The Salvia and Nepeta Walkers Low were the only colored blooms in the Butterfly Garden and now that I cut off the spent bloom stalks it looks pretty "empty" with a sea of green. One of four new stalwart coreopsis has started blooming and it's bright yellow with red inner rays. The Scarlet Sage's red blooms seem to only stick around for a few days then fall off. Butterflies/Hummingbirds are going to have to be in the right place at the right time to get any nectar from them. Maybe the second flush of blooms will last longer as they're all new young plants. I just can't wait until all the plants for butterflies bloom but they're mostly summer/fall bloomers when it's warm enough for Butterflies to migrate here and have sufficient body temps to fly. Thanks for confirming proper method for cutting of dead bloom stalks, guys. Your generosity and patience with inexperienced people like myself is terrific and a great help.

token and trowelgal, thank you so much, saved token's instructions. I'll try to do with the stubble that remains as trowelgal suggested, don't have paving stones but some bricks or glass blocks over cardboard might do along with plenty of leaves I have. I hate to buy new, too, but maintaining plants over the winter is getting to be a chore, still don't want to give it up. I grew Salvia Sangria from T&M from seeds a few years back, started too early in my sr, got crooked. So I tied them to little stakes. When I set them out, they straightened up, are interesting plants, and that was the only one of my flowers I saw a pair of hummingbirds go for. My neighbor tells me he had scads of them on his hisbiscus on his deck. The following year I tried a mix Salvia Salsa and added a purple. Those didn't do so well in back. Neither did the Blue Ribbon (looked pretty blue in the photo but more purple) ones I planted where I had had the Sangria the year before. They were disappointing. All annuals. I don't think I have any perennial ones although there are some for my zone. Burpee has what looks to be a beautiful Cathedral Mix, but they're pricey and you only get three plants, so I passed on those. Would love to try some of those from seeds though if they ever become available or may splurge next year if I don't have to buy more of the black and white. Thanks for posting the photos, enjoyed them. They never appealed to me but have grown on me.

Good information. My B&Bs usually suffer minor damage. It has never been bad enough to worry about, but if it gets that way I'll now know what to look for. Generally I'm hands off when it comes to bugs, the exception is infestations of aphids, and also white fly and spider mites in winter. Perhaps the yard's semi-rural location means a better balance of insects, so I get off easy?

I'm bumping this older thread to solicit advice on the Salvia seeds I'm having more trouble germinating - apiana, clevelandii, dorii, leucophylla, and to a lesser extent, mellifera. i'm essentially using salvia guy's method, but instead of potting mix I'm using 4 parts vermiculite/2 parts sand/1 part potting soil. I pulled the following from Seeds of Change's website about possible aids to germination and am looking for thoughts on wherther any of the following are worthwhile (I've used only the peroxide, with no noticable results): Smoke and charred-wood leachate (water in which charred wood has been soaked) may stimulate germination of plants from fire-prone habitats with hot, dry summers, such as the Mediterranean, California, South Africa and Australia. GA-3 is sometimes used in very low concentrations, from 1 ppm to 150 ppm, to promote the germination of non-dormant seeds. Hydrogen peroxide stimulates many species. Seeds are soaked in a 1 - 3% solution for 5 minutes to 48 hours for hard seeds. We have had very good results. Presoaking seeds in malt extract solution or in beer may increase germination and vigor, especially of old seeds, due to enzyme enrichment. Higher resistance to damping off and higher yields have been reported. Sodium hypochlorite (household bleach) has been used in a 1% solution for a one-hour presoak to stimulate germination of some species. Mix one part bleach with 4 1/4 parts water for a 1% solution. A ten minute soak in one part bleach plus one part water is an FDA approved seed disinfectant. Potassium nitrate (KNO3) is often used to stimulate germination of dormant or irregular seeds. It can replace the light requirement of some pines. The seeds are soaked in a 1000 to 3000ppm solution (1 - 3 grams per liter), or are germinated on pads soaked in this solution. Concentration is not crucial, so 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon per quart is fine. It is about 6 grams per teaspoon. In our tests, some seeds which normally give seedlings over 3 months have all come up in a month with KNO3.