beautiful flowers but for a Very short time.   On the other hand Salvia greggi and all the Microphyllas are looking healthy and are flowering.  I think the biggest problem is that the length of the dry season in the Eastern Mediterranean is underestimated by the writers  who give advice.  I have taken the photos this morning as examples. You can see the difference in the colour of the leaves.

[Umbrian]

You are so right Charithea, the 'Mediterranean Climate' area is extensive with quite large variations in both temperatures and rainfall. One has to experiment with various plants and discover for oneself those best adapted to prevailing conditions.
Not totally sure those seedling are S taraxacifolia by the way.......will be interested to see how they develop🤔

[David Dickinson]

Hi everybody. When my S. taraxacifolia first came through I wasn't sure why they had got that name. Only when there were 3 or 4  true leaves did they begin to take on their characteristic shape. I now have 2 plants in flower so thanks again Umbrian

[Charithea]

A quick reply to two queries. First to Umbria's one.  Here is the photo of the piece of paper inside the pot (and a leaf off the Salvia supposedly S jurisici.)  Because labels seem to fade I stated recording the names now on the Notes on my iPad so I can identify plants when in need. David I have the above photographed  Salvia.  I got the seeds in an envelope that said Salvia jurisicii.  I put them direct in the ground 2 years ago. They grew,  flowered,  died down and they re-emerged this year and are flowering again. I looked up the Salvia to identify it on the internet and The plant lover's guide to Salvias. It does not look like yours or mine. Still unable to name it.  Now for my complain this morning.  I saw the aromatic Salvias in many books, I read the Hype and I went to great lengths to acquire them and nurture them, and I feel cheated for just a few weeks of flowers.  It means I have to rearrange them and put some tougher Salvias such as Salvia Anthony Parker in the forefront as they are amazing.

[David Dickinson]

Hi Charithea,

The photo you show is the same plant as I have. It was sold to me as Salvia jurisicii but it clearly isn't that. I bought it as seed. Either the seed was mislabelled or it has hybridised with another. But would the seed be viable in that case? And to get 2nd and 3rd generation identical plants would be unusual too?

I wrote to "L'essenze di Lea" over the weekend to order some more salvias. One of which was S jurisicii. I sent her photos of my plant and she confirmed that without a doubt it is not S jurisicli. But what it is she did not know. I don't think she will be able to send me S Jurisicii just yet, as she is growing them from seed  and they are probably too young to send through the post. However, I am looking forward to receiving some low growing salvias to fill in a few  small spaces I have - Salvia muirii, pisidica e blancoana - though the muirii might grow a bit bigger than I had hoped