I only grow a few salvias, so I cant give a good comparison, but im really loving my S. 'Caradonna'. Its a very upright plant with dark foliage and unusual blackish stems. The flowers are a beautiful deep violet. It doesnt flop either! Thats what detered me from buying salvias before. Hope this helps you!
CMK

You might want to try a Veronica. I have Royal Candles. It has the same spiky purple (you can also get pink) form as salvia but stays very upright. Mine is roughly the same size as the salvia that was planted at the same time. I was surprised by how much I love my Veronica this year. I picked it up at lowes on a whim last year and never really thought much of it the rest of the season. It's fantastic this year. Try a google image search. I'd post a pic, but my new camera has yet to arrive : (

I also have salvia and love it... but it's already getting droopy this year. I don't mind it much because it looks great peeking around the yellow lillies. If it were on its own, I'd be bothered.

I second the 'Caradonna' recommendation. The violet flowers almost glow, and the dark stems really set off the flowers. Mine bloom for about 6 weeks start to finish, and deadheading will produce another nice crop of flowers in August.

- Steve

I like my May Night salvia, it performs very well, I have just divided several clumps this year and they're doing quite well. I keep deadheading and they keep re-blooming. I like the speedwell too, it works quite nicely too.

I like Cardonna--It's rather formal looking--very upright.
I'm ready to do the second deadheading--third round of buds
are showing.

I also love salvia "purple rain" It's shorter, more grayed
looking, sort of red-violet,blooms from early June to frost and its bracts hold color well after bloom is gone.

Chris

Wow, Caradonna is beautiful and the kind of upright look I am searching for. I am not familiar with that plant. Is there also a salvia that has the same upright growth that is more in the blue range? I may have May Night but I'm not sure. I have not grown Veronica but I'm looking into that too.

For me May Night and Rose Queen are floppers. But oh, I do love my Caradonna. Nice upright form, long bloom period, even when it's no longer blooming the dark stems make a great presence in the garden.

I probably have May Night because it flops quite a bit. Is there a blue salvia that remains upright the way Caradonna does? I also like the blue with my pink roses. Does Caradonna need full sun? I imagine it does.

Hmm....in my experience May Night (Mainacht) is more upright than the even more widely known cultivar it is often confused with, East Friesland (Ostfreisland). It also has darker purple flowers than East Freisland. My Salvia 'Purple Rain' is a favorite but it sure is a flopper..
~Mike

I have Rose Queen, May Night, and what I think is Blue Hill. Neither of the blues flops much, but the Rose Queen is a MAJOR flopper. I think the Blue Hill has the most upright habit, and is a nice color. I do also like May Night a lot. But I wouldn't buy Rose Queen again.

Note that the Bluestone catalog warns about all the perennial salvia that too little sun or too rich soil can cause flop.

I saw some pictures of Blue Hill and like that a lot. I was wondering about East Friesland, Mike. Funny thing, I usually get tons of white fly on my salvia, but this year they all flew to my Knock Out rose right next to it. Go figure!